The entrance to my web-home.
Notice the green tile roof, typical of Fes.
Check the weather in Fes, Morocco, my father's home, which is updated every time you visit the page.

Here are two photos of me, if you really want to look.

is off to one side of the central courtyard. It is not quite a room, yet set back and somewhat protected from the elements - lined with soft coushioned banquettes, the walls decorated with intricate zellij tile work.

You'll also find information about and recipes for authentic Medieval and Renaissance cooking in Europe and in the Near East, and some modern Moroccan recipes, as well as links to other websites about Near and Middle Eastern food and Medieval and Renaissance food.

Hey, there's some new stuff in al-Iwan!

Cooking in 2008

Teaching 15th and 16th century Ottoman cuisine

* Kingdom of An Tir Culinary Symposium, November 14-16:  I taught 2 classes - one history and one hands-on. The event was held in the Barony of Dragon's Laire at a lovely rustic camp on a lovely misty lake outside Belfair WA. I had a large attendence of enthusiastic participants, more than i had anticipated.

In the hands-on class, over 12 students and i cooked Chicken soup with egg-lemon sauce, Ottoman-style saffron rice, and Sefer�eliyya, lamb with fresh quinces, dried apricots, and almonds.

* Kingdom of the West Cooks Collegium, September 20:  I taught 2 classes - one history and one hands-on.

In the hands-on class, 3 students and i cooked Chicken soup with white flower gourds and egg-lemon sauce, and Salma, stewed lamb with freshly made pasta coins and honey-mint-vinegar sauce. Because of limitations of stove space, we did not make as many dishes as i had originally planned.

----- recipes not yet on the website -----

12. Mists Spring Investiture Middle Eastern Sweets Table

----- all recipes included -----

Cooking in 2007

11. Mists Fall Investiture Ottoman Feast using 15th & 16th century recipes

----- all recipes included -----

10. Pennsic 36 Feast for King Jade and Queen Kaaren of the West Kingdom and Their Royal Guests

----- all recipes included -----

Cooking in 2004-2006

I was concerned that perhaps i was cooking too many feasts and not giving other cooks a chance to show their stuff, so i decided to take a break in 2004.

In 2005 and 2006 i offered to cook some feasts, but did not have the opportunity. Additionally i had assumed in error that a branch feast would want a head cook from their own branch. So i did not volunteer to cook for as many events as i could have.

During that time, i remained active, helping to cook and serve feasts for other head cooks. Additionally Anna de Serre (now Maestra) and i prepared and presented day boards at the Mists-Cynagua wars every spring and fall of 2005 and 2006, as well as at Kingdom June Crown 2006. The day boards were by donation - we had no set prices, and we donated what we raised over our expenses to various officers, such as the waterbearers and the youth marshalls of both Principalities.

Further, in 2006 i translated "À la table du Grand Turc" by Stephane Yerasimos, a book about Ottoman cuisine of the 15th and 16th centuries, from French into English. I have since refined the translation, and am working on translating passages in the modern Turkish edition not in the French edition into English.

Cooking in 2003

9. October - Iron Chef Competition - Great Western War - Winning Team!

the "secret ingredient" was apples
----- recipes not included -----

8. September - Mists Principality Bardic Greco-Roman Feast

----- all recipes included -----

7. January - Private Feast for the incoming and outgoing Royalty of the Principality of Cynagua

Medieval Andalusian and modern Moroccan
----- recipes not included -----

Cooking in 2002

6. September - Mists Principality Bardic Mediterranean Tour Feast

----- all recipes included -----

5. August - Casbah! Middle Eastern Feast at Purgatorio

----- all recipes included -----

4. April - Mists Principality Spring Coronet Iron Chef Cook-Off

Thumiyya, "Garlicy", a 13th century Andalusian dish of chicken, garlic, spices, and lavender flowers, the winning recipe

Cooking in 2001

3. December - My Second Province of the Mists Boar Hunt Feast

----- all recipes included -----

2. November - Iron Chef Persian at The Principality of the Mists Fall Investiture Iron Chef Feast

----- all recipes included -----

Cooking in 2000

1. December - Province of the Mists Boar Hunt Feast

My first SCA feast as Head Cook was rather mixed in both time and place.
----- all recipes included -----

Historical Near and Middle Eastern Recipes and Research

Recipes

A White Tharid of al-Rachid

a 9th 0r 10th century Abbasid dish

Isfanakh Mutajjan

a tasty spinach dish (more oil (as is typical of Near Eastern dishes) and more spices than Cariadoc's version)
from al-Baghdadi's 13th century Book of Dishes

A Recipe for a Dish of Chicken or Partridge with Quince or Apple

from the 13th century Andalusian cook book

Chicken with Walnuts & Saffron

from the 13th century Andalusian cook book
Cut-up chicken and chicken meat balls in a rich savory sauce

23 German Mushroom Recipes

which i translated myself from several dialects of Medieval German

Research

Comparing The Use of Spices in Two 13th Century Near Eastern Cookbooks

The Fragrant Spicebox of 13th Century Andalusia
The Fragrant Spicebox of 13th Century Kitab al-Tabikh by Baghdadi
The Two Spiceboxes Compared

Eight Fine Spice Powders Described and Compared

from 14th century Catalunya to 16th century France, plus blends from mid-17th France

Some Extant Medieval Near and Middle Eastern Cookbooks

Descriptions of ten surviving SCA-period cookbooks, all but one translated into English, as well as links to good on-line sources of SCA-period Near and Middle Eastern recipes.

Modern Moroccan Food

an index of recipes and descriptions of basic ingredients

• Essentials: some basic recipes, such as salted preserved lemons, har or harissa - hot sauce, smen - herbed preserved butter, and ras al-hanout - a complex spice blend
• Several distinctive salads featuring carrots, oranges, and even radishes
• Tagines: a Selection of Seven Savory "Stews": three vegetarian, one with egg, and three with meats
• Traditional Moroccan Beverages: Spiced coffee, mint tea, almond milk, and more

has walls lined with elaborately carved and painted shelves and cupboards filled with books, scrolls, papers. Under the windows are divans and cushions on which to sit, in front of which are round, shell inlaid, wooden tables... Pull down some reading matter and get cozy...

Here there is information about The Travelling Moorish Reading Room, my personal commentaries on being Near or Middle Eastern in the SCA, brief histories of al-Maghreb and al-Andalus, and links to other websites about Near and Middle Eastern cultures and names.