Medieval Meals: Carrots and Leeks with Sesame Paste

Medieval recipes from France and Italy? Been there, done that. 

Early French Cookery? Yawn.

Cloister Bread? So yesterday.

I can just picture you, my readers, sighing at yet another Middle Ages recipe.What more could there be, you ask. After having one European recipe, you've had them all, right?

False!
I am bringing you a traditional medieval ISLAMIC appetizer recipe. 

PLOT TWIST!

That's right. You forgot about all of those lovely areas in the Middle East that coincided happily with the Byzantines, and not so happily with the Crusaders.

Their exotic spices and tastes crept into the medieval taste palate slowly in the West and with all the force of rampaging stirrup-using feudalism-loving Knights in the South.

Therefore, I present to you: 

Carrots and Leeks with Sesame Paste

Looks pretty yummy, right?
At the very least, it has a bit more color than those other Western dishes I've been whipping up.
So let's get started smelling that Tahini!

Our ingredients for this dish are few but powerful. Leeks, carrots, and Hummus Tahini. (I also used a sprinkle of Sesame Oil later on. It will soon make a happy cameo.)
Fresh. Mildly exotic. Delicious.

Now, for a few words about why the hummus is here. The original recipe called for tahina (English: Tahini-  see here's that sesame paste you read in the title), vinegar, and some atraf tib (assorted spices).
So... the original recipe was basically making hummus, minus the chickpeas.

And since this is a blog about ancient recipes with a modern twist, I substituted the hummus from my local Holy Land Bakery.
It turned out spectacularly well.
Let's move on.

Slice the carrots (I used 3 good-sized carrots) and boil them for ten minutes, until tender.
I added a pinch of salt.

Meanwhile, clean and slice the leek.
Leeks were new to me so I have included a link that describes how to clean and slice a leek much better than I could replicate here.
Cleaning and Cutting Leeks
Then place in a sauce pan and boil in lightly salted water for 10-15 minutes.

Boil the leeks and carrots separately.
Apparently, the two do not enjoy sharing a sauce pot.
Perhaps they both were only children?

Drain and dry both the carrots and the leeks.
Then place leeks back into sauce pan and sprinkle lightly with sesame oil.
Stir.
See it told you the sesame oil would guest star!

Place the drained carrots and sesame-oiled leeks into a pretty serving dish.
The boiling allows them to be happy and tasty friends.

Add the Hummus Tahini to the dish. Mix if desired.
Serve warm or cold.
Side note: I served this to three different people and after each peered at it with much distrust, they all ate every bit on their plates.
Score one for Medieval Islamic Appetizers!

Carrots and Leeks with Sesame Paste
from: Lilia Zaouali, Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic World, trans. M. B. Debevoise (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007), 66-67.


Ingredients 
(The original recipe lacked a formal ingredient list. I have included mine)


3 Carrots, sliced
1 large Leek, sliced
3/4 cup Hummus Tahini


Preparation Instructions
Get some carrots, [the] white [part of some] leeks, sesame butter [tahina], wine vinegar, and atrif tib.
Slice the carrots and boil them. Take the [green] tops of the leeks and boil them separately, then drain them and soften them in sesame oil.
Put the tahina in a dish, sprinkle it with boiling water, and mix it by hand so that the sesame oil can express itself; then add a little vinegar, honey, and some atraf tib.
Put the drained carrots and leeks in a serving dish and add the tahina.
You must do [this] in such a way that the quantity of carrots and leeks suits that of the condiments.