Appendix

As early as the eighth century, writings on food were abundant and popular. So much so that the scientist Salihb. Abd al-Quddus, who was to be executed as a heretic, complained bitterly: ‘We live amongst animals who roam in search of pastures without seeking to understand. If we write about fish and vegetables we are invested in their eyes with great merit, but truly scientific subjects are for them painful and boring.’

Many early cook-books are mentioned in various works but they have unfortunately been lost to us. Al Nadim, the well-known bibliographer who lived in Baghdad in the tenth century, lists eleven ‘Books Composed about Cooked Food’ dating from between the eighth to the tenth century and gives the names of their authors.