A Baghdad Cookery Book

by Muhammad bin Hasan al-Baghdadi

Other authorsCharles Perry (Translator)

Paperback, 2005

Status

Available

Call number

641.59174927

Description

For centuries, it had been the favourite Arabic cookery book of the Turks. The original manuscript, formerly held in the library of the Aya Sofya Mosque, is still in Istanbul; it is now MS Ayasofya 3710 in the Süleymaniye Library. At some point a Turkish sultan commissioned very a handsome copy, now MS Oriental 5099 in the British Library in London. At a still later time, a total of about 260 recipes were added to Kitâb al Tabîkh's original 160 and the expanded edition was retitled Kitâb Wasf al-Atima al-Mutada (my translation of it also appears in Medieval Arab Cookery); three currently known copies of K.Wasf survive, all in Turkey - two of them in the library of the Topkapi Palace, showing the Turks' high regard for this book. Finally, in the late fifteenth century Sirvâni made a Turkish translation of Kitâb al Tabîkh, to which he added some recipes current in his own day, the first Turkish cookery book.… (more)

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User reviews

LibraryThing member kiridono

Outstanding translation of a book that has been translated by others, Mr. Perry has the depth and background in this area to give us a very useable and well-documented version.

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LibraryThing member lilinah

This new translation by Charles Perry is a great improvement over A.J. Arberry's once-novel, now-dated 1939 translation of this legendary 13th century cookbook, which served the kitchens of the wealthy and powerful of the Near and Middle East for well over 300 years.

True, the writing style of these

recipes is not like that familiar to most 21st C. Americans, with the exact quantity of every ingredient and every step of the process enumerated. However, the writing style is not much different from cookbooks written in other languages even today, such as those I purchased when I lived in Indonesia. And the recipes are quite usable by the adventurous cook. I've been using al-Baghdadi's cookbook, in one form or another, for about 9 years. I am very happy to have it now in this convenient paperback format.

For those not accustomed to using these sorts of recipes, it may take a bit of courage and several experiments. But I'm sure that once you play with them a few times, you will find yourself rewarded by the opportunity to dine like a Caliph.

For those more cautious, but interested in the history of cookbooks, in the history of cuisines in general, and in Middle Eastern cuisines in particular, even if you don't cook from these recipes, this over 700 year old cookbook will be a fascinating study in the dining of the past.

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