Glossary and Translator's Explanations
The following explanations are by Charles Perry, unless otherwise identified.
Boil and Fry: The respective verbs are ghala and qala, which are devilishly similar-looking in Maghribi script. When there's a lot of oil in a pan, I allow HM to say boil, but I have not hesitated to differ from his interpretation. The Spanish translation has rendered " boil" as " boil" when it refers to heating a liquid and " scald" when it refers to cooking a solid ingredient in boiling liquid; a handy distinction, though not one either English or Arabic happens to make. Since in English " boil" means to boil lightly, I have changed nearly all scalds to boils.
Chinese Cinnamon: (C. cassia: wooden bark) also known as cassia. For most purposes ordinary cinnamon can be substituted, but there is a slight difference of flavor.
Clarified Butter: butter melted and separated from its milk solids.
Coriander: Coriander seed
Cilantro: Coriander leaves and stem
Cut or slice: When it comes to knifework, I distinguish between qata'a, " to cut, to cut off, " qatta'a, " to cut up, " and sharaha, " to slice."
Eyes: This term is applied to herbs and cabbage. We suspect that it may be a measure, such as a bunch or handful, or perhaps a particular part, such as the inner part of a head of cabbage.
fâ nî d: The recipes show that fâ nî d was either refined sugar or a pulled taffy
Furn: Bread oven. In general, we translate it as oven, and give the Arabic for tannur.
Gourd: Not our squash or pumpkins, which are from the new world. The gourd mentioned in period recipes may be Lagenaria sicereia, the white blossomed gourd. Some of the edible gourds used in Chinese cooking and sometimes available in Chinese grocery stores are Lagenaria. I have heard that the Italian Edible Gourd is a Lagenaria; seeds are available from some nurseries. We usually use squash as the closest alternative readily available. (DF)
Hearthstone: Dishes are removed from the fire (" taken down" is the terminology; putting a pot on a fire literally means " raise it" ) and set on the hearthstone (radaf). Huici Miranda has translated this word as " embers, " but it definitely is a stone, and some recipes make it clear that radaf was the word for the stone outside the tannur oven onto which ashes could be swept.Presumably the dishes are removed to the hearthstone to be cooked at a low heat. Things are also often removed to the embers (jamr) or the euphorbia embers (ghada) to cook, though more slowly.
Julep: It was basically a rose-flavored sugar syrup. Jullab is the word in Arabic, but it's Persian to begin with: gul-ab, " rose-water."
Ka'k: One of the most ancient baked goods of the Near East. It's so old we don't know whether the word is Aramaic or Ancient Egyptian. Anyway, it was (and is) a biscuit in the sense of something baked or cooked twice. In one place it has been translated hardtack, which is close enough except that it's usually somewhat sweetened. I have left it untranslated, but often added parenthetically (biscotti), since it resembles Italian biscotti.
" knead, " " beat" or " stir.": The verb that has stumped me most often is 'araka. According to the lexicons, this means " to be a strong fighter" (ma'raka means battlefield), or " to consume all the vegetation in an area" (of animals). The context shows that in recipes it means to mix in some way, but I have often been unsure whether to translate it " knead, " " beat" or " stir."
Kohl: Antimony powder, used as makeup. It can be ground to a very fine powder.
moist: Ratb means moist, fresh, succulent. I have sometimes differed from HM's interpretation, usually favoring moistness.
Murri: See notes on ingredients above.
Murri naqî ' is the technical name of the variety of murri unique to Andalus. The name means " infused" or " macerated" murri.
Mustard: Sinab was simply mustard as we know it, ground mustard seed made into a condiment with grape juice or vinegar; it was common in Andalusian cooking but not known in the Levant, where mustard was always a spice, never a condiment.
Pan, Frying pan: Used to translate miqlâ t, which was used only for frying. It might be either clay or iron.
Pot: Used to translate qidr.
Pound: The verb daqqa, one of the commonest verbs in any recipe of the mortar-happy Middle Ages, means to pound. I have always translated it that way.
qursa was (as it still is in Arabic) a small round bread, relatively flat; close enough to a small pita.
Raghî f means flatbread, rolled out decidedly thinner than a pita.
Ram: In the recipes that call for ram, I wonder whether they might be steered rams. Adult ram is pretty tough and gamy. Also, it makes good sense to castrate most of the males in a flock that are allowed to grow up.
Roll Out: madda means to stretch out or roll out. I usually translate it as roll out (implying a rolling pin).
ruqâ q means a thin flatbread, as close to paper-thin as possible.
salâ ya: a stone chopping board or work surface
Samn means clarified butter; pure butterfat with the milk solids removed--the Indian ghee.
Serve, Present or Use: Some recipes say, when a dish is done, to present it (qaddama); others say to use it (ista'mala). On the presumption that there may be some pattern to this terminology, I have distinguished between " serve" or " present" and " use." In fact, these may be just usages that were followed in the various recipe books this writer lifted from.
Skimmed Honey: Honey was nearly always boiled and then skimmed of the froth or scum that would come to the top. Since " honey, cleaned of its scum" is a clumsy locution, I have rendered it as " skimmed honey." Sugar syrup was often skimmed the same way.
Spices: I have not distinguished between tî b (literally, goodness; perfume), tawâ bil (spices), afâ wî h (aromatics) and 'aqâ qî r (drugs), because they seem to be used indiscriminately. I have translated them all as " spices." And I have not found any warrant for Huici Miranda's " aromatic herbs"; I render them too as spices. NB: in some cases, Huici Miranda was misled by the fact that tib (goodness, perfume) and tayyib (good) are spelled the same.
Tajine: tâ jin, A North African earthenware cooking dish with a lid.
Tannur: Clay oven, cousin to the Indian tandoor, often partly buried in the ground. { Distinguished from the surface oven by having around 125 cm in length, 50 in breadth, and some 40 in height, according to Guinaudeau in Fes vu par sa cuisine, p.185. Al-Saqati mentions it, p. 53 and al-Saquri, folio 60 v, says that dishes cooked in it are more flavorful than those of the surface oven.} Huici-Miranda
