Lit & Found: Anny Gaul’s Medieval Mint Chicken

Just in time for summer, we rediscovered this delicious, refreshing adaptation of a medieval Arabic recipe on cultural historian Anny Gaul’s blog, Cooking With Gaul. The original recipe appears in the 13th-century Syrian cookbook al-Wusla ila l-habib, published by the Library of Arabic Literature in Charles Perry’s translation as Scents and Flavors.

The Arabic recipe, in Perry’s translation, reads “Take a chicken and roast until done. When done, put wine vinegar, enough pounded caraway, mint, and pounded garlic on it, and bring to the boil two or three times. It comes out well.”

Anny details her modern adaptation of the recipe, including the addition of a minty yoghurt sauce, in her blog post.