East meets West: Guest Post by The Foodies Larder
My mission has always been to explore all the varied influences on Pakistani cuisine and I have always been intrigued by the Arabian flavours in my cuisine. This lead me to research more into how Arab invasion has left a culinary foot print where ever they have passed though. Much as to do with the irresistibly decadent flavours and spices and a lot to do with their love for food and how eating has always been a massive part of their culture, therefore natural that they left their influences where ever they invaded.This concept and journey to explore Arabian invasion and their influences gave birth to the idea for this guest post; to compare and contrast different cultures and the uses of similar influences left by mutual invaders. I decided to work with The Foodies Larder, Spanish gourmet and artisan food hamper creators and plan to take 5 ingredients introduced in our cuisine by our common invaders and contrast how these are used in our cuisines today, highlighted in one sweet dish each. We settled for:
- Saffron
- Cinnamon
- Dates
- Honey
- Almonds
East meets West: Arabian influence on Spanish Cuisine For nearly 700 years, from the early 8th century, the Moors who were originally from North Africa and a were a mixture of Arab and Berbers, occupied an area called Al-Andalus which at its peak was made up of much of what today is Spain, Portugal, Andorra and parts of southern France. They built splendid palaces, developed agriculture and in particular methods of irrigation and introduced numerous food stuffs including citrus fruits, figs, pomegranates, sugar cane and rice. It wasn’t until the fall of Granada in 1492, that Muslim rule in Iberia came to an end. However with over 7 centuries of rule, they managed to leave a definite imprint on the country and in particular in Andalucia. Indeed, the influence of Moorish cuisine on traditional southern Spanish dishes still exists today with a varied cuisine that is a wonderful mix of Northern African, Middle Eastern and Spanish influences.Many other countries have also been heavily influenced by the Arabian conquests. At a similar time to when the Moors were crossing the straits of Gibraltar, Arabian forces were invading India through Sindh (now the southern part of Pakistan). And although Pakistani food is very different to Spanish cuisine, there are numerous ingredients, introduced by Arabian invaders, that can be found in both cuisines.It was this idea, of how different cultures used similar non-native ingredients in their cooking, that we thought would be interesting to explore along with well known Pakistani Food Writer and Cook, Sumayya Jamil. The plan: by each taking the same 5 ingredients, ingredients that had been introduced to our respective countries by Arabian invaders and that featured highly in our respective cuisines, we would both cook a dish to compare and contrast how our two cultures use these ingredients in present day cooking. The ingredients we settled on were:
- Saffron
- Cinnamon
- Dates
- Honey
- Almonds
Pan de Higo or Spanish Fig Cake is a traditional way to preserve figs for the cold winter months. It’s delicious with both savoury and sweet accompaniments, often served with a plate of cured meats or cheese. It is equally tasty served as a sweet so for our recipe we decided on pairing it with another of Spain’s principal crops, saffron, a spice introduced by the Moors.
Figgy Bread Cake with Sweet Saffron Yogurt
Preparation Time: 25 minutesCooking Time: 2 hoursIngredients:Base
- 80g dry figs
- 50g dates
- 125g roasted almonds
Topping
- 300g of Greek Yogurt
- 6 tbsp Runny Honey
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ g saffron powder
- 2 tsp curd powder
- 4 Fresh Figs
- Agave Syrup
Method:1) Start by making your base. Put the roasted almonds into your food processor or blender and pulse for about 10 seconds until you have a fine/medium crumb, making sure to keep them from turning into a paste. Then add your dates and figs to the food processor and blend until you have a sticky, firm paste. Put your mixture into a cake tin and flatten it out with your fingers. Then place in the fridge for about 30 minutes.2) Whilst your base is in the fridge, you can prepare the topping. In a large mixing bowl, put the Greek yogurt, honey, cinnamon and saffron powder and mix together with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth yellow creamy mixture.3) Now, remove your base from the fridge and spoon the mixture over the top. Then put back into the fridge and leave to set.4) After at least 2 hours, remove, and garnish with fresh fig quarters and a squeeze of agave syrup.Cooking tip: If you need to make your topping firmer, you can add 2 tbsp of curd powder.
For more from The Foodies Larder on Arabian influence on Spanish cuisine please follow this link to their site.