archestratus

Well thank you for this discussion. I first came across the name from my ex-wife, a Palestinian, and for years I thought it was a well-known dish that she remembered from her childhood in Beirut. But then she said that no, she had never had it and didn't know what it was, and that she had first heard of it from an ex-boyfriend who was Lebanese. But I like the theory that it is a local name for Misbahāt al-Darwīsh (The Dervish's Rosary), without the meat.

Which reminds me, that in medieval times in northern Italy macaroni was a word used for what we today call gnocchi. Thanks for the Letts article. It's an interesting and novel approach.

There is a huge literature on ancient agriculture and we could find out easily whether ancient crops were monocultures. I just don't happen to have the time right now, but would be willing to pass on to anyone interested some of the literature. I would prefer to say all these flours produce paste or alimentary paste rather than "pasta." The reason for this is that pasta is either pasta secca (dry pasta) or pasta freca (fresh pasta). Historically we're interested in pasta secca and pasta secca's invention, it's first appearance, seems to be cotemporaneous with the discovery/diffusion/cultivation of hard wheat. Our terms aren't really very precise and that's why these conversations go on ad infinitum. I would love it if we called hard wheat pasta either "pasta" or (generically) "macaroni" and called all pastas made from other flours and starchs including soft wheat, "noodles." That would help. And fideos did explode out of Spain! Not only as the fidelini of northern Italy as you mention, but throughout Latin American, known as fideos. But remember fideos (and yes, it's derived from the Arabic fidawsh as you mention) is nothing but vermicelli.

First, we must be careful not to conflate in our discussion hard and soft wheat flour of today with 1,000 years ago. They are two different animals. There has been just too much genetic variation in crops, not to mention the hand played by modern genetics in agronomy. So when talking about pasta or hard wheat we shouldn't think of something we buy in a supermarket today. For instance, modern genetics has already crossed soft wheat and hard wheat and new flours are often hybrids. All-purpose flour for instance is a combination of soft and hard wheats. Second, I think you are a little confused about the relationship of milling technology and hard wheat. The improvements in milling technology led to the ability to make bread from hard wheat, semolina bread, which did not exist before about 1600 (+ - 100) and not to pasta, which the medieval millstone was able to gind fine enough to make pasta dough but not fine enough to make bread flour. The trade in pasta was in fact very early indeed. We know that by 1154 there was a pasta factory in Trabia, a town near Palermo in Sicily, and they were trading even then with Naples and Calabria. We also know that Genoa became a major pasta producer, that is durum pasta, also in the 12th century and they too were trading widely. But it must have all began in Sicily, because the Genoese were using the word tria, a Sicilian word, to describe their product.

No, Marco Polo is not the first. And the 12th century Chinese traveler Chau-ju Kwa traveled to Spain. Pasta secca is not so plebian as it appears today. First, there is no conclusive evidence that the Chinese knew Triticum turgidum var. durum, although they seem to have made their wheat products from Triticum aestivum var. aestivum. Second, in 13th century Italy, for example, it was food for the rich urban dwellers, and the poor counldn't afford it.

Adam, one of the on-going problems I have about the origin of macaroni debate is that most commentators don’t provide definitions of the terms they are using and don’t tell us why the pasta debate is important at all. Some of what I want to say I’m sure you’re familiar with, but as this is a public board it’s worth repeating. Most writers define “pasta” as a dough made with flour and water or eggs and boiled in water either fresh or dried. Why is that important? They don’t tell us. Well, the mixing of flour and water is not important for the history of macaroni (the generic name, derived from the Italian, for dried alimentary pastes capable of long-term storage and cooked through boiling or steaming), although it may be historically interesting for other questions. But for the origin of macaroni debate it is not historically heuristic. I’ve argued elsewhere that to ascribe the term "macaroni" (i.e. pastasiutta or pasta secca) or "pasta" to products made of soft wheat is to ignore the importance that a new food played in subsequent political and economic developments, especially in Mediterranean Europe. Ascribing the word macaroni to an alimentary paste made from soft wheat, as many food writers do when discussing the history of macaroni, is neither helpful nor historically interesting. That filiform, round, cylindrical, or sheet dough products made from a mixture of water and the flour from cereal grains existed for a very long time is not in question. What is important about the invention of macaroni is not its shape but the particular kind of wheat it is made with, namely Triticum turgidum var. durum. This wheat, which apparently evolved through cultivation from emmer wheat in an as yet undetermined location, is mixed with liquid to form an alimentary paste that is dried, then stored for long periods of time and cooked by boiling or (less commonly) steaming in or over water or broth. This particular kind of wheat, commonly known as hard wheat, semolina, or durum wheat, is unique because of its high gluten and low moisture content, which distinguishes it in a significant way from soft wheat or bread wheat (Triticum aestivum), the major wheat known by the ancient Greeks and Romans. The important characteristics of hard wheat in the making of macaroni are, first, it prevents the stretching and breakage of pasta during the curing and drying process and, second, because it maintains its texture and taste better during the cooking process than does soft wheat. But something else is overlooked by many writers on this topic. In Roman times, and through the medieval era, flour was of much poorer quality than today. It was not thoroughly cleaned, and with the primitive milling technology that existed right up to the beginning of the modern era (c. 1700) the grain was coarsely ground. Sieves also had not improved over time, and even first grade flour was much coarser than what we think of as good bread-making flour. Medieval milling technology was unable to grind hard wheat flour fine enough for bread baking, therefore wheat bread was made from soft wheat, also called bread wheat. This medieval hard wheat flour was used for other purposes, such as porridges, and in the invention of new foods such as macaroni, couscous, bulgur, farik, and hardtack. Another factor overlooked by many writers, including Serventi and Sabban, is the absence in ancient literature of any description of the more obvious uses of hard wheat. With the kind of milling equipment available to the ancients, it would have been impossible to obtain a fine flour from the grains of hard wheat and thus virtually impossible to make bread from hard wheat. The obvious alternative uses for hard wheat are porridges, couscous, and pasta secca. According to the ancient writers, classical-era porridges were made from other grains, and there is no mention whatever of dishes resembling couscous or of pasta secca. As best we can tell from the latest results of molecular archeology and an examination of classical literature, the Romans and Greeks did not know hard wheat and therefore did not invent macaroni. The three most important reasons for the invention of macaroni are: First, the perennial famines of the times (between 900 AD and 1500 AD) could be reduced and controlled because dried pasta was a food with a very long shelf-life. Second, governments and speculators could warehouse food supplies for long periods of time to counteract years of low production and to offset inflation caused by high prices and demand. Third, a plentiful supply of hard wheat (especially in the form of hardtack, but also pasta secca) allowed longer sea voyages, opening up an age of exploration So, Adam, to respond to some of your questions: 1) yes, the identification of ancient grains is very difficult and our knowledge is not yet definitive. Only studies relying on molecular archeology are even remotely reliable. 2) “people would have had to make a very deliberate decision to grow the crop as a monoculture. Or through chance they farmed in an area where hard wheat is the dominant crop. If the former is that case then it suggests not only recognition of the special properties of hard wheat for pasta (or pasta related products), but also considerable organisation. This also suggests to me that the production of pasta like products must have pre-dated the use of hard wheat to make pasta.” I would guess that both were the case at different times. I would imagine that macaroni was invented when it was realized on the part of those growing hard wheat that the semolina was too hard to mill finely enough for bread, therefore they began to experiment with other products. There is no evidence of “pasta-like products” in the classical era. But, what in the world is a “pasta-like product”? Certainly you can’t mean a particular shape, because pasta can be made in a myriad of shapes. A pasta-like product must have evidence of its truly important characteristics mentioned above, namely, first, that holds up better than soft wheat during the curing and drying process and, second, it maintains its texture and taste better during the cooking process than does soft wheat, and third, it can be stored for extraordinarily long periods of times (one writer in twelfth century Spain mentions 80 years) 3) “Although hard wheat is obviously very suited to making pasta that can be stored and dried for long periods of time (an obvious selection advantage for the use of this grain), it isn't the only model.” If you’re defining pasta as including non-hard wheat alimentary pastes, and fresh alimentary pastes (i.e. pasta fresca), then you’re right. But I’m arguing that that definition is not heuristic. As a historian you need to answer the question “why is that important?” 4) “So I wonder if scholars have looked at the development of pasta in too much of a linear way. Hard wheat pasta may be indroduced as a completely new product, replaced a pre-existing product or transforming a pre-existing product (replacing mlinci with hard wheat pasta sheets doesn't change the fact that a pre-existing pasta dish did exist).” I disagree with this based on the argument above. And lastly, a cautionary note: research continues and our ideas about hard wheat may change--so like a paraphrase of Deep Throat's "follow the money" we should "follow the macaroni." Hope all this clarifies my position. And thanks for keeping this discussion at such a interesting and fruitfully high level.

That's a rather bold statement for Mr. McGee to make! The book he was referring to is: According to Mr. McGee, northern Chinese seem to develop the noodle-making art sometime before 200 BCE. Then ca. 300, Shu Xi wrote an "Ode to Bing (wheat products)." Mr. McGee goes so far as to make this statement (p. 572): I haven't read the Serventi/Sabban book. Based on the book reviews, this book seems to be the most thoroughly researched book on the topic. Apparently, the Marco Polo story is just that: a story. Mind you, I want to verify this for myself ... and for eGullet & for chef koo, since we all want to get to the bottom of this, don't we? DON'T WE?? ← I have tried to read Serventi and Sabban's book Pasta: The Story of a universal Food. By page 11 I concluded that this is probably the worst book on food history ever written. It is ahistorical in its approach, poorly researched, uncritically researched and generally worthless. First, the authors make no distinction between the importance of soft wheat and hard wheat. But they also seem to be thoroughly unfamiliar with the latest research and arguments on this issue. They claim that hard wheat was not only known in the classical world but used by the Romans. Their sources, some goiing to the mid-19th century have been surplanted. But basically, let me go into some depth here on one issue as this is an important historical issue. Hard wheat seems to have been unknown in the Mediterranean of classical times. Two archeological finds from Byzantine Egypt show that in parts of that country its cultivation was spreading in the centuries just before the rise of Islam. [see Täckholm, V. G. Täckholm and M. Drar. Flora of Egypt. 7 vols. Cairo:, 1941-, p. 254-7; Karanis. The Temples, Cin Hoards, Botanical and Zoological Reports. Seasons 1924-31. A.E.R. Boak, ed. University of Michigan Studies, Humanistic Series XXX (1930)]. Elsewhere, however, there is not yet any evidence of this crop in pre-Islamic times. It goes unmentioned in the late classical works on farming, natural history, geography and medicine. [There is no archeological evidence--at least none that has been examined by modern techniques--of hard wheat at pre-historic or ancient sites in the Near East. [see Renfrew, J.N. Paleoethnobotany. London, 1973. pp. 40ff, 202ff and Helbaek, H. "Paleo-ethnobotony". Science in Archeology. D. Brothwell and E. higgs, eds. 2nd ed. London, 1969. p. 104; Helbaek, H. "Cereals and seed grasses in Phase A:. R.J. Braidwood and L.J. Braidwood. Excavations in the Plain of Antioch. vol. 1. Chicago, 1960 passim; Helbaek, H. "Commentary on the phylogenesis of Triticum and Hordeum," Economic Botany. Vol. XX (1966), p. 350ff and Helbaek, H. "Plant collecting, dry farming, and irrigation agriculture in prehistoric Deh Luran.” Prehistory and the Ecology of the Deh Luran Plain. F. Hole, K.V. Flannery and J.A. Neeley, eds. Ann Arbor, 1969, p. 386; Hartmann, F. L'agriculture dans l'ancienne Egypte. Paris, 1923. p. 49ff; Dixon, D.M. "A note on cereals in ancient Egypt". The Domestication and Exploitation of Plants and Animals. P.J. Ucko and G.W. Dimbleby, eds. London, 1969. p. 131ff; Bell, G.D.H. "The comparative phylogeny of the temperate cereals". Essays on Crop Plant Evolution. Sir J. Hutchinson, ed. Cambridge, 1965. pp. 75-76 and Schulz, A.. Die Geschichte der kultivierten Getriede. Halle a.d.S., 1913, passim; and Schulz, A. "Die Getriede der alten Aegypter,” Abhandlungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft zu Halle a. d. S. New Service. vol. V (1916), pp. 18-20 find no evidence of hard wheat in ancient Egypt, while White, K. D. Roman Farming (London, 1970) is unable to identify it in any Roman agricultural texts. The suggestion of Jasny, N. The Wheats of Classical Antiquity Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science ser. LXII no. 3 (Baltimore, 1944), p. 27 and passim repeated in André, J. Lexique des termes de botanique en Latin. Paris, 1956. p. 321 that certain Greek and Roman texts refer to hard wheat and that hard wheat was "the greatly predominant wheat of classical antiquity," seems altogether without foundation. What is referred to is probably emmer (Triticum dicoccum) or poulard (Triticum turgidum), both of which have a more ancient history in the Mediterranean. The older archeological finds of cereals must now be re-examined. Only the most careful microscopic and chemical analyses using techniques developed recently by H. Helbaek of the University of Copenhagen and others would permit an unambiguous identification of Triticum durum. But the outcome of such studies has until now been to show that the common wheat of ancient Egypt was emmer; see Helbaek. "Paleo-ethnobotany,; pp. 206-07 and Lauer, J.P., V.L. Täckholm and E. Åberg. "Les plantes découvertes dans les souterrains de l'enceinte du roi Zoser à Saqqarah (IIIe dynastie)", Bulletin de l'Institut d'Egypte. vol. XXXII (1949-50) pp. 127, 156-7. Thus the claim of Peak that hard wheat was grown in Palestine over 3,000 years ago must be dismissed; the other botanists and archeologists who examined the find upon which Peak based his conclusion consider it to have been poulard. The finds in Byzantine Egypt reported in Täckholm, Täckholm and Drar above seem more certain, but even these require further analysis. Tentatively, however, it may be accepted that hard wheat reached the lower Nile valley and the Fayyum by the time of the Roman occupation of Egypt and that it was here that the Arabs first came in contact with this crop. On the other hand, we should not overlook the possibility of an earlier diffusion from Abyssinia to the Arabian peninsula, if indeed Abyssinia is the crop's primary center. None of the above discussion nor the sources I've mentioned except the problematic source of Andre are menitioned by Serventi and Sabban. It's not worth the money and what in the world was Columbia University PRess thinking?

Try making your own and keep it covered with olive oil in a jar. Mine is about a year old and perfectly fine and pungent. There are many many recipes for harisa and it's simple to make. Here's mine, http://www.cliffordawright.com/recipes/harisa.html, but frankly there are many good recipes. I never buy tubes of harisa so I can't comment. One thing for sure, your homemade version will taste a hell of a lot better than the Tunisian or French commerically made varieties.

Well, yes, women can connect with each other in a much more meaningful way than a man and a woman (I'm speaking culinarily in a foreign culture for those who just joined this). For me it was harder, but frankly you're absolutely right, Paula, about learning several dozen words in the local language and dialect. I'll never forget the look on the fishmonger's face in Marsa Matruh in the western desert of Egypt when I identified a fish by the local Arabic name. I often played up how weird it was for a man to be writing about food in these women's kitchens. After all, "cookbook author" may be a profession in North America and Europe, but it is just about unknown elsewhere. The women I encountered always found me a real kick in the pants because it was so odd for this guy to be insisting that he wanted to learn about their lives. And speaking of letters of introductions--they are essential and I got into many a home in Sicily thanks to Paula's introductions. But most of the homes I got into was the end result of a process of communication that began sometimes a year or a year and a half in advance.

LA markets tend to be Italian-American from at least 2-3 generations ago. The prepared foods and delis especially reflect the big meatballs in lottsa tomato sauce oozing with mozzarella and spicy cold cut submarine sandwiches. ← I second this comment. I have experience with Bay Cities in Santa Monica, Sorrento's in Culver City, and Claros in San Gabriel. Although you can get pretty much everything you need for regional Italian cooking, nobody at any of these stores are educated in any way about the "terroir", if you will, of regional Italian cuisine. And that seems to include the owners as well. Most of the Italian food products they offer, almost seem like novelty items for the hordes that come here to get their Italian-American heros--no tramezzini here.

Although I'm not quite the culinary anthropologist that Paula is, I can add that insinuating yourself into a foreign kitchen to watch women cook and to get them to give you recipes or at least a description of what they are doing, is no easy task. As a man, it's even harder in the woman-dominated kitchens of the Mediterranean. And in Arab world it got even wackier, where the men would be sitting in the parlor smoking and talking politics or sports and there I would be with the girls, getting in their way as they made kibbe or whatever. It's exhausting work and frankly, I don't do it much anymore. Partly, that's because you need an effervescent personality, which Paula has, and I don't. So more power to you Paula.

The haraymi I'm familiar with is a Tunisian dish, hamrāya, which is sea bream (Sparus pagrus L.) and is a dish of mullet or sea bream cooked with lemon juice, olive oil, tomato puree, paprika, harīsa served hot or cold. But, alternatively, the Tunisian authority Muhammad Kouki identifies it as a ragout of cuttlefish from Sfax. I've posted it elsewhere (somewhere) that there is an Arabic-English transliteration system used by writers and scholars. It is the one that I use. It can be found at http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/romanization/arabic.pdf

Transliteration is a funny thing. The menu at Tabbouli definitely did not write the word as you and Almass have written it (either Em'taffa or Moutaffa), but it has to be the same word. Thank you both for unraveling the mystery and giving me a better way to search for that word. So, basically, moutaffa or em'taffa means that the pan is deglazed and a sauce made from the juices? That's what I envision based on Almass' description. ← Here's the definitive word on transliterating, but unfortunately it is of help only to those who know Arabic. http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/romanization/arabic.pdf

WEll, yes, it is labor intensive. Here's two recipes: http://www.cliffordawright.com/recipes/bastila.html http://www.paula-wolfert.com/recipes/bisteeya.html

These are complex questions. There is a Sicilian cuisine known as cucina arabo-sicula, that is for the most part a folkloric cuisine not based on documents but on tradition as to what the people believe to be "Arab." There is also no distinction between the Arab era of Sicily (827 to 1223-3 when the last Arab-Sicilians were finally "ethnically cleansed" by Frederick II) and Arab and Sicilian contacts through the centuries. So the basis to the concept of cucina arabo-sicula starts with food products brought to Sicily by the Arabs that did not exist before and hence, any dish made with these products can be considered a part of this cuisine. These are: hard wheat (pasta and couscous), sugar, oranges, lemons, eggplant, watermelon, artichokes, sesame seeds, spinach, rice, and some others. Added to this are native food products that were employed in culinary ways derived from the Arab kitchen, for example, pasta and eggplant, pasta and chickpeas, currants, saffron, almonds and other nuts, raisins, cinnamon, or methods that came from the Arabs such as stuffing of vegetables, skewering pieces of meat (as opposed to spit-roasting), preserved tuna, bottarga, seviche. The Sicilians documented very little of the Arab kitchen in Arab lands. What they knew of Arab cooking was the cooking that was happening in Sicily under Arab and Norman rule. Remember that the Normans, who ruled Sicily from 1091 to about 1194, were enamored with Arab ways and the palace chef and chamberlain in Palermo were Arabs. By the "Sicilian pieds noir in Algeria" I assume you are refering to the fact that during the time of the Barbary corsairs in the sixteenth to eighteeth century there were Sicilians and other Europeans living in Algiers and other ports, either as sailors, adventurers, and traders. What their influence might have been we have no idea.

Some of the connections are linguistic only. And not every dish has a contemporary equivalent in North Africa. Anyway, the word salad and all its derivations in other languages including Arabic comes from the Latin word for salt, sal. If I haven't said it already chefzadi, your book-in-progress sounds amazing and there is nothing like it on the market, not even in French. My advice is to pull out all the stops and write the definitive book. I think we all look very much forward to it.

There are Sardinian cookbooks in Italian but none in English, although I believe Bugialli wrote a book a few years ago called the "Food of Sicily and Sardinia." Incidentally, I disagree that Sardinia was a crossroads of the Mediterranean. But Sicily certainly was. Sardinia, although suffering many invaders, never became an entrepot for anything and this accounts for the island's insularity even today.

I've got the book, but can't find the discussion on the lack of fresh cheeses in North Africa. anyway, cassata is a strictly Sicilian affair and the main ingredient is not the ricotta but the egg cake as well as ricotta, the ricotta playing a big role in the filling. And it's an old cake (not it's present form, but it's evolution) as we can read about it going back to the fifteenth century. First, anyone reading this should know that "cassata" also refers to a kind of ice cream in Sicily, but that's not what we are talking about. The Vocabolarium latinum from even earlier, the fourteenth century, defines "cassata" as panis cum caseo commixtus which definitely indicates that cassata was made with flour and cheese mixed together. We have to assume the cheese is a fresh cheese as that mixes most easily with flour. The Sicilian philologist De Gregorio proposed that the Sicilian word derived from the Arabic qas'a, pronounced qasat in the vernacular. There is a huge debate on the etymology of cassata that appears in the journals of Italian philology and for anyone interested I can provide the bibliography for further research.

I truly am amazed, and saddened by that. As for the tv angle, the resounding advice, albeit tongue-in-cheek, from the Greenbrier this year was, "if you want a best-selling cookbook, get a tv show!" TFN is a powerful force these days, but I am hopeful that will not be permanent, and the wave will crest, crash and then head for shore. To add to Pam's comments, right now, SIX of the top ten cookbooks on Amazon are food network people. At Borders and Waldenbooks for 2004, HALF of (12 of the top 25) were by TFN authors. (Don't forget our buddies Emeril and Alton). The most amazing,frustrating, and truly horrifying, and tragic thing is the whole Rachel Ray phenomenon: She is not a cook, nor is she a writer. sad commentary on what the public wants, and the downward spiral and dumbing down of TFN. The newest "It Girl", according to this article in this week's Washington Post, is that gal who clenches her teeth as if they've been wired shut, Giada Delaurentis. (Someone on another eG thread I remember, called her the little girl with the big head, LOL). Her book Everyday Italian has sold 250,000 copies in the last 7 weeks. Which brings me back to Archestratus... I love your little book Cucina Rapida, and I must tell you it has become the book, believe it or not, that my kids go to when they want to cook dinner (or I tell them it's their turn!). It truly is a "family" favorite -- they will pick out a recipe, and call me on my cell to pick up any extra needed ingred. on my way home. Delicious, fresh, and fast. And how old is that book? And, btw, if I remember correctly, I was always intrigued/amused by the jacket note that said (I think it was this book, I am not home right now) that you "wrote the book because you needed to"? ← yeah, that was a cool little book. I wrote it in the early 90s. I was working on "Feast" and was recently divorced and had three little children. I sold the book to Morrow (with whom i had the Feast contract) and it was fun to write, mostly because I just made stuff up and it didn't require huge amounts of research. The book didn't do very well, but it's the book I give to people who aren't necessarily into my historical stuff.

it's a big book, but it's not THAT big. ← Makes a great door-stop too! ← I've requested that your books be ordered for the School library. They are of historical interest. As I'm waiting I cannot find a copy of Mediterranean Feast on my own. What is the recipe for Cassata in your book? I've seen a few here and there. ← Borders or Barnes and Noble may have a copy (they do in Santa Monica I know). I don't have a recipe in "Feast" for cassata, just a section describing its history. I've looked at many, mnay recipes for cassata and the two English language ones that look right (good and authentic) are in Anna Tasca Lanza's book on Sicily and Jo Bettoja's "Southern Italian Cooking."

I know what you mean by Egyptian cuisine being equated with English food. Why do you think Aleppo and Beirut represent the apogee of Arab cuisine? I'm just curious, not trying to argue. . ← First of all, I forgot to mention the most important food in Egypt that every traveler should have, ful mudammas, known simply as ful (pronounced fool). About Aleppo and Beirut as being the apogee of Arab cooking: First, that is an expression many Arab gastronomes (and who isn't in the Arab world) will offer. But on reflection of course we realize that most of these Arabs are Levantine Arabs. It's fascinating but Levantine Arabs know just about nothing about the cuisine of the Maghrib. I have found Americans who know more about Moroccan cooking than a Syrian.

it's a big book, but it's not THAT big. ← Makes a great door-stop too!

The first thing you should know is that among Arabs, Egyptian food has the same poor reputation today that English food has with us. My Arab friends (Palestinians, Lebanese, and Syrians) laughed at me when I said many years ago that I was going to Egypt to research food. While one can admit that the cooking of Aleppo and Beirut represent the apogee of Arab cuisine, Egypt--this most populous of Arab countries--has a number of specialities that will delight anyone who relishes simple food. I won't give you restaurant recommendations but here is a list of foods you should look for. The ones marked with asterisks are foods that if you don't eat you haven't been to Egypt. One rule of thumb: never, never eat raw vegetables, iincluding the parsley sprinkled on food, never eat unpeeled anything including grapes. Be very careful with street food. If you have some of the Pharoah's revenge, drink lemonade and lots of it. Here's the list of what are Egyptian specialities, meaning this is not Lebanese or Turkish food, which is what mnay of the better restaurants in Cairo actually serve. Bisara: A fava bean mash with the consistency of hummus, heavily flavored with mint, fresh coriander, dill, salt, black pepper, and olive oil. *Fatir: A pan-cooked pastry, a cross between a puff pastry beignet and a crepe sometimes served as a savory as well as a sweet. A delicious savory fatir is fatir bi’l-sakhina, there being two varieties of this dish; in the first the pastry is covered with a sauce made of vegetables cooked in vinegar and garlic and the second is a sauce made with chicken poached with onions and water buffalo samna. Fatir, derived from the word meaning “to break the fast, to breakfast,” is, in fact, often eaten at breakfast. Fatta: A feast food prepared after the ritual slaughtering of the lambs during Ramadan. The lamb is cooked in a vinegar, tomato, and garlic sauce, and in Luxor they make fatta al-Uqsur with fatir (see above). *Haman bi’l-Farik: Pigeon with green wheat. Actually, any grilled pigeon is good. Kufta Dau’d Basha: Small meatballs cooked in a rich tomato sauce made with lots of chopped onions, garlic, and black pepper, with very thinly sliced charred bell peppers. *Kawari’: A veal ankle and knee joint stew that is very succulent. Khalta: A rice pilaf made with chicken pieces and golden raisins. *Kushary: macaroni, rice, lentils with crispy onions and spicy tomato sauce. Mukhalil: Vegetables, such as eggplants, cooked in a vinegar sauce. The name is derived from the word for pickled vegetables. Sujuq (pronounced SUguk in Egypt): Grilled beef sausage as thin as a pencil seasoned with spices, garlic, and hot pepper. (It's actually Lebanese) Mulukhiyya bi’l-arnab: A stew of Jew’s mallow flavored with rabbit. Musa: A veal or beef knuckle braised until the meat is falling off the bone served on top of rice flavored with the cooking juices of the knuckle and some tomato and spices. Musaqqa/a (pronouced muSA’a): A dish of eggplant and meat, probably developed from the Greek mousakka. Ruqaq: A kind of pie made with Arabic bread, butter, and ground lamb. *Ta’amiyya: An Egyptian version of falafel, a deep-fried fava bean patty, but more delicate, spicier, with lots of fresh coriander, shaped into a lozenge about 1 ½ inches in diameter, and deep-fried. The word ta’amiyya derives from the Arabic word for nourishment. *Umm Ali: (Ali’s mother). A dried phyllo, milk, sugar, nuts, and coconut pudding. This is a don't miss. When you are near the sea–always fish–nothing else. Lemonade everywhere–better than beer.

Cervellata is today a sausage from Milan made or pork sirloin, pork and veal fat, pork brains, Parmesan cheese, saffron, nutmeg and maybe some other spices and I imagine it's pretty much close to how it was made 500 years ago. ← Almost like 500 years ago, but not exactly. It is still made in Milan, though it is not that common anymore. As far as I know Peck in Milan still sells it. According to the sources I could find, today's recipe only contains meat, cheese and saffron (and maybe a little spices). Brain is not used anymore in this or other recipes, quite common in some parts of Southern Italy, that carry a similar name. Going back to the Arabic influences in Sicily, I was wondering what people think of the explanation of cassata comming from q'sat, which I take means round earthenware bowl. This is the only explanation I've ever heard but it always made me wonder if there's any sweet in Nothern African lands that resambles cassata. The use of ricotta, closer to Central and Southern Italy's pastoral culture than to the Arabic one, would make think it is not the case, but you never know. If somebody knows about it, then the eGullet forums are the right place to find out . ← I wrote about the history of cassata on p. 302-303 of Mediterranean Feast. That piece is the most thorough treatment of the issue that I know of.

To what extent do you feel that TV is an important component of cookbook marketing? It seems to be a crucial element of the business, particularly concerning the importance of having a very explicit, focused, niche angle for your book. However, given your intelligent approach to cuisine and cooking, "act[ing] like an asshole" must be... er... challenging. ← TV is hugely important for cookbook marketing. But air time is limited and there is a tendency to book people who already have a name. Writers without a "platform" need to explore alternative means. Overlooked (or at least sometimes forgotten) are: 1) radio 2) internet 3) local media where you live. As far as acting like an asshole, well, let's face it, if you're a guy, it's not that hard. Anyway, my girlfriend thinks I don't have a problem acting like an asshole.