Author

Nawal Nasrallah

is an award-winning independent scholar, specialized in Middle Eastern cuisine. She has published extensively on the history of Arab food, including the English translations of medieval Arabic cookbooks, Annals of the Caliphs’ Kitchens (Brill 2007) and Treasure Trove of Benefits and Variety at the Table (Brill, 2018).

Articles by this author

issue 10

What Was Cooking in Medieval Cairo?

Medieval visitors to Egypt never failed to be captivated by the uniqueness of its agricultural landscape. The Nile, they said, flowed from paradise. The land itself, with its four seasons, was no less remarkable: summer, when the rising and flooding of Nile turned the land into a gleaming white pearl; autumn, when it looked like black musk, the receding water revealing black, fragrant soil; winter, when it shimmered emerald green with growing crops; and spring, the harvest season, when it gleamed like golden amber.