Kanz al-fawāʾid or Treasure Trove is the enticing title of a medieval Egyptian cookbook, written by an anonymous author. This exceptional text comes from the Mamluks era, in the 14th century- and it preserves a variety of delicious delicacies and their various benefits for the modern reader. Compiled from multiple sources, the cookbook includes more than 800 colorful recipes earnestly detailed and carefully explained. Reflecting a delightful culinary snapshot of this region and era, the book contains such categories as refreshing beverages, cold dishes, varieties of bread, vegetarian dishes, exotic pickles, all types of sweets and many more. The Kanz reveals the secrets of sophisticated meals that would sit on the menu of sultans and viziers and provides instructions for simple everyday meals. The Kanz speaks of culinary traditions, social strata, cooking facilities, and gives extraordinary insight into unusual kinds of produce found in highly specialized marketplaces in Cairo of the 14th century. With guidance from our guest, Nawal Nasrallah - who has translated the text for the first time from Arabic to English - we set out to explore this fascinating book!

Nawal Nasrallah is an Independent Iraqi scholar and an eminent translator of medieval Arab cookery manuals. Nasrallah was a professor at the universities of Baghdad and Mosul, teaching English language and Literature until 1990. She is an award-winning researcher and food writer. The first edition of her cookbook Delights from the Garden of Eden was winner of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2007. Her book Dates: A Global History was released in April 2011. It is a charming account of the date palm and its fruit. Her English translation of Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq's 10th century Baghdadi cookbook Kitab al-Tabeekh, entitled Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens, was awarded Best Translation in the World. In 2017 She translated a precious medieval Egyptian cookbook Kanz al-fawāʾid fī tanwīʿ al-mawāʾid entitled Treasure Trove of Benefits and Variety at the table, a 14th century Egyptian Cookbook. 

What we cover in this episode

• The story of a unique text 
• Kanz: contents, composition and users
• Cairo marketplaces
• Stewed sparrows: an exotic dish

Terms

• Kanz: Treasure
• laymūn: Lemon
• Muhtasīb [Arabic]: Market inspector 
• Hummus bi-tahina [Arabic]: Hummus with tahini

A passage from the book

I travelled next through a sandy region to the city of Dimyat. It is a city of spacious quarters and with a diversity of fruits, admirably laid out, and enjoying a share of every good thing. The city of Dimyat lies on the bank of the Nile, and the people in the houses next to the river draw water from it in buckets. Many of the houses have steps leading down to the Nile. Banana trees are especially abundant there, and their fruit is carried to Cairo in boats. Its sheep and goats are allowed to pasture at liberty day and night…Sea-fowl are sold in this city in large quantities and are exceedingly fat; there are also various preparations of buffalo milk, which are unequalled for sweetness and delicious taste, and the fish called al-buri which is exported from there to Syria, Anatolia, and Cairo. [Travels of Ibn Battuta, translated by Hamilton Gibbs, Hakluyt Society]

Recommended reading 

Treasure Trove of Benefits and Variety at the table, a 14th century Egyptian Cookbook, Brill, 2017.

We acknowledge the Aboriginal peoples as the enduring Custodians of the land from where this podcast is produced.