isfarāj

Discussion

Asparagus, which remains commonplace on the modern table, is a touchstone moment in food culture in al-Andalus, attributed to none other than Ziryab. Nawal Nasrallah relays the following anecdote in her introduction to ASA:

Ibn Hayyan’s story goes that asparagus grew abundantly in the wild in al-Andalus; it was not cultivated in orchards as it was in al-Mashriq. Ziryab saw the plant, recognized it, cooked it, and invited others to try it for themselves. He once invited of the high-ranking people from the emir’s palace and offered him a feast of the popular dishes he learnt from his days in Baghdad. The last dish he offered was a vegetable one of boiled asparagus, excellently cooked, and masterfully sauced. The man balked at it and refused to eat it, but Ziryab started eating it, urging his guest to try it. As soon as the guest had a taste of it, he bombarded Ziryab with questions about it, saying it was the most delicious vegetable he had ever had. Ziryab’s response was, “Wait until you try it cooked with meat in a variety of ways. In addition to its delicious taste, it has the benefit of being a diuretic, it breaks down kidney stones, cleanses the bladder, balances the humors, and invigorates coitus.” “Tell me, where can I find it , may God bless you, so that I may bargain for its price?” the man earnestly asked. Ziryab cooly responded “God has saved you the trouble of doing this because He let it grow abundantly in the countryside for you and everybody else, just send someone to get it for you. From that day on, asparagus became everybody’s favorite, and people, both high and low, started harvesting it when in season.

To my chagrin in planning a feast for diverse diners, there is only a single recipe for asparagus that is not made with meat (a common problem with vegetable dishes in these sources when looking for vegetarian options.) ASA offers five variations with meat, while FKH offers just one. As it happens, the FKH recipe is vegetarian by design, and gives a simple preparation that could be appreciated in any dining context today – we are instructed to braise it until it is no longer bitter, press the extra moisture from them, and dress them with olive oil, vinegar, and the omnipresent split egg garnish.

Because modern asparagus has been cultivated to eliminate bitterness, we can simply blanch or braise it to our liking before drying and dressing it. Vinegar is an extremely widely used condiment in our sources, but the type of vinegar is rarely specified. Vinegar from a wide variety of fruit sources is mentioned, so throughout the feast I have chosen different vinegars to complement different dishes to explore the breadth of that ingredient and provide variety. I have chosen a fig balsamic vinegar for this dish, vinegar of figs and balsamic style vinegar both being attested, but you could use any vinegar that you like if this choice does not suit you.