Mischievous Cooks

In the Abbasid professional cooking scene, two figures stand out, not only for their culinary accomplishments, but also for their delightful sense of humor. Jahdha al-Barmaki al-Nadeem (d.936) was a renowned cook and has several cookbooks to his name. He was a singer and lute player, and in these capacities, he was a very popular boon companion. The name Jahdha was given to him by one of the caliphs because of some protrusion (juhoudh) in his eyes. One of his famous jokes: When once asked about a dinner he attended, he said everything was cold except the water. Medieval sources describe him as morally filthy and stingy at the table, but generous with his money. He was accused of not keeping his fast during the month of Ramadhan. The story goes that while he was staying with friends during this month, he stole a piece of bread in the middle of the day and sneaked into the toilet, sat there and started eating. When discovered, he said he was crumbling some bread for the hungry roaches.