A History of Egyptian Cookbooks

The food historian’s ultimate treasure trove of information

First page of Familiar Foods CookbookRAWI Publishing

Cookery books don’t only offer historians information on what people ate, they also offer glimpses into culture, traditions, etiquette, trade relations, politics, and so much more.

The earliest documented collections of cooking recipes come from Mesopotamia and were written in Akkadian cuneiform on clay tablets in the 18th c. BCE. Surprisingly, almost no recipes survive from ancient Egypt. The closest thing we have is a set of instructions on how to make a type of cake using tiger nuts from the tomb of Rekhmire at Thebes (Dynasty 18, ca. 1550–1295 BCE).

The largest and most complete recipe book to survive from antiquity is attributed to a 4th-c. CE Roman cook called Caelius Apicius and contains 478 recipes, a few of which come from Egypt. Titled De re coquinaria (On cooking), it does not give any quantities or go into much detail. The recipe for a flamingo dish for instance is limited to, ‘Pluck the flamingo and push it into the oven’!

By the 14th c., Cairo had become the culinary centre of the Arab world. Three cookery books from the period survive but they are the last known books of recipes until 1893, when we find a cookbook compiled by Khedive Ismail’s palace cook. Until then, recipes would be guarded in personal family archives and passed down verbally through the generations before eventually appearing in books available to the public. Here, we present a selection of some of the most influential cookery books in Egyptian history.

Kitab Waṣf al-Aṭʿima al-Muʿtada (The Book of the Description of Familiar Foods) CookbookRAWI Publishing

Familiar Foods

Kitab Waṣf al-Aṭʿima al-Muʿtada (The Book of the Description of Familiar Foods), 14th c., author unknown. It contains 480 recipes of foods and beverages in addition to preparation methods, ingredient storage instructions, and information on the medicinal uses of various foodstuffs, along with interesting advice such as how to fumigate porcelain bowls with mastic and aloeswood before using them to serve food. 

Kanz al-Fawa’id fi Tanwi‘ al-Mawa’id (Treasure Trove of Benefits and Variety at the Table) CookbookRAWI Publishing

Kitchen Treasures

Kanz al-Fawa’id fi Tanwi‘ al-Mawa’id (Treasure Trove of Benefits and Variety at the Table), 14th c., author unknown. A massive compendium of 829 recipes divided into 23 chapters compiled by ‘some wise and knowledgeable people’, it includes beverages, aromatics, food for medicinal use, vegetarian dishes (for the sick), and instructions for pickling everything from vegetables to fruits and even rose petals.

Zahr al-Hadiqa fi ‘l-Aṭʿima al-Aniqa (Garden Flowers in Elegant Food) CookbookRAWI Publishing

An Elegant Table

Zahr al-Hadiqa fi ‘l-Aṭʿima al-Aniqa (Garden Flowers in Elegant Food), 15th c., by Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad Ibn Mubārak Shāh (1403-1458). This book contains 332 recipes as well as instructions for cooks covering random topics ranging from personal hygiene and kitchenware recommendations to methods for determining the freshness of spices and advice to avoid eating blue-eyed quail!

First Edition of the Cookbook Nasihat al-Anam fi Husn al-Ta‘am (Advice for People in the Matter of Good Food)RAWI Publishing

The Food Philosopher

When Ahmed Ibrahim, Khedive Ismail’s palace cook retired, the self-styled ‘food philosopher’ went on to cater for the rich and wealthy who asked him to share his sumptuous recipes from the khedive’s lavish kitchen.  In 1893, he published what would be the first of several editions of Nasihat al-Anam fi Husn al-Ta‘am (Advice for People in the Matter of Good Food). In his introduction he claims that before his time, the profession of cooking was in the hands of incompetent individuals who ‘spoiled food’, a statement that could possibly indicate a rise in the status of professional cooks correlating with the rise of a new elite in Egypt. In his rich compilation of recipes, we get a glimpse into the burgeoning cosmopolitan culture Khedive Ismail (his employer) was nurturing through his plans to modernize Egypt. The book contains traditional Egyptian recipes alongside ones from a wide variety of religious, ethnic and national cuisines, including the very modern recipe for ‘American milk pudding’.

Fenoun al-Tahy al-Hadith, (The Arts of Modern Cooking) CookbookRAWI Publishing

The Art of Cooking

Combining the best of ‘Eastern and Western’ cuisine was the goal of Abu Zaid Amin, the co-author of the 1200-page Fenoun al-Tahy al-Hadith, (The Arts of Modern Cooking). He published the book in 1934 along with his colleague Tughian Saeed, the pastry chef at the royal palace.  In his introduction, Amin tells the reader about his career as King Fouad’s chef. He joined the royal palace kitchens in 1927  and travelled with the monarch on numerous state visits to Europe, exchanging recipes and techniques with seasoned chefs along the way. He describes the highlight of his career as being when King Albert I of Belgium decorated him for his service to the royal family during their vacation in the city of Aswan. In his book, he expressed his desire to provide readers at home with the best of all he had learned throughout his life in the service of royalty.

Kitab Abla Nazira (Abla —or Auntie—Nazira’s book)RAWI Publishing

Advice for the Modern Woman

The most iconic Egyptian cookbook of the 20th c. is Uṣul al-ṭahi: al-Naẓari wa-l-‘amali (Fundamentals of Cooking: Theory and Practice) typically referred to as Kitab Abla Nazira  (Abla —or Auntie—Nazira’s book). First published in 1941 by Nazira Nicola (co-authored with Bahiya ‘Uthman in the first edition) as an instruction manual for would-be domestic science teachers, the cookbook eventually became a staple in every newlywed household and a common wedding gift for generations. The book offers practical advice for the modern woman and includes detailed recipes for both Egyptian staples and continental classics as well as background information such as nutritional values  for different foodstuffs.

For more on Egyptian cuisine, check out some tried and tested historical recipes.

Credits: Story

Authors: 
Yasmine El Dorghamy, Daniel Newman 
Sources:
Daniel Newman, Phd, Eat Like a Sultan, http://eatlikeasultan.com/
Gaul, Anny, Ask Abla Nazira, https://rawi-magazine.com/articles/abla-nazira/

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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