25. 26.
This past weekend my wife and I went to July Coronation. It was a very long court for me to have forgotten my chair, but some very well deserving people were recognized.
After court we went back to Mistress Safiye’s sunshade and got out the brazier, filled it with charcoal, and got to work. It was flatbread day. I’d been planning this one for a while, so I’m very happy with how it turned out.
I did two different versions. One standard flatbread and one desert flatbread.
The first was translated in Medieval cuisine of the Islamic World by Lilia Zaouali (p72). It’s originally from Ibin Razin’s Andalusian cookbook Kitab Fadalat al-khiwan fi tayyibat al-ta’am wa-l-awan (Book of the Excellent Table Composed of the Best Food and the Best Dishes)
Take semolina and moisten it, energetically mixing with a little water and salt. Divide the dough into pieces and knead each piece with clarified butter. Roll it out, first by hand and then with a rolling pin, fold it, add clarified butter, and roll it out again to obtain a very thin layer. For this purpose use a shaubak, which is a piece of carved wood, thick in the center and thin at the extremities. Small lumps of dough can be rolled out three at a time, placing one on top of the other with clarified butter between each layer.
Heat an iron skillet or one of unglazed clay. Take a piece of the rolled out dough and heat it until it has become white and lost all its moisture, at which point remove it from the fire and beat it with the hands in order to separate the layers.
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