“Córdoba Ketchup” (Carob, Honey & Murri Condiment)

Supplemental Recipes

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Ingredients:

Carob Pods, Honey, Murri Naqi (Soy Sauce (Water, Soy Beans, Wheat, Salt), Barley, Aniseed, Coriander, Nigella Seeds, Thyme, Creeping Thyme, Lemon, Fennel, White Pine)

Alternate Ingredients:

Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (Water, Soy Beans, Salt) is used, and Barley is omitted

If you want, put some of the first murri in a small jar lined with olive oil and add honey and pounded carob. It will be exceedingly good in taste and aroma, especially for those who put it at the table [as a condiment] while eating, and not cooked in dishes, so know this.
Faḍālat al-khiwān fī ṭayyibāt al-ṭaʻām wa-al-alwān X.8.1

Discussion

This recipe appears as a brief aside in the much larger and more complex recipe for Murri Naqi. To me, it almost reads like the author’s moment to insert a strong opinion about a favorite food that doesn’t entirely fit anywhere else nor deserve its own recipe heading. I gave it the nickname “Córdoba Ketchup” because it has a similar function to ketchup at the modern U.S. table – it’s sweet, tangy, and salty, and goes well with almost anything if you like it to begin with.

Everything I was able to find about this is the excerpt above, so I relied on my own sense of taste and its function as a condiment to guide this recipe. In the course of experimentation, I tried both Carob Powder and whole Carob Pods reconstituted with boiling water. The Pods give a much richer, more complex (also read: markedly better) flavor to the sauce. While it is far more labor intensive to use them, I encourage it.

References

FKH X.8.1

Modernized Recipe

4 oz.	Whole Carob Pods
As needed	Water
1/3 c.	Honey
2 T.	Murri Naqi

Break the Carob pods into large pieces and place in a small saucepan with just enough water to cover them.
Bring it to a simmer and allow it to simmer, covered, until the pods soften. Add more water as needed to ensure the pods remain covered.
Once the pods have softened, watch the pot closely and allow as much water as possible to boil away. This will help concentrate the flavor of the Carob.
Carefully remove the pods from the pot and allow to cool before breaking them open to remove the large, black, very hard seeds
Once the seeds are removed, puree the pods, using a food processor or a mortar and pestle.
Pass the puree through a strainer and continue pureeing the remaining pulp until everything passes through.
Slowly stir in the Honey, followed by the Murri Naqi
Allow the condiment to sit overnight and stir again before serving.