Recipes for Knowne World Dance and Music Symposium

Save for the cookies, baklava, and purchased items (bread, fruits, herring), here are the recipes from the event with some minor notes added for convenience sake.

Mushroom Caviar

Single batch serves 8.

12 oz of mushrooms, finely chopped (the more variety, the better the flavor)

1 onion, finely chopped

1 stick of butter

1 tbsp dry sherry

3 oz curd cheese

3 oz cream cheese

2 oz parsley

1 oz tarragon

1 oz marjoram

Saute the mushrooms and onions in butter. Add sherry and remove from heat. In a bowl, beat together cheeses and herbs. Stir in mushrooms, onions, and juices and beat until just combined. Chill overnight in a crock.

Notes: Use dried mushrooms for best varieties and just reconstitute and drain before starting the recipe.

 

Melon in Vinaigrette

Single batch serves 24.

1 honeydew melon

½ cup vegetable broth

¼ cup vinegar

1 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp mint flakes

¼ cup pomegranate juice (reduced)

¼ cup passum

Wash, open, and scoop melon. Cut melon in thin slices and place in a large bowl. Mix all other ingredients in separate bowl and pour marinade over melon and cover. Put in fridge and stir occasionally.

Notes: I had to look up passum, which is a raisin wine. I had to speak to a brewer to see what I could use that would be close or at least similar. They suggested a nice sweet sherry, so I used a cream sherry in its place.

 

Lobio

A single batch serves 4.

½ cup of dried kidney beans

½ tsp of salt

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

2 tbsp finely chopped onion

¼ cup fresh parsley

¼ cup fresh cilantro

Some pepper

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Bring an abundant amount of water for the beans to boil. Add the beans, remove from heat, and cover for ten minutes. Put back on the heat and bring back to a boil for ten minutes, while covered. Remove from heat again and keep covered for 20 minutes or until beans are the consistency you want. Meanwhile, combine all other ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Drain and pat the beans dry before adding to the bowl and tossing. Let sit for flavors to meld.

Notes: Can use one can of beans in place of the tried beans, but again, make sure to drain well before tossing. This dish is fantastic cold. But can also be room temperature.

 

Lotus Root Salad

Single batch serves 8.

1 lotus root

4 cups of boiling water

¼ tsp salt

2 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp white vinegar

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sugar

Peel and thinly slice the lotus root – keep it soaking in cool water to keep from discoloration. To blach, drain and lay the root in a roasting pan and pour boiling water over top. Let sit for five minutes before draining and patting dry. Meanwhile, combine all dressing ingredients. Sprinkle root with dressing and chill at least one hour before serving.

Notes: I find the longer it sits, the better it tastes, so I make it the night before the event for peak flavor.

 

Peas in Herb Sauce

Single batch serves 5

2 leeks

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp cilantro

½ tsp cumin

10 oz frozen peas

1 tsp dill

1 tsp basil

¼ tsp pepper

2/3 cup vegetable broth

1/3 cup white wine

1 tbsp cider vinegar

Slice white part off leeks and mince cilantro. Cook leeks until soft in oil with cilantro and cumin Add rest of ingredients and set aside. Let sit as long as possible to blend flavors. Reheat and adjust spicing.

Notes: I served this dish cold and it was fantastic. The longer it sits, the better it tastes.

 

Shashlyk

Single batch serves 15.

5lbs of meat (lamb, beef, whatever you prefer)

2 onions

2 bay leaves

2 cloves of garlic

A handful of peppercorns

2 cups pomegranate juice

Layer cubed meat with onion and spices, the top layer being onion. Pour pomegranate juice over the meat. Let marinate before grilling.

Notes: Meat can be made ahead of time and frozen in the marinade – works fantastic. No matter how you need to cook it, it tastes fantastic: baked, grilled, kabob’d, stir fry’d, etc).

 

Azerbaijan Pilaf

Single batch serves 6.

½ cup sliced almonds

2 tbsp butter

1 cup rice

2 cup vegetable stock

½ tsp sesame seeds

¼ tsp ginger

¼ tsp salt

Pepper to taste

Melt butter. Add rice and stir until white and opaque. Stir in sesame seeds and then pour in stock, ginger, salt, and pepper. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil. Put in tightly covered dish and bake for 20-25 minutes until rice is tender. Sprinkle almonds over top and serve.

Notes: I added the almonds in while cooking and also did it on the stove top instead of baking. As long as the rice absorbs the stock, whichever method is preferred will work.

 

Marinovannye Griby

Single batch serves 6.

1 cup red wine vinegar

2 cloves

½ cup water

5 peppercorns

½ bay leaf

2 tsp salt

2 cloves garlic

1 lb mushrooms

1 TBSP vegetable oil

Combine vinegar, cloves, water, pepper, bay leaf, salt, and garlic in pan. Heat on high until boiling and drop in mushrooms. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove garlic and pour contents into jar, topping with oil. Marinate for at least one week.

Notes: I never take out the garlic because I like pickled garlic. I like using a variety of fresh mushrooms, if I can find them. I save the marinade for marinating more mushrooms later or using as the base for a salad dressing. You can make these any length ahead of time.

 

Vinegar For Meat

Single batch serves many.

3 cups vinegar

3 ½ tbsp. salt

1 celery root

2 parsnips

2 carrots

2 onions

Spices to taste (allspice, bay leaves, mace, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, garlic)

Finely shred all vegetables. Add all ingredients into a pan and bring to a boil. Let cool and bottle.

Notes: Bottle with the veggies and spices in and strain later – adds to the flavor. Vinegar can be used to pour over cooked meat or marinade meat to be cooked later.

 

Dried Beef

Single batch serves 8.

1 oz black pepper

1 oz long pepper

½ oz mandarin peel

½ oz cardamom

½ oz grains of paradise

½ oz galangal

2 lbs lean beef

8 oz ginger juice

2 oz onion juice

50 grams of salt

Grind spices to a fine powder. Mix rest of ingredients. Marinate meat for two days, turning to cover evenly. Remove meat from marinade, drain well, then air dry for a couple hours. Arrange meat strips in single layer on fine wire screen or cooling rack in oven at 200 until meat is dry. Use two forks to shred meat into floss. Store in air tight container.

Notes: I used bamboo skewers to hang the meat in my oven to save space. It worked well. The spices seemed like a lot, so I experimented with a batch with spices, a batch wiped, and a batch rinsed. The rinsed is less peppery, the batch with spices has a lot more flavor. I did not shred the meat into a floss because I wanted easy to access jerky.

 

Kotmis Satsivi

Single batch serves 4

3 lbs chicken

½ stick melted butter

1 tbsp vegetable oil

½ tsp salt

Pepper to taste

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp finely chopped onion

2 tsp tinely chopped garlic

1 tbsp flour

1 ½ cup chicken stock

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1/8 tsp cloves

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp cayenne

1 bay leaf

1/8 tsp turmeric

1 tbsp parsley

¼ tsp salt

3 oz ground walnuts

Coat chicken in mixture of melted butter and vegetable oil. Cook in a pan on a rack, basting with butter oil, at 475 for 10 minutes on each side. Turn oven to 400, baste and season bird with salt and pepper and roast for 40 minutes, basting every 10. When done, pull out chicken and cube. In skillet, melt butter and add onion and garlic. Cook until soft. Add flour and make a paste before adding chicken broth. Boil until thickened and add rest of ingredients. Pour over chicken before serving.

Notes: Due to allergy concerns, I kept my sauce on the side. The chicken was moist and delicious and the sauce was a very nice compliment.

Cooking For My First Knowne World Event... AND LIVING TO TELL ABOUT IT!

A year ago, after a particularly wonderful sideboard at Crystal Snowflake, I was approached by Mistress Deonna and asked if I would make food for Knowne World Dance and Music Symposium. After she explained she didn't plan to have feasts, just two sideboards, I thought that would be fantastic. I was a little nervous on the idea of a feast with recalling the size of attendance at Knowne World Cooks and Bards (who did a feast for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but of course had cooks who loved the kitchen helping out). So the idea of a sideboard seemed more palatable. And being a 4 day event (Thursday through Sunday) she wanted me to cook on the main day, which was Saturday.

That was a year ago. Because planning for Knowne World events should definitely be planned far in advance. But having so much time, I knew about it, and talked to people about it, but it never felt completely real to me.

I had a menu idea. A menu idea I thought would be good for the event. Salty things, vinegar things, cold things, refreshing things, protein. Everything that people working up a good sweat could want.

About two weeks before the event I was given a rough estimate of numbers and a budget. THAT was when I began to nervous. 150 estimated people? What if there was more? And I've never cooked for more than 50 before. This was three times that amount! As a sideboard that would need to constantly be replenished! Bad enough with 50 people, but 150?! As this point, I was certainly nervous. I wasn't certain if I was calculating things out correctly. I was all kinds of concerned about my math. I was picking brains of all kinds of people to figure out how much meat I should make versus everything else. The menu? That I was completely confident with, even if some nay sayer's tried to poke holes in my food theory.

Finally, after much weighing of the decision, I decide I would make about 80 servings of every recipe. That would leave me with 85lbs of meat (20 of it being made into a jerky like substance) to feed everyone with. Technically, I should have figured a way to maybe just 75lbs, in the thoughts of  8oz per person, but 80 servings was easier to calculate and I began working my way through making everything.

I started, of course, a week early by making things that needed long marinating times or pickling times. I worked more in snippets through the course of the week, but Thursday, a few more things were made and then Friday was kind of the wrap up before Saturday, where I only had to cook three dishes on site (one of them already fully prepped to cook).

 That Friday, I knew the event was already in full swing, so I figured I would stop by and bring my stuff over to the kitchen. I walked into the beautiful event hall, trolled in, and asked where the kitchen was so I could deliver the food.

I will be honest, my heart sank a little when I was pointed about 2-3 blocks away to a brick building in the distance and was given keys to unlock it. Mainly because I saw this beautiful church and was looking forward to doing a feast in there. But, you know what? I got over it. Which ever building I was in, the important thing was that the next day, I would be doing what I loved: feeding people. And so we drove those few blocks and got in that kitchen and started a light prep to prepare for what I knew was going to be a crazy day.

I didn't sleep much. I decided to make baklava. I didn't have to. I could have struck it from the menu (gracious knows there was enough food). I was already dead on my feet because of cooking since the previous weekend, but there was also this buzz of excitement that, even after the baklava was done and I went to bed, I tossed and turned most all the night, anxious about the morning.

At 7am I rose, triple checked that I had everything packed, garbed up simply, and headed out to be on site by around 9am. My dedicated kitchen staff, Mistress Brid and Mistress Siobhan, who have helped me at numerous feasts and sideboards now, were both with me as we assessed the situation, cleaned table tops, and got to work. Kathryn arrived later with beautiful dishes to make the food look amazing, fresh flowers for the table, some extra table clothes to give more color, and a happy disposition for helping out in the kitchen.

Our first concern? After almost an hour at 500 degrees (I am not kidding) the rice pilaf was not working. Time to change tactics and get it on the stove and cook it that way instead. And not use that one broken oven. Thankfully we had two.

Around 10:30, I decided the dancers who were taking classes in what would later be the lunching area deserved some treats. So I put out some dried beef, pickled mushrooms, fresh fruit, and bread with butter. Mistress Deonna had come around and cautioned me that lunch was not until 12:30 and I smiled. I had planned extra food in order that people would be able to replenish salt and protein levels through the morning until lunch. Mistress Deonna recalled why she had asked me to make the side board and thanked me once again.
In our final push, around 11am, Magnus asked if there was anything he could help with. I begged him into the kitchen to help out as my blood sugar had plummeted and, even with drinking much water and partaking in sugars and some protein, I was visibly shaking, incredibly pale, and the world felt like it was swimming around me. I persevered, though. Glass of water, plate this. Glass of water, cut this. Around 12:15 tables and chairs began scraping across the floor and I knew I needed to start getting things out on the tables. Hungry dancers and musicians were on their way.

The line of people was incredible. I made sure people would walk down both sides of the tables, but the masses swallowed the tables. I had to peek around things and for a full 45 minutes, I was back and forth to the kitchen trying to replenish dishes as they emptied. I made sure nothing was empty long. And while I was doing that, Kathryn, Siobhan, and Magnus were still cutting meat, frying meat, and getting things on plates. We were a well running clockwork machine.

When the masses cleared, I was barely able to stand any longer, but my persona needed to go to the tables and make sure everyone was well fed. Feeding people is one of my most passionate hobbies and it is important to me that every can, and does, eat. As things settled and my kitchen staff were finally grabbing plates themselves, I allowed myself to sit down.

The praise I received about the food was overwhelming. As I sit here now and recollect on it all, I don't think I gave the proper thank you's while in the state I was in, and I apologize for that. So, thank you. Everyone. So much.

Everyone was fed. Everyone enjoyed the food. I had one woman come up to me to thank me profusely because everyone in her house ate and was happy, and she had a picky household of gluten issues, vegetarians, and meat-a-tarians. Everyone in her family enjoyed things on the sideboard. The people from Renassonics hugged me because I knew about their lifestyle choice of being vegan and accommodated them without any insult. There was even a dessert option that they could eat: no eggs, no dairy. I was asked by two different people from two different places if I would travel and cook at other events. I was even informed I had groupies that were beginning to watch for my name as a cook at events so that they could come and enjoy. I heard there was a woman so excited because this was her first Knowne World event, and if she knew the food was this good, she would have come to more of them. I was told by a dancer I highly adore and respect that it felt weird coming to an event he loves and knowing he was looking forward to the food more than the dancing (and we all know how much he looks forward to dancing, so this was a huge compliment for me). Someone mentioned that the event could be a little chaotic (as many events are when you are trying to choose between lots of classes of fun), but the meal I created had such a harmony of exotic choices that all worked together so well in their simplicity that it was a refreshing break before classes began again. Even our lovely autocrat had nothing but praise, saying that she chose who she knew was competent and would put on the perfect meal for dancers, really knowing what it is they need and want in a meal.

I am certainly humbled. I have only ever been to one Knowne World event before. For some reason, having been asked to cook for one is the highlights of my cooking career in the SCA. I was honored. It really pushed me as a cook and I feel I rose to the challenge. I want to thank everyone that made this possible and especially thank Mistress Deonna for this incredible opportunity. All my staff, my clean up crew, and the people at the event who just wanted to lend a hand and washed a few dishes, I adore you all. You inspire me to be a better person. Thank you.

Known World Dance and Music Symposium Sideboard

I've been busy. I will obviously put up the recipes as well as notes on each after tomorrow is over, but for now, here is the finalized and prepared menu. I certainly have my favorites.

Melon in Vinegar

Honeydew, vegetable broth, cider vinegar, pepper, mint flakes, pomegranate juice, cream sherry

 

Mushroom Caviar

Mushrooms, onion, butter, dry sherry, curd cheese, cream cheese, parsley, tarragon, marjoram

 

Vinegar for Meat

Cider vinegar, salt, celery root, parsnips, carrots, onions, allspice, bay leaves, mace, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, garlic

 

Dried Beef

Black pepper, long pepper, cardamom, grains of paradise, beef, galangal, ginger, onion, salt

 

Marinovannye Griby

Red wine vinegar, cloves, water, peppercorns, bay leaf, salt, garlic, mushrooms, vegetable oil

 

Peas in Herb Sauce

Leeks, vegetable oil, cilantro, cumin, peas, dill, basil, pepper, vegetable broth, white wine, cider vinegar

 

Lotus Root Salad

Lotus root, salt, sesame oil, white vinegar, soy sauce, sugar

 

Lobio

Kidney beans, salt, rice wine vinegar, onion, parsley, cilantro, pepper, vegetable oil

 

Kotmis Satsivi

Chicken, butter, vegetable oil, salt, pepper

 

Kotmis Satsivi Sauce

Butter, onion, garlic, flour, chicken stock, red wine vinegar, cloves, cinnamon, cayenne, bay leaf, turmeric, parsley, salt, walnuts

 

Azerbaijan Pilaf

Sliced almonds, butter, rice, vegetable stock, sesame seed, ginger, salt, pepper

 

Shashlyk

Beef, onion, bay leaves, garlic, peppercorns, pomegranate juice

 

Cooling Water

Water, cucumber, mint

 

Baklava

Filo dough, walnuts, almonds, cinnamon, clove, cardamom, honey, sugar, lemon juice, rose water

 

Shortbread

Butter, sugar, flour

Some shortbread have anise, some have lavender, some have chocolate.

 

Gingerbread

Flour, vegetable shortening, baking soda, molasses, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, clove, brown sugar

Fresh Fruit

Strawberries, grapes

 

Dried Fruit

Dates, plums

 

Bread and butter

Wheat, pumpernickel

 

Pickled Herring

Recipes

I have had a few people ask me for the recipes of the things I traditionally make for sideboards and feasts.

Units of measurement that may be important:

1 glass = slightly less than 1 US liquid cup
1 spoon = between 3.2 and 3.6 US tablespoons

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Apricot dinner kasha:
3 to 4 cups water
1 cup bulgar
2 carrots, diced
1 onion, diced
1/4 cup of prunes, dried apricots, raisins or other dried fruit cut up
salt to taste
Bring water to boil and stir in bulgar, onion, and carrot. Simmer over low heat, stirring every 15 minutes until the desired texture, approximately 45 minutes (watch carefully so it doesn't burn). Add the apricots toward the end of cooking. Add extra water if needed.

Shashlyk:

Marinade for 5 lb meat (lamb or beef): 
1-2 onions, coarsely chopped
2 bay leaves
2 clove garlic
Pepper corns
2 cups pomegranate juice
Layer cubed meat with onion and spices. Top layer should be onion. Pour pomegranate juice over the meat. Freeze or marinate in fridge. Grill to desired done-ness.

Cabbage Pagach:
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium cabbage (chopped)
Salt and pepper to taste
Enough pie crust for five 9-inch pies.
Saute onion in a large pot until soft and translucent. Add the cabbage and cook covered until soft. Add salt and pepper to taste. Roll out a crust and put into a pie tin. Put cabbage mixture on one half of circle. Fold over other half of dough to form a large turnover and seal the edge, leaving half the pie tin free to hold another pie. This recipe should make 5 pies. Bake in preheated 400 degree oven about 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Flat Breads:
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour 
1 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup water

Mix ingredients with hands. Turn dough onto a floured work surface and knead for 5 minutes.

Transfer to a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let dough rest for 30 to 90 minutes. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a 7-inch (18-cm) circle. Spray a cast-iron griddle or skillet once with cooking spray and set over medium-low heat. Cook for 1 minute. Turn over and cook 5 minutes on second side or until bread bubbles up. Flip back to first side and cook for 5 minutes.

Marinovannye Griby: (Pickled Mushrooms)

1c red wine vinegar

2 whole cloves

½ c cold water

5 whole peppercorns

½ bay leaf

2 tsp salt

2 cloves garlic

1 lb mushrooms

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Combine vinegar, cloves, water, pepper, bay leaf, salt and garlic in a pan. Heat over high heat to boil and drop in mushrooms. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove garlic from marinade and pour contents of pan into 1 quart jar. Pour oil over top. Place plastic wrap over top and cover jar tightly. Let marinate about one week.

Hen with prunes:

1 large hen (or equivalent of chicken)

2 spoons butter

1 carrot

1 parsley root

1 onion

2-3 bay leaves

1 spoon flour

vinegar or ½ a lemon

1-2 pieces of sugar

½ lb prunes

10-15 allspice

Clean and salt hen. Place ¼ lb butter, root vegetables, and spices in a stew pan. When butter starts to bubble, add the hen and stew, covered, until tender, turning and adding a little water. When cooked, remove and cut into pieces. Return to pan and add 3 glasses (a little less than 3 cups) bouillon – cook for ½ an hour.

Meanwhile, fry 1 spoon (3.5 tablespoons) flour in butter, dilute with hen bouillon and add vinegar and sugar. Bring sauce to boil, strain, pour over hen. Add prunes that have been boiled in water, covered, left to stand 1-1 ½ hours, and removed from water with a slotted spoon. Bring everything to a boil. Serve chicken and prunes with a little sauce on top and rest of sauce separately.

Turnip pudding with ham:

2 1/12 spoons butter

6 eggs

2lbs turnips

½ lb ham

1/6 lb cheese

½ spoon butter

Cream ¼ lb butter until white. Beat in 3 eggs and 3 egg yolks and 1 ½ glass mashed/boiled turnips and 1/2lb finely chopped ham. Mix thoroughly and pile into a mold greased with butter. Set in oven and, when pudding is ready, turn it out onto a platter. Strew with cheese and pour on hot butter.
(Can be made easily without the ham and is well received.)

Mushroom Caviar:

12oz mushrooms finely chopped

1 medium onion finely chopped

4 oz butter

1 tbsp dry sherry

3 oz curd cheese

3 oz cream cheese

2 oz parsley

1 oz tarragon

1 oz marjoram

Saute mushrooms and onion in butter. Once soft, add sherry and remove from heat. In a bowl beat together cheeses and herbs. Stir in mushrooms, onion, and juices. Beat until combined and transfer into a crock. Chill overnight or up to three days.

Creamed Beets:

3lbs beets

1 spoon finely chopped onion

1 1/2 spoons butter

1/4 spoon flour

3/4 glass sour cream

salt

2-3 spoons vinegar

Boil beets. Peel and chop. Fry onion in butter and add flour and beets. Mix. Add sour cream, salt, and vinegar. Bring to boil. Some people add sugar or honey.


Most requested sideboard items (to continually be updated):

Shortbread

My recipe is always the same. Mix together 1 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of powdered sugar (or sugar that has been pounded in mortar/pestle or pulsed through a food processor). Rub in one stick of butter, cut into cubes, until a firm cookie dough is formed. Roll and cut or shape cookies with hands and then cook at 325 for 15-20 minutes. As shortbread is so easy to experiment with, it is no wonder I use it to make mock springerle or add various other flavors. A recent event I was at I ended up making a special type of cookie and wanted to share that recipe here:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar (there was only granulated at the event, so I made do, but MUCH better with powdered)
1/2 cup (or one stick) or cold butter
1/ teaspoon orange zest
2 tablespoons lavender
pine-nuts

Sift together the flour and sugar. Add the orange zest. Cut the butter into cubes and (trust me on this) rub the butter with your fingers into the dough. When dough begins to resemble crumbs, add the lavender. Keep rubbing until a nice firm cookie dough forms. Shape however you like using cookie cutters or just shape with fingers. Decorate using the pine-nuts. Bake at 325 for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden. Cool on a rack for best results.

Side Board / Feasting

I seem to officially have my side board items decided on. Due to this fact, I can now make permanent sign-age for them. Also, because I have a very nice flow chart of when I have made them and how many I cooked for, how many were actually there, and how much was eaten, as well as how much a single batch costs, I am able to manipulate fairly quickly and easily. I do have a few other recipes on stand by that I have tried or would like to try again in order to flesh them out and have things for substitutions if, say, there is a really bad year on beets or something. But, otherwise, these are certainly the main things I make and have people beg for me to make again.

Chapatis (flat breads)
Shashlyk (grilled beef)
Pagach (cabbage pie)
Griby (marinated mushrooms)
Hen with prunes
Turnip pudding with ham
Dinner kasha
Creamed beets
Tea eggs
Mushroom caviar

Over all, things seem to go over really well. I've noticed that, depending on the event, some things go over better than others. There are a few other things I have made that I would make again depending on if it is a feast or I just want to substitute.

Cod with spiced cherry sauce
Stuffed onions
Root vegetables in milk sauce

There are also quite a few things that I would like to make at some point, including and not limited to borscht, cold salted cucumber soup, kvas (again), and hand made Russian sausages. Perhaps the next side board I will make sausages for. Perhaps I will make up a small batch for Pennsic just to get an idea.

For recipes, please view this entry: Recipes

Baklava Documentation

Baklava is a very difficult dessert-like pastry to track down the origins of. Since baklava also happens to be one of my most favorite desserts to make, I knew that was something I simply had to do. There were a lot of problems along the way of being able to find a way to document this decadent dessert, but there are definite recipes that are very similar that have been written down that I am certain were part of the evolution of baklava. I ran across many SCAdians who were also trying their hardest to understand and pinpoint a period recipe for baklava. I am hoping if we all work together we will be able fully show exactly how baklava came into being.

There are a few reasons why baklava recipes are difficult to track down. One is simply that recipes were usually passed on through oral tradition more often than being written down. The other reason is that baklava started as being created in palaces for emperors and was most likely a guarded secret for that reason.

Nomadic turks had an interest in layered breads, emulating the thick bread's that city folk made in their ovens. As early as the 11^th century there was the word 'yufka' that was recorded in Turkish dialect that meant pleated bread. In modern Turkish, that word still exists and now means a single sheet of phyllo. The Azerbaijanis feel they created the first representation of baklava with a pastry called baki pakhlavasi, a dish that uses noodle paste instead of filo (Davidson, 299).

Persians also delight in feeling that they were the first to create this particular delicacy. Patissiers since antiquity, they claim they invented baklava, a sweet pastry stuffed with nuts and perfumed with pussy-willow and jasmine blossoms. In the 6^th century at the Byzantine court of Justinian I, this dessert was introduced and quickly adopted by the Greeks who claim that their discovery and addition of phyllo to the recipe was what made it the dessert everyone knows today (Harlan, 690).

As you can see, nearly all of the middle east claims ownership to having created this specific dessert which makes it incredibly difficult to pinpoint when and the exact recipe that came about from it. That being said, there are many recipes out there very similar to that of baklava, so understanding the evolution and morphing of the dessert isn't that difficult.

Here are two examples of very baklava -ike desserts from the Andalusian cookbook, created in the 13^th century:

“Qursas

Take very white flour and knead it with milk, salt, and yeast. And when you have kneaded it considerably, leave it until it rises. Then take one egg or several, according to the quantity of the dough. Break them in a bowl and beat them. Moisten the dough with them little by little and knead it until it slackens. Take a new frying pan and shower it with clarified butter or fresh oil. Take a handful of the dough and spread it in the pan. Put over it a layer of almonds and pistachios, or whichever you have. When the almonds cover the dough, put another dough on the almonds, and so on, layer on layer. In this way you fill the frying pan up to two fingers (from it's rim). Put it in the oven with the bread and when it is done, prick it with a knife and take it out as it is. Heat honey and clarified butter and pour over, and when it has soaked them up, throw it on a platter and sprinkle over it Chinese cinnamon and cinnamon and serve it, if God wishes.”

The recipe has many similar points to baklava, only using bread instead of filo, and placing the spices over top upon serving. It does not mention if the nuts are ground or chopped at all, though. I almost think they would need to be.

“Abbasid Qataif

Take peeled almonds, pound them, and let them dry. Add as much again of sugar, spikenard, cloves, and Chinese cinnamon. Take a raghif (flat bread) free of burns, and sprinkle it with almonds and sugar aplenty. Sprinkle with rosewater and fold until it is a half circle. Glue edges with dough weted in rosewater and put in pan of fresh oil. Boil it, then take out immediately so it drains of oil. Let it float in a syrup of roses, julep, or skimmed honey.”

This recipe is a little different as, instead of layering the nuts with dough, you are instead creating pouches of spiced nuts in a flat bread and frying them up in oil. The nuts are specifically ground and have spices and sugar added to them, though. This is something the previous recipe did not have. They also can be floated in honey which would make them as honey soaked as baklava can be. The flavors would be similar and only missing the layering of bread.

My recipe, written in a period style, is as follows:

Pound two measures of walnuts and add to this a measure of Chinese cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom. In a dish, place a layer of dough well soaked in butter. Do as such again until layers count to ten. Sprinkle walnuts a plenty on top and add again another layer of dough soaked in butter until the layers count to ten. Place walnuts aplenty once again and continue in this manner until all walnuts are gone and layers atop the nuts count of ten. Place dish in a warmed oven. When it is done, prick with knife and quickly soak in honey perfumed with rose water.

References

Anonymous. Andalusian Cookbook. 13^th Century.

Davidson, Alan. Oxford Companion to Food. Oxford University Press: Oxford. 1999.

Harlan, William. The Horizon cookbook and Illustrated History of Eating and Drinking Through the Ages. American Heritage: New York. 1968.