Bringing Medieval Arab Cooking to Life

Join us for a lively panel conversation with Professor Daniel Newman, as we delve into the rich history of Arab cooking in the Middle Ages. Combining his passions for food and history, Professor Newman will bring medieval recipes to life through the painstaking recreation of original dishes. The discussion will focus on The Sultan's Feast: A Fifteenth-Century Egyptian Cookbook, a bilingual edition translated and introduced by Newman, featuring over 330 recipes from the fifteenth-century Egyptian culinary tradition. We will also explore The Exile's Cookbook, another of Newman's translations, which showcases 480 recipes from the thirteenth-century Muslim-Andalusian scholar Ibn Razīn al-Tujībī. This conversation promises to be much more than mere historical background, as it offers a fascinating glimpse into the culinary traditions of the Arab-Muslim world, from Baghdad to Muslim Spain, and their enduring legacy.

About Professor Daniel Newman

Daniel Newman holds the Chair of Arabic Studies at the University of Durham (UK) and specialises in the history of the medieval Arab culinary traditions. His book 'The Sultan’s Feast: A Fifteenth-century Cookbook', an edition and translation of a 15th-century Egyptian recipe collection, was awarded the Gourmand World Cookbook Award 2021. His most recent book is entitled 'The Exile's Cookbook: Medieval Gastronomic Treasures from al-Andalus and North Africa' and deals with 13th-century Andalusian and North African cuisine.