Hispano-Muslim food and diet: Uses and customs
Introduction: Al-Andalus as was.
Food used in cooking:
– Cereals, essential for making bread, cakes, pies, desserts, couscous
– Meat dishes and ways of preparing them: lamb, beef, hen; game birds: partridges, young pigeons, doves, pheasants.
– Fish – conservation and preparation techniques: almadraba-fished tuna, escabeche marinade.
– Pulses, vegetables
– High quality fruit due to good soil and abundant supply of water – water channels
– Tropical crops grown on the coast
– Olive oil from the great plantations in Jaén, Córdoba and Granada
Spices: imported from the Orient along two great trade routes. Very expensive to buy.
Desserts: very varied, based on honey, almonds and fried dough
Beverages: aromatic drinks, fruit syrups, horchatas, sorbets.
Buying and Selling: In markets, souks, silk markets, street stalls and grain stores; in Granada we can still see the Corral del Carbón which was once a very important grain store.
The house, kitchen, larder, central courtyard. Cooking utensils, places for keeping food: earthenware jars, pots, cupboards.
The table: "Alí ibn Nafí known as Ziryab" deserves special mention as the man who brought the refined lifestyle of the East to al-Andalus: tablecloths, silks, carpets.
Recipes
Lastly: What remains of all this in today’s culture?
Time: 2nd and 3rd Sundays of February, 9th and 16th February, at 12:00
Place: Museum of the Alhambra, Palace of Charles V