Delights from the Garden of Eden ; A Cookbook and History of the Iraqi Cuisine; abridged second edition; Nawal Nasrallah

Nawal Nasrallah [+–]

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Independent Iraqi scholar, passionate about cooking and its history and culture.

Nawal Nasrallah was a professor at the universities of Baghdad and Mosul, teaching English language and Literature until 1990. She is an award-winning researcher and food writer.

The first edition of her cookbook Delights from the Garden of Eden: A Cookbook and a History of the Iraqi Cuisine (Author House, 2003) was winner of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2007. Her book Dates: A Global History (Edible Series, Reaktion Books) was released in April 2011. It is a charming account of the date palm and its fruit, informative and fun to read. Her English translation of Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq’s 10th-century Baghdadi cookbook Kitab al-Tabeekh, entitled Annals of the Caliphs’ Kitchens (Brill, 2007), was awarded “Best Translation in the World” and “Best of the Best of the Past 12 Years” of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2007. It also received Honorable Mention in 2007 Arab American National Museum Book Awards. She co-authored Beginner’s Iraqi Arabic, with 2 audio CDs (Hippocrene, 2005).

Nawal has been giving talks, cooking demos and classes and presentations on the Middle Eastern cuisine, ancient, medieval, and present.

A Saveur Magazine choice for their ‘top ten’ best cookbooks in 2013
Best Book on Arab Cuisine in the UK, Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, 2014

This is a concise version of the award-winning and highly acclaimed second edition published in 2013. It is luxuriously illustrated throughout with colour photos, paintings, medieval miniatures and sketches and displays the diversity of the region’s traditional culinary practices, delicious and enduring. This edition book contains 300 of the original 400 recipes, all tested and easy to follow, and covers all food categories with ample choice for both vegetarians and meat lovers, and many that will satisfy a sweet tooth. Ingredients and cooking techniques indigenous to the region are fully explained.

Unlike the majority of cookbooks, the book uniquely traces the genesis and development of the Iraqi cuisine over the centuries, starting with the ancient Mesopotamians, through medieval times and leading to the present, aided throughout by the author’s intimate native knowledge of cookery. Of particular interest are the book’s numerous food-related folkloric stories, reminiscences, anecdotes, songs, poems, excerpts from narratives written by foreign visitors to the region, and cultural explications of customs, all interwoven with the recipes. The book is supplemented with detailed menus and an extended glossary to familiarize the reader with the indigenous ingredients used in creating authentic Iraqi meals.

The book is a valuable addition to the shelves of specialized and general libraries and a must-have for food lovers everywhere.

Preliminaries

Preface [+–] vi

A Saveur Magazine choice for their ‘top ten’ best cookbooks in 2013 Best Book on Arab Cuisine in the UK, Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, 2014 This is a concise version of the award-winning and highly acclaimed second edition published in 2013. It is luxuriously illustrated throughout with colour photos, paintings, medieval miniatures and sketches and displays the diversity of the region’s traditional culinary practices, delicious and enduring. This edition book contains 300 of the original 400 recipes, all tested and easy to follow, and covers all food categories with ample choice for both vegetarians and meat lovers, and many that will satisfy a sweet tooth. Ingredients and cooking techniques indigenous to the region are fully explained. Unlike the majority of cookbooks, the book uniquely traces the genesis and development of the Iraqi cuisine over the centuries, starting with the ancient Mesopotamians, through medieval times and leading to the present, aided throughout by the author’s intimate native knowledge of cookery. Of particular interest are the book’s numerous food-related folkloric stories, reminiscences, anecdotes, songs, poems, excerpts from narratives written by foreign visitors to the region, and cultural explications of customs, all interwoven with the recipes. The book is supplemented with detailed menus and an extended glossary to familiarize the reader with the indigenous ingredients used in creating authentic Iraqi meals. The book is a valuable addition to the shelves of specialized and general libraries and a must-have for food lovers everywhere.

List of By-ways and Asides [+–] viii-ix

Measurements, Equipment and Ingredients [+–] x-xi

Introduction – Iraqi Food in Perspective

That Little Street in Baghdad [+–] 1-3

At the crossroads of several eastern and western cultures, Iraq had the ideal ingredients for a multiracial society. Nowhere was this pluralistic culture more evident than in the little street in Baghdad where I grew up. It was a middle-class neighborhood, with eucalyptus trees lining both sides of the street. In springtime the air would be filled with the intoxicating fragrance of the blossom on the citrus trees that were planted all along the fences. Those shady places were like magnets for the local children, where we used to play, fight, reconcile, tell stories, and chatter about everything and anything. As lunchtime approached, the main meal of the day, we started playing our guessing game as the welcome aromas of food drifted out of the simmering pots and meandered along our street. We would sniff these floating aromas and guess whose mother was cooking what that day. Although the dominant smell would be that of stew and rice, which were cooked practically every day, the guessing would still be intriguing, for there were so many kinds of stews to identify. And almost always there would be the distinctive aroma of a special dish, and we knew that one of us would soon be called by his or her mother to distribute samples of that dish for the neighbors. As the custom had always been, it was not thought right to send back the neighbor’s dish empty, so it would be returned with a comparable dish that was equally, if not more, delicious. Thus, our guessing game was kept alive by this exchange of hospitality, and from those little dishes coming and going, we came to learn a lot about people from all walks of life, and of diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds. Such diversity was not a unique situation in the city of Baghdad, which across the centuries became a melting-pot of sorts for all these groups.

Part One: Back to the Roots [+–] 4-31

Chronology; I. The Mesopotamian Diet; II. Agricultural Products; Field Products; Vegetable Gardens; Animal Products; III. Pioneers of the Gourmet Cuisine; IV. The Mesopotamian Menu; V. Cooking Techniques and Kitchen Utensils; VI. The Babylonian Culinary Documents:The First ‘Recipe Book’ in Human History; Tablet 4644; Characteristics of the Babylonian Stew Dishes; Tablet 8958; Tablet 4648; VII. The Question of Consistency and Continuity

Part Two: Medieval Baghdadi Cooking [+–] 32-64

VIII. Baghdad: Navel of the Earth; IX. Gastronomes of the Abbasid Era; Great Chefs, Great Cities; X. Cookbooks of the Abbasid Era; XI. Culinary Techniques of the Medieval Baghdadi Cuisine; Table Manners and the Custom of Washing the Hands Before and After Having a Meal; XII. Elements of the Medieval Baghdadi Cuisine and Affinities with Ancient Mesopotamian Cooking

Part Three: The Post-medieval Era [+–] 65-80

XIII. Baghdad during the Ottoman Rule; XIV. Ottomans and Abbasids in the Kitchen; XV. Modern Times; Protocols of Treating Dining Guests; Sample Menus

Chapter One

Bread [+–] 81-113

Baking with the Ancient Mesopotamians; Baking with the Medieval Baghdadis; The Modern Baking Scene; Uses of Bread

Chapter Two

Dairy Products [+–] 114-122

Up until the 1960s, city people did not have to go to the stores to buy milk. A movable dairy, so to speak, used to deliver fresh unadulterated milk every evening. Um ilhaleeb (the milkmaid) would come with her cow and her bucket, and milk the cow right in front of her customers’ eyes. Then, with a funnel, she would pour warm foamy milk into their bottles. But all that ended with the advent of commercially pasteurized milk products. This chapter includes: Home-made Yogurt; Drained Yogurt; White Cheese; Geymer

Chapter Three

Vegetarian Appetizers, Side Dishes and Salads [+–] 123-149

I. Vegetarian Appetizers and Snacks; II. Vegetable Side Dishes; III. Salads

Chapter Four

Snacks and Street Food [+–] 150-172

Abbasid Sandwiches; Street Food in Medieval Baghdad; The Ancient Kebab

Chapter Five

Soups [+–] 173-181

An excavated Sumerian–Akkadian lexicon attests to the fact that soup was an important dish on the menu of ancient Mesopotamian diners. They knew the thinner form, such as broths, as well as thick and nourishing porridge soups. This Akkadian cuneiform tablet included over a hundred kinds of soup, which by definition were dishes prepared by cooking food in water. Some soups contained sheep’s tail fat or oil, honey, and meat broth. This chapter includes: Lentil Soup; Meatballs (Sparrows’ Heads); Creamy Mung Bean Soup; Cream of Turnip and Swiss Chard Soup; Spinach Soup; Tomato Soup with Rice; White Bean Soup

Chapter Six

Stews [+–] 182-202

A friend of mine never tires of telling us how she once tried to break away from the routine of preparing the familiar dish of timman wa marag (rice and stew) for her family of four. She cooked juicy creamed chops with a side dish of French fries, instead. ‘They ate those, all right,’ she would say chuckling, but then came the inevitable question, ‘Okay, now, where is our timman wa marag?’ This shows how futile it is to try to depart from a routine which has been ingrained in our eating habits and sustained us for more than five thousand years (see Introduction). Indeed, why try to do so in the first place? Timman wa marag is delicious, healthy, easy, convenient, and economic. This chapter includes: Fresh Fava/Broad Bean Stew; Okra Stew; Stew of White Beans; Spinach Stew; Casserole of Green/French Beans and Potatoes; Stew of Chickpeas and Diced Meat; Cabbage Stew; Cauliflower Stew; Casserole of Cauliflower and Meatballs; Potato Stew; Eggplant/Aubergine Casserole; Zucchini/Courgette Stew; Dried Apricot Stew; Pomegranate and Walnut Stew

Chapter Seven

Rice, and other Grains and Beans [+–] 203-230

I. Rice; II. Grains Cooked Like Rice; III. Porridge Soups; IV. Curries with Beans and Pulses; V. Thareed with Beans; VI. Macaroni; Pasta and Noodles: A Bit of History

Chapter Eight

Lamb and Beef, and Ground Meat dishes [+–] 231-253

Lamb and Beef Dishes; II. Dishes with Ground Meat

Chapter Nine

Stuffed Foods [+–] 254-282

I. The Art of Making Kubba; II. More Stuffed Foods

Chapter Ten

Poultry [+–] 283-301

The ancient Mesopotamians ate a lot of birds and eggs. Game was plentiful. There were ducks, geese, and many kinds of pigeon, excluding perhaps doves, which, though domesticated, were tabooed. They were thought of as belonging to the goddess Ishtar, and during religious festivals, worshipers fed them crumbled cakes made especially for such occasions. Some of the wild marsh birds were domesticated as pets, such as the ibis, crane, and heron, of which seven varieties are mentioned in the ancient records. This chapter includes: Flatbread Sopped in Broth of Simmered Chicken; Chicken Supreme; Cornish Hens/Poussins Simmered in Cumin Sauce; Chicken Drumsticks Baked in Fig Sauce; Chicken Legs Simmered in Vinegar; Chicken Curry; Chicken Simmered in Pomegranate Sauce; Chicken Shish Kebab; Roast Chicken or Turkey Stuffed with Rice; The Pregnant Chicken; Stuffed Chicken, Simmered in Tomato Juice and Buried in Rice; Chicken with Red Rice; Fruity Baked Chicken; Chicken and Spinach Delights

Chapter Eleven

Fish [+–] 302-318

In his comments on the Sumerian text ‘Home of the Fish’ in History Begins at Sumer, Samuel Kramer provides us with valuable information about fish. Around a hundred different types were mentioned in Sumerian texts, about thirty of which are tentatively identified. This chapter includes: Barbecued Fish; Grilled Fish; Pomegranate Raisin Sauce; Baked Fish, Stuffed with Sumac Mixture; Broiled/Grilled Fish with Yellow Rice and Raisin Sauce; Fried Fish à la Harun al-Rasheed; Browned Fish with Tahini/Sesame Paste Sauce; Fish Baked in Tamarind Sauce; Fish with Eggs; Fish Baked in Pomegranate Sauce; Fish Stew; Fish Stew with Pomegranate Sauce; Fish Curry; Sweet and Sour Fish Simmered; in Almond–Prune Sauce; Shrimp with Rice; Shrimp Curry

Chapter Twelve

Savory Pastries [+–] 319-333

Um al-Faraj: An Eastern Dish, Precursor of Boureq, Baklawa, and Bastilla

Chapter Thirteen

Desserts [+–] 334-381

The Ancient Scene; Manufactured Desserts; I. Puddings and Sweetmeat; II. Desserts with Syrup; III. Cakes and Confections; IV. Cookies; Kleicha: Iraqi Traditional Cookies; Mesopotamia, the Cradle of Festive Cookies, and the Quest for the Meaning and Identity of Kleicha

Chapter Fourteen

Jams, and Syrups for Sherbets [+–] 382-388

I. Jams; II. Syrups for Sherbets

Chapter Fifteen

Pickles and Sauces [+–] 389-398

I. Pickles; II. Sauces; Salsa: A Bit of History

Chapter Sixteen

Beverages [+–] 399-411

Hot Drinks; Coffee and Tea for the Record; II. Cold Drinks; A Tipsy Story; Wine Recipes in al-Warraq’s Tenth-century; Baghdadi Cookbook; The Question of Prohibiting Intoxicants in Islam

End Matter

Glossary [+–] 412-427

Works Cited [+–] 428-432

Indexes [+–] 433-439

I. Index of Foods and Ingredients; II. Ancient Foods and Ingredients; III. Medieval and Ottoman Foods and Ingredients; IV. Name and Subject Index

Illustration Credits [+–] 440

Reviews

Reviews of this Second Concise Edition:

Beautifully illustrated throughout, and displaying the diversity of Iraqi traditional culinary practices and cuisine, "Delights from the Garden of Eden" showcases 300 original and authentic Iraqi recipes that are tested, easy to follow, and covers all food categories. Ingredients and cooking techniques indigenous to the region are fully explained, with practical ways for making them in the convenience of a modern kitchens, such as baking the Iraqi flat tannour bread and sammoun, and grilling fish masgouf way. "Delights from the Garden of Eden" uniquely traces the genesis and development of the Iraqi cuisine over the centuries, starting with the ancient Mesopotamians, through medieval times and leading to the present, aided throughout by the author's intimate native knowledge of cookery. Of particular interest is the inclusion of numerous food-related folkloric stories, reminiscences, anecdotes, songs, poems, excerpts from narratives written by foreign visitors to the region, and cultural explications of customs, all interwoven with the recipes. "Delights from the Garden of Eden" features a comprehensive glossary that will help familiarize American kitchen cooks with the indigenous ingredients used in creating authentic Iraqi meals, with substitutes suggested without compromising taste or tradition. "Delights from the Garden of Eden" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, family, professional, and community library Ethnic Cookbook collections.
Wisconsin Book Watch

Reviews of the Second Edition:

A fine introduction to the history and diversity of Iraqi cuisine. Lavishly illustrated, supremely informative, and deeply personal, Nasrallah’s publication is far more than an average cookbook or culinary history; instead, it’s an adventurous exploration of Iraq’s colorful past through food history.
Ancient History Encyclopedia

The book, its illustrations, photographs and design, is generous and thoughtful and guides your historical journey through Ms. Nasrallah's personal lens.
Huffington Post

Offers an excellent history of food in the Middle East. ...At the other end, the book's extensive glossary and references make this a useful resource. ...An additional note to please cooks is that the book sits flat on every page... .A splendid achievement, Delights from the Garden of Eden is obviously a labour of love, and the author has done readers, cooks and non-cooks alike, a great service in producing such an impressive book. Each page shows erudition; every recipe a passion for food.
Times Literary Supplement

Already respected among food historians for her translation of the 10th-century Baghdadi cookbook Annals of the Caliph's Kitchen, Nasrallah is sure to gain more acclaim with this significant contribution to the culinary history of the Middle East.
Aramco

If you've ever had even a shred of interest in the cuisine from this part of the world, I recommend taking a look at this book. For curious and adventurous cooks, it has enough to inspire our meals for years to come.
TheKitchn.com

Fascinating, thorough and delicious.
Haaretz.com

Ms. Nasrallah has done for Iraqi cuisine what Julia Child did for French cooking, but to the nth degree. There are over 400 recipes to be explored, hundreds of beautiful images, and text so meticulous and thoughtful, it could have only been written by someone with incredible knowledge and passion. Immerse yourself with endless plates full of delicious food and stories of a land and its people so rich with history it will astound you. A delight indeed.
The Kitchen Journals

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Delights from the Garden of Eden

A Cookbook and History of the Iraqi Cuisine

Nawal Nasrallah [+–]

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