The Pearl of the Abbasid Table: Makdous! The Maqamat of Eggplant

ترجمة عن النسخة العربية على مدوّنة البخاري

In a journey through time and molecular gastronomy, we explore today the story of eggplant, this fruit that has long sparked controversy and curiosity. From being the frightening “devil’s eggs” to becoming the ornament of tables and the queen of Middle Eastern dishes, I take you in this article on an exciting historical and cultural journey. We trace the steps of eggplant from India to the Arab world, and from the palaces of caliphs to the homes of common people, to discover how it transformed from a despised fruit to a beloved one, and from a source of fear to a source of pleasure and creativity.

The naming of eggplant in Arabic: باذنجان “bādhinjān” is derived from the compound “bayḍ”+”jān”, meaning “eggs of the jinn”, or “devil’s eggs”. The claims tracing the name to a Persian origin are false. Neither the word “bayḍ” (eggs) nor “jān” (jinn/demon) is Persian. Even the compound doesn’t follow Persian linguistic patterns. Since ancient Iraqis were accustomed to using a slanted alif instead of the long vowel, “bayḍ” became “bāḍ”. Then it evolved: bāḍinjān باضنجان > bāẓinjān باظنجان > bādhinjān باذنجان, with changes in the emphatic consonants.

From Jinn’s Eggs to the Garden’s Flower

Before the 13th century, Arabs, Muslims, and Mediterranean people generally avoided eating eggplant for several reasons. It was believed that eggplant caused various diseases such as melancholia (depression) and cancer. The poor understanding of these diseases in some regions linked eggplant to black magic or bad omens. Italian folk beliefs in the 13th century also prohibited eating eggplant, believing it caused madness, a notion borrowed from the Arabs. This belief about Italians spread throughout Europe.

Arabs knew the eggplant plant since the eighth century, coming from India, but they didn’t eat it, believing it caused insanity and provoked violent instincts, due to a myth transferred from Persians to Arabs translating the plant’s name as “devil’s eggs”. Ibn Sina wrote that eggplant causes depression, and Al-Razi wrote that it causes mouth sores and blood vessel inflammation (which actually affects me). In the ninth century, Arabs said that eggplant has the color of a scorpion’s belly and a taste like its sting.

In fact, the fruits of some eggplant varieties contain a substance called solanine, which is abundant in raw and not fully ripe fruit. Solanine is a natural compound found in some plants of the Solanaceae family, such as potatoes, eggplants, and tomatoes. Its concentration is usually low in the edible parts of these plants but can significantly increase in green or damaged parts, or in unripe plants.

Solanine is a toxic steroid glycoside that plants use as a first line of defense against insects, fungi, and other pests. It consists mainly of an aglycone, sugars, and fatty acids. The aglycone is a steroid part called solanidine. The sugars include glucose and galactose. The fatty acids are linked to the sugar part.

The toxicity of large amounts of solanine causes digestive system disturbances such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. It also causes neurological symptoms like headache, dizziness, confusion, and hallucinations. Respiratory system problems like difficulty breathing and heart rate disturbances can occur.

Small amounts of solanine cause mouth sores and ulcers in the digestive tract, in addition to blood vessel inflammation and neurological symptoms, including shortness of breath and headaches.

The amount of solanine in Solanaceae fruits increases for various reasons, for example:

Exposure to light, especially green light, stimulates solanine production in plants. Therefore, green potatoes or green sprouts contain higher levels of solanine. Growing eggplants in areas with intense sunlight produces fruits rich in solanine. Eggplant varieties differ in their ability to produce solanine in response to light. Some varieties are more sensitive than others and produce larger quantities of solanine when exposed to light.

The longer the fruit is exposed to light, the greater the chance of increased solanine production. Intense and long-wavelength light (such as blue and green light) is more effective in stimulating solanine production compared to dim or short-wavelength light (such as red light). Furthermore, the environmental conditions in which plants grow, such as temperature and humidity, can affect solanine production.

Any damage to the plant, such as wounds or bruises, can lead to increased solanine production. Any mechanical damage to the fruit can stimulate solanine production as the plant’s way of protecting its fruits. Therefore, avoid cooking damaged eggplant fruits.

It’s important to note that the amount of solanine that causes poisoning varies from person to person. Children, pregnant women, and the elderly are more susceptible to solanine poisoning.

Conquering the Toxic Solanine

Cooking at high temperatures is considered the most effective method to reduce solanine levels in eggplant. Whether through frying, grilling, or boiling, solanine breaks down when exposed to heat. Soaking eggplant in water for a period can also help reduce the amount of solanine, as solanine can dissolve in acidic or alkaline water. Sodium chloride salt water is neutral, neither acidic nor alkaline, so it doesn’t extract solanine from eggplant.

To make the soaking water acidic for more effective solanine extraction from eggplant, you can add one or two tablespoons of white vinegar or apple cider vinegar per liter of water. Or you can add the juice of one lemon per liter of water. To make the soaking water alkaline for more effective solanine extraction, you can add a teaspoon of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) per liter of water. Peel the eggplant and cut it into slices or cubes. Submerge it in the treated water and let it soak for 30 minutes to an hour. Then rinse the eggplant thoroughly with regular water before cooking.

Eggplants with green spots or damaged parts should be discarded, as solanine levels are higher in these areas. The eggplant skin contains a higher amount of solanine compared to the flesh, so peeling the eggplant reduces the amount of solanine. However, boiling remains the most effective method for breaking down solanine.

It’s important to note that some eggplants sold in today’s markets contain low levels of solanine due to agricultural improvements and selection, so most people don’t need to take special steps to reduce solanine when preparing eggplant for regular consumption. However, a significant proportion of people still suffer from solanine sensitivity.

From Outcast to Beloved

In ancient times, the common eggplant in the Middle East was bitter-tasting and toxic due to high solanine content. Arabs continued to avoid eggplant until 825 CE, when the Abbasid Caliph Al-Ma’mun served it at his wedding to the Buran Khadija, daughter of Minister Al-Hassan ibn Sahl. Buran soaked the eggplant in seawater to remove its bitterness, then stacked it to remove excess water, and rinsed it to remove salt. She then served it at her wedding in Baghdad. Thereafter, eggplant cultivation spread in Iraq and from there to the rest of the Arab world. Many Arabs still call eggplant dishes “Buraniyat”, named after the Buran Khadija.

It appears that Buran’s method of salting the eggplant removed phenolic compounds and saponins, significantly reducing their presence in the ripe eggplant fruit. These compounds are responsible for the bitter taste in some types of eggplant. Salting also helps extract excess fluids through osmosis, preventing the eggplant from absorbing too much oil during cooking. Additionally, drawing out fluids through salting can somewhat reduce the amount of solanine. After salting the eggplant, it should be thoroughly rinsed with water to remove salt and extracted fluids.

The oldest Arabic source mentioning eggplant in the East is the Abbasid Cookbook from the 10th century, which states that the first Arab to cook eggplant was the Abbasid prince Ibrahim ibn Al-Mahdi, who died in 839. He was followed by Abu Zakaria Yahya Al-Awam in 12th-century Seville, then Ibn Al-Adeem Al-Halabi from the 13th century, who mentioned it in his book “The Link to the Beloved in Describing Delicacies and Perfumes”, which contained 15 eggplant recipes.

The oldest source mentioning eggplant in the West is an Andalusian book from the 12th century by Abu Zakaria Yahya Al-Awam in Seville. From the Arab states in Iberia, the eggplant slowly spread to Europe, reaching Britain in the 16th century. It became popular in France in the 18th century, at the same time it became common among the Turks. However, the Ottoman imperial kitchen had been introduced to eggplant recipes in the 15th century when a court physician of Sultan Murad II translated the Baghdad Cookbook كتاب الطبيخ to serve as a reference for the Sultan’s palace kitchen.

The physician who translated the Baghdad Cookbook into Turkish was Mahmud ibn Ramadan, known as “Doctor Ramzi”. He did this work during the reign of Sultan Murad II (1421–1451), and this book became one of the most important references in the Ottoman imperial cuisine.

Makdous, Salad, and Fatteh

In any case, between the 13th and 15th centuries, a processed eggplant product called “badinjan makdous” (compacted eggplant) became popular in the markets of the northern Arabian Peninsula (the Fertile Crescent). This was eggplant that was cored, boiled, and packed (compacted) between layers of salt. Due to the difficulty of processing eggplant, makdous eggplant became popular in markets as it provided ready-to-cook and use eggplant. As mentioned earlier, this processing removes the bitterness of eggplant and significantly reduces the proportion of toxic compounds in it.

This is the reason for the existence of makdous salad in the Middle East, as it is primarily made with makdous eggplant. The salad preparation begins by soaking and rinsing the makdous eggplant in water to remove the salt. Then it’s chopped and mixed with garlic, sweet pepper, walnuts, olive oil, pomegranate molasses, and lemon juice (or tamarind). The usual proportions are: 50% makdous eggplant, 10% red pepper, 6% olive oil, 5% walnuts, 3% pomegranate molasses, 3% lemon juice, 1% garlic.

Makdous salad evolved into makdous fatteh, which contains makdous eggplant, meat, yogurt, tahini, garlic, tomatoes, onions, tomato paste, pomegranate molasses, olive oil, pine nuts, bread, pepper, and salt. The usual proportions are: 50% makdous eggplant, 25% meat, 24% yogurt, 20% tomatoes, 10% bread, 10% onions, 6% sweet olive oil, 3% tahini, 3% tomato paste, 3% pomegranate molasses, 3% roasted pine nuts, 1% garlic.

This brings us to the recipe for “stuffed makdous” famous today in contemporary Syria, which added to the makdous eggplant a stage of soaking in olive oil for a period of time.

Olive oil contains pleasant flavor components such as olive phenols that transfer to the eggplant and replace the bitter eggplant phenols, improving its flavor. Eggplant is a porous plant that easily absorbs oil. Additionally, olive oil dissolves the bitter glycoalkaloid compounds present in eggplant skin.

In the steps of contemporary Syrian makdous, we find: boiled eggplant (makdous), walnuts, red pepper paste (a mixture of two parts sweet pepper and hot pepper), garlic, and sea or rock salt (without iodine), and olive oil. The usual proportions are: 85% eggplant, 9% pepper, 6% walnuts, 1% garlic (optional).

To prepare it, the stem end of the eggplants is removed (cored), then boiled (without peeling) for no more than 45–60 minutes, depending on the type of eggplant. Then the fruit is split lengthwise and salted from the inside and outside, and pressed (compacted) in an arranged colander with a weight to remove as much water as possible.

For the stuffing, walnuts, garlic, and peppers are mixed and stuffed inside the eggplants. Then they are arranged in a glass container (jar) and immersed in sweet olive oil (extra virgin) and stored in a dark place. They can be eaten after a week of storage.

The Oldest Recipes

If we return to the Abbasid Cookbook from the tenth century, we find the oldest Arab eggplant recipes ever, which are nine recipes. The book’s full name is “The Book of Dishes and the Improvement of Edible Foods and the Goodness of Manufactured Foods” authored and published by Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq in Baghdad in 940 CE. The eggplant recipes in it (which have a special chapter in the cold dishes section) are:

Recipe for Stuffed Eggplant by Ibn al-Mahdi

Ingredients: Eggplant, onion, fresh spices, oil, vinegar, murri (fermented sauce), bunna (coffee beans), caraway, cinnamon.
Take the eggplant, boil until cooked, then remove from hot water and put in cold water. Take a small pot. Take some onion and chopped fresh spices, and fry in oil. Take vinegar, murri, bunna, caraway, and cinnamon and mix them, then add to the fried onions. Take the eggplant, remove its stems, and pour the vinegar and spices over it, then pour some oil on it. Eat, God willing. Flavor: This cold dish is a mix of sour and spicy with touches of spices.

Another Stuffed Eggplant by Him Also

Ingredients: Eggplant, walnuts, salt, vinegar, oil, caraway, onion (optional).
Take the eggplant, boil it, and cut it small. Take walnuts and grind them, put in a container, add salt, knead with vinegar, and stick it in a tayfuriya (small plate). Smoke it with oil poured on fire until it smokes and remove it from the tayfuriya like a disk, then fry it on both sides until it smokes, and soften it with some vinegar and caraway. If you like, you can add onion to it, do so, and pour oil on it, and serve it, God willing. Flavor: This cold dish is sour and spicy with a touch of fat and sweetness.

His Stuffed Eggplant with Onion

Ingredients: Eggplant, vinegar, white sugar, almonds, saffron, caraway, cinnamon, onion, oil.
Take the eggplant, boil it, and cut it small. Take a bowl, pour some vinegar in it, white sugar, ground almonds, saffron, caraway, and cinnamon. Take the eggplant and fried onion, put it on it, pour oil on it, and serve it, God willing. Flavor: This cold dish is sweet and sour in balance with aromatic spices.

Buran Eggplant (wife of Caliph Al-Ma’mun)

Ingredients: Small eggplant, oil, sheep tail fat, murri, pepper, caraway, rue.
Take the small ones, prick them with a knife, remove their stems, and put them in water and salt. Then take a small pot, pour oil and sheep tail fat in it, put the eggplant in it, and fry until cooked. Then sprinkle murri, pepper, and caraway on it, cut rue leaves over it, and serve, God willing. Flavor: This cold dish is fatty and spicy with aromatic touches. The fried eggplant forms the base of the dish with its mild sweetness.

Another Like It (Buran 2)

Ingredients: Small eggplant, oil, sheep tail fat, murri, cinnamon, galangal, rue, walnuts, leeks, coriander.
Take small eggplants, slit them lengthwise with a knife, separate them, and put them in water and salt. Then take a small pot, pour good oil and sheep tail fat in it, mixed, until they heat up, then put the eggplant in the pot and cook it. When cooked, sprinkle murri on it, and put a piece of cinnamon and whole galangal, and bunches of rue, then take it out to a bowl, grind ten walnuts for it, and put them on it while it’s hot, and cover it with a cloth until the walnuts release their oil, then pour on its face some fresh leeks fried in oil, with fresh coriander and rue. And serve it, God willing. Flavor: This cold dish is rich and complex. Its mixture is fatty, sour, and aromatic spices with refreshing green touches.

Pickled Eggplant

Ingredients: Eggplant, vinegar, onion, coriander, rue, celery, oil, spices.
Take eggplant at the end of the year, cut off its stems, and boil it in vinegar until cooked. Then remove, squeeze, and set aside. Then take round onions, cut them small with fresh coriander, rue, and celery, and fry well in plenty of oil until browned. Then pour vinegar over it, add spices, arrange the eggplant in jars, and pour the vinegar with fried herbs over it until covered. Store it, and it will last a year without changing. When needed for eating, take it out in a bowl, cut rue over it, and serve, God willing.
Flavor: This cold dish is sour and heavily spiced, with refreshing green flavors and a light touch of fat.

Recipe for Dikbarika by Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi, made for al-Mu’tasim

Ingredients: Lamb meat, oil, galangal, onion, Andrani salt, coriander, wine vinegar, leeks, or carrots or eggplant or squash, pepper, caraway, Nabataean murri.
Take three pounds of scalded lamb meat and put it in a pot. Pour over it three ounces of washed oil, add a stick of galangal, a pound of whole onions, two dirhams weight of Andrani salt, and a handful of fresh coriander. Add enough water to cover everything, plus four fingers more. Boil until the onions are nearly cooked, then remove the whole onions and set them aside. Pour a pound of wine vinegar into the pot and stir until the meat is cooked or nearly so. Then add several leeks or carrots and Syrian leeks or eggplant or squash, then cover.
Grind the onions you removed earlier with five dirhams weight of dried coriander, half a dirham of pepper, and five dirhams of caraway. Put all this in a clay pot, pour over it two ounces of Nabataean murri and some broth from the cooking pot, then dissolve it all and return it to the pot. Let it boil, then remove it from the fire while it’s still boiling, add some chopped fresh coriander, and cover it until it settles. Then ladle it out and serve it, God willing.
Flavor: This dish is characterized by a complex and intricate flavor profile. It’s balanced between sharpness and mildness, rich with intertwining flavors that harmonize to create a unique and distinctive tasting experience of Abbasid cuisine.

Masliya for al-Wathiq

Ingredients: Meat, onion, walnuts, eggplant, dried coriander, pepper.
Take marbled meat from the ribs and cut it into small pieces. Put it in a clean pot after washing it thoroughly with water. Then pour enough water to cover it. Add chopped onions. When it boils, add ground walnuts and chopped onions. Then add a small amount of finely chopped eggplant and boil it. Then add spices: dried coriander and pepper. When it boils with the spices, remove it from the fire so it doesn’t burn, and let it have only about two ladles of broth. Ladle it out and serve it, God willing.
Flavor: This dish is fatty and deep, with a slight sharpness. The taste is rich and complex, combining fat and pungency in a delicious harmony.

Recipe for Tabahaja by Ibn al-Mahdi

Ingredients: Meat, oil, salt, eggplant, onion, kamakh water or murri, vinegar, coriander, caraway, cinnamon, cumin, rue.
Take the meat, slice it, and wash it thoroughly. Put half a pound of water in the pot, then boil it, add the meat, pour good oil and a little salt over it, and cut peeled eggplant and round onions into it. When it’s cooked and the water has evaporated, sprinkle on it half a ladle of kamakh water or murri, and the same amount of vinegar if you wish. Then take the ground spices: coriander, caraway, cinnamon, and cumin, a little of each, sprinkle it on, and stir it for a while. Then wash the edges of the pot with a ladle of water, add two stalks of rue and leave it until it settles. Ladle it out, God willing.
Flavor: This dish is a bold and complex mix of sweetness and sourness. The taste is rich and multi-layered, with a delicate balance between sharpness and sweetness.

It’s clear that eggplant occupied a special place in the Abbasid household cuisine from the tenth century onwards. These nine recipes featured eggplant, lamb, and onion as main ingredients. Alongside these were: murri (fermented sauce), kamakh water (sauce), walnuts, almonds, leeks, celery, wine vinegar, carrots, and squash. Their aromatics were various spices such as caraway, cinnamon, coffee beans, saffron, pepper, rue, galangal, coriander (fresh and dried), and cumin.

In the modern era, the use of eggplant in Arab cuisine has developed significantly, leading to the emergence of a wide and diverse range of delicious dishes. We find cold appetizers like baba ghanoush and mutabbal, along with grilled eggplant salad with tahini. In main dishes, moussaka and sheikh mahshi stand out. We also find eggplant as a wrapper and garnish in maqluba. In some regions, eggplant is used in the famous zaalouk dish and in eggplant majboos. This enormous diversity in eggplant uses reflects the richness of Arab cuisine and its ability to innovate and evolve, while preserving authenticity and traditional flavors.

Thus, we see how eggplant transformed from a rejected fruit to the pearl of Abbasid cuisine. This story of eggplant is a story of overcoming illusions with science and experience, and turning fears into opportunities for creativity. From makdous to buraniya, and from the caliph’s table to every Arab household, eggplant remains a witness to human ability to adapt and innovate, and to the richness and diversity of our Arab culinary heritage.

Resources

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