Read Online In the Devil's Garden: A Sinful History of Forbidden Food by Stewart Lee Allen - Free Book Online Page A

pears and peaches, to name a few. People slaked their thirst with date wine and afterward nibbled on a multitude of refreshing sherbets and the sweet jellies called
rahat lokum
(“giving rest to the throat”), which we Westerners call Turkish Delight. Then steaming black coffee served in jeweled
zarfs
, scented with ambergris and cardamom and presented by Heaven-sent virgins. Then, ah yes, back to that “work.”
    But better than the endless food and sex, dinner in Heaven would never be interrupted by a trip to the bathroom. A mere belch takes care of all unpleasantness, an emission producing a divine odor “like that of musk,” which would be of itself an act of praise to Allah.
    The Sultan’s Date
    There are said to be eight hundred separate uses for dates in Arabic cuisine, including wine; the naturally alcoholic juice from the tree is Islam’s sole “legal” source of alcohol (it tastes a bit like peanut butter), and is so popular that the Egyptian government had to ban the cutting down of date trees. The following recipe for Rutab Mu’ ass al (dates in saffron) comes from the classic eighth-century Baghdad cookbook
Kitab al-Tabikh
, as adapted in David Waines’s
In a Caliph’s Kitchen
. The original manuscript was written by a member of a royal family and a female slave and is Islam’s earliest culinary text.
    1 pound fresh dates, preferably
Khustawi
variety
Blanched almonds, one per date
3 tablespoons rosewater
¼ teaspoon saffron
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons superfine sugar, plus more to cover
2 teaspoons cinnamon
     
    Slit and remove the stone from each date and replace with one blanched almond. Squeeze closed. Bring the rosewater, saffron, and honey to a boil and simmer for three to four minutes. Let cool and pour over the dates. Make sure every date is coated. Let them sit for a couple of hours or overnight. Mix sugar and cinnamon together. Remove dates from the syrup and roll in the sugar/cinnamon mixture (see endnotes for more elaborate recipe). Store in a cool place, covered with more sugar. Dates (frozen) are available year round but are best in the fall, when you can get them fresh.
    Angel Food Cake
    The diet enjoyed by human souls in the afterlife seems relatively clear. But what about the angels? The nature of angelic cuisine has been debated for centuries. Islamic scholar Ibn Majah said the Heavenly Host dines exclusively upon the “Glory of God,” washed down by “Proclaiming His Holiness.” Mark Twain felt certain that the heavenly food must be watermelons. The preponderance of evidence, however, suggests angels prefer toast. Psalm 78 of the Bible states that these spirits (we’re talking Judeo-Christian-Islamic here) live on “the wheat of heaven,” or manna. The former suggests bread, but manna? In the biblical language of Aramaic, manna is said to mean, “What is this?” Hardly definitive. Fortunately, the Bible contains some interesting clues, particularly in the bit where the Jews fleeing Egypt run out of grub, and, boom!, this manna stuff starts falling from the sky. Moses immediately tells everyone to grab it up because “this is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.” Everybody gathered the stuff up and baked it into something that tasted “like wafers made with honey.” It turns out there’s a mosslike lichen,
Lecanora esculenta,
that clings to cliffs in the Middle East. High desert winds will sometimes scatter this stuff throughout the desert until it falls like rain on Bedouin settlements. It has a naturally sweet flavor. The locals call it the “fat of the Earth” and use it to make a kind of bread that is sometimes flavored with anise and honey called
Panakarpian
(popular in Alexandria). Bread made from manna, the ideal food of the angels. It’s best enjoyed fresh from the oven or toasted. It also makes a nice jam.
    Should Jehovah ever offer you a slice, however, don’t be as greedy as the Jews, who, after forty days of nothing but manna, started