"Muthallath" - meat stew with greens

Original source(s)

Adapted from the C13 Andalusian Cookbook.

Muthallath with Heads of Lettuce

Take meat from a young, fat sheep and cut it in small pieces and put it in a pot with salt, a piece of onion, pepper, coriander seed, clove, saffron and oil. Put it on a moderate fire and when it is almost done, take heads of lettuce and their shoots without leaves, peel and cut up and add to the meat in the pot, and when the lettuce is done, add good vinegar and finish cooking it. Cover it with beaten egg, saffron and spikenard and take it to the hearthstone.

Recipe for White Karanbiyya, a Cabbage Dish

Take young, fat meat; cut it into a pot with salt, onion, pepper, coriander seed, caraway and oil. Put it on a moderate fire and when it is nearly done, take a coarse cabbage, throw away the outside and take the heart and surrounding parts, and clean it of its leaves. Stick a knife between the "eyes" and throw away the rest of the leaves until it remains white like the turnip. Peel it and cut it in regular pieces and throw them into the pot, after boiling them, as has been indicated. When it is done, put it on the hearthstone and squeeze over it some coriander juice. He who wants this dish as a muthallath, let him add vinegar and saffron.

Adaptation

It looks as if a "muthallath" is defined as such by the presence of vinegar and saffron, since adding these ingredients is what converts it from "Karanbiyya" to "Muthallath". Other than that, we're looking at a meat stew with added cabbage/lettuce. Additions are salt, onion, pepper, coriander seed, oil and either cloves and saffron or caraway. Elsewhere, we get told that caraway is essential with any leaf vegetable.

The meat in the second recipe is unspecified, but is probably yet more lamb. However, I'm using beef, because that's what I've got. At Briavels I had allergics to cope with and a very limited kitchen, so I skipped the vinegar.

To feed 70, as done at Briavels 2003

To feed around 80, for Twelfth Night 2005

Proposed (writing before cooking) Quantities will be "to taste".

Method

Chop beef and onions, add water and spices. Boil for about an hour.
Add chopped cabbage, then lettuce, continue to cook until greens are done.
Add vinegar and fresh coriander, and cook for a bit longer until flavours have blended.