Flavours of the Arab Golden Age – EP 1: Baghdad and al-Andalus | Food

A historian and a chef go on a culinary journey through history to discover the roots of Arab cuisine and its influence on the food and flavours of today. Kotoz is a researcher in Arab food history, and Fadi Kattan is a renowned Palestinian chef.

They travel around Europe in search of recipe manuscripts from the days of the old Arab dynasties and empires. They start this first episode in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, where they find The Book of Dishes, the oldest known Arabic cookbook.

It describes ninth-century rivalries, including a singer-musician called Ziryab, who fell out of favour in the court in Baghdad and fled to Cordoba in Muslim al-Andalus. He brought his knowledge of music, the arts, fashion, and cookery with him to Spain and is famous for a stew called Green Tafaya.

Kotoz revives the recipe and cooks it in a 21st-century kitchen, a millennium after it was first created.