Gharb al–Andalus

The delectable aroma

JORGE DIAS FELNER
Words

RITA FAIA
Illustration

Five hundred years of Arab occupation left Portugal with a culinary legacy rich with coriander and citrus fruit, figs and almonds, stews and escabeches. To think that it’s been 13 centuries since Mediterranean cuisine first passed this way. 

In the last seven years, around a dozen restaurants serving Middle Eastern and North African cuisine have opened for business in the Lisbon region. Those riding the so-called Mediterranean wave include Mezze, Tantura, Lebanese Corner, Cafe Tehran, Sumaya and Tayybeh, who have convinced a wary population of its culinary merits. Locals have quickly jumped on board, intoxicated by a familiar aroma of humus and labneh, citrus fruits and nuts, coriander and mint. A seemingly exotic cuisine seemed to ring a few bells.

If we check the history books, this apparent fad is nothing new. Between the 8th and 13th centuries, Portugal was dominated by Arabs and Berbers from al-Andalus, one of the most sophisticated civilisations to inhabit Iberia. For five centuries, the Arabs infused the country with new agri-food practices and techniques - from pestles and mortars to crop irrigation, making Hispania’s cuisine the most diverse and refined in Europe. Spain and Portugal, as well as Italy, became the gateway for food that would conquer the West, influencing modern food, from Sicily to Paris. 

Although such a culinary heritage is evident, research in this field is still incipient in Portugal. According to Cláudio Torres, archaeologist and scholar of the Arab presence in Portugal, “everything remains to be studied, but there are many more documents than you might think.”  

Most of what we know comes from data collected in Spain, where the administration of al-Andalus was based. Reading the great Arabists that specialised in gastronomy (e.g., Ambrosio Huici Miranda, Charles Perry, Manuela Marín and Maxime Rondinson), we see that Portugal’s identity is rather nebulous, appearing to have been swallowed up by Hispania, and by Andalusia in particular.

The caliphs settled in southern Spain, in Cordoba, where the Moorish influence expanded until the 15th century, when the Arabs withdrew. The conquest of lands to the west always involved a report to the caliphate. Home to Yemenites and Egyptians, we know that Silves was capital of the Gharb al-Andalus, the name given to areas west of Spain. These conquests were achieved from the Algarve (Gharb), but the town was directly dependent on the caliphate.

Food history researcher and scholar of Algarve cuisine and botany in the 14th and 15th century, Luísa Martins explains that the Arab influence is visible throughout the region, particularly when comes to fruit. “There are no documents on recipes, but we know something about what they ate because of what was produced and sold.” 

There are references to orchards, “a lot of melons,” as well as apricots (albricoque, as they’re known in the Algarve), lemons and bitter oranges (only later did sweet oranges arrive from Asia). Cláudio Torres explains that Silves was very much the epicentre, a “fantastic, fertile plain. And a very appealing place for people to settle.”

This assessment is echoed in the few accounts of Arabs who visited, who also characterised the local population. One of the geographers who mapped the region in the 12th century included the following description of Silves in his Geographical Dictionary - quoted by researcher António Rei, from Lisbon’s Universidade Nova: “... I was told that, beyond Seville, there is no other (city) like it in al-Andalus. It is five days between it and Santarem. I have heard many say: 'Few among its people speak no poetry or are disinterested by culture. And if you come across a farmer behind his oxen, and you request some verse, he will recite it there and then (and most correctly).”

That said, the Arab influence wasn’t limited to the Algarve. In the Alentejo, its presence is well documented. Further inland, Mértola stands above the Guadiana and the Guadalquivir Valley. On the coast, we can see what Cláudio Torres calls “peri-urban agriculture,” with a Mediterranean influence. Vestiges of Islamic sweets still linger in the local culture, like alcomonias, diamond-shaped treats made with flour, honey and pine-nut. Such delicacies are still eaten in the area between Santiago do Cacém and Alcácer do Sal, home to the largest area of stone pine in the Portugal and where honey is abundant. 

Sweets were a typical obsession in North African cuisine, and one of the gastronomic clichés when writing about the Middle Ages is criticism of sugary dishes. Looking at recipes from the time, we see lots of sweetened meats, which often contain cinnamon. Sweetness was used as a medicinal drug rather than a preservative, as well as being good for the spirit, according to Arab dieticians of the time. It should come as no surprise that the Arabs were the first to serve dessert at the end of the meal. 

One man in particular was responsible for turning an idea previously considered bizarre into widespread practice. His name was Ziryab (789-857). A former slave and protégé of the emir Abd ar-Rahman II, among haute cuisine’s avant-garde he was a great patron of Moorish culture in the Iberian Peninsula. Originally from Baghdad, home to one of the most vibrant civilisations of the last millennium, he became an extraordinary 9th-century influencer. Musician to the caliph, an enthusiast of hair removal salons and the fringe, he famously advocated rules of etiquette that we now take for granted, but which were unheard of at the time. 

Examples of this include the use of transparent crystal glasses, which were usually made from opaque glass, gold or other metals, and serving dishes sequentially (soup, starter, meat or fish, dessert), which wasn’t a habit in the West. Beforehand, for the semi-barbaric Visigoths that occupied Iberia, a meal was just a pile of food, thrown on the table. 

Today, there is much of the Romans and Visigoths still in the Portuguese. There’s a certain Atlantic rudeness regarding food and mealtime rituals, which is a far cry from Ziryab’s elegant ideas. However, Gharb al-Andalus has undoubtedly left indelible culinary marks, even if prejudice has discarded them in the dark corners of history.

The fashion for Mediterranean cuisine is both welcome and familiar, although it didn't start with trendy, 21st-century restaurants. It's over 13 centuries old. And the tastes have stood the test of time!

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

Figs 

 Writer and fruit expert, Jane Grigson, is in no doubt. “Figs, olive oil, wine and wheat are four key ingredients of Mediterranean cuisine.” Fig trees were first domesticated in Asia Minor, but no one else used them in savoury dishes like Middle Eastern Arabs. In Portugal, the most popular are from the Algarve, especially ones sun-dried on fennel mats, or the sweet combo of figos cheios (stuffed figs).

Citrus Fruits 

 The first fruits to come from North Africa and the Middle East were bitter oranges, later dubbed Seville oranges, due to their abundance in and around the city. Even today, these orange orbs can still be seen in the street, from Lisbon to Silves, from Cordoba to Seville. Lemons are also typical of Maghreb cuisine, either uncooked or cured in salt and sugar. Citrus leaves and flowers are also used for infusions and perfumes.

Aubergine

Considering how important it is for Middle Eastern cuisine, it’s a mystery why traditional Portuguese cuisine seems uninterested in aubergine. One of the great practitioners of contemporary Mediterranean cuisine is the British-Israeli chef, Yotam Ottolenghi, who made his aubergine with pomegranate recipe a flagship dish for the region. The Andalusians brought this exotic fruit to Iberia as early as the 8th century, and Gil Vicente is known to have mentioned it in Auto da Lusitânia in 1532.

Melons and watermelons

According to food history scholar, Luísa Martins, melons are mentioned in documents from the post-Middle Ages in the Algarve region. However, anyone who has ever drunk melon or watermelon juice in a Cairo bazaar, or with a view of the Nile, knows that it can’t be bettered elsewhere. Nowadays, melons and watermelons have become a symbol of the Ribatejo region. In Portugal, Italy and Spain it is common to eat melon with smoked ham.

Spinach 

Vegetables were one of the distinctive features of al-Andalus cuisine, not that there wasn't meat and fish available. Until then, Visigoth-Roman-based cuisine had few vegetables, which was partly due to the inability to irrigate cultivated fields, a problem the Arabs solved by building hydraulic systems (dykes and norias). Spinach was particularly popular, having been domesticated extensively in Iberia.

HERBS AND SPICES

Pepper

Many Portuguese think that pepper was discovered when Vasco da Gama arrived in India, in 1498. However, after the Arabs and Berbers (Imazighen) arrived in the 8th century, pepper was already widely available in the Iberian Peninsula and extensively used in both meat dishes and desserts. To give you an idea, the word “pepper” is mentioned 386 times in the Maghreb and Andalusia Cookbook (author unknown), which was first published in the 13th century. 

Cinnamon

Among the spices used by the Arabs, none was more ubiquitous than cinnamon, or its close cousin, Chinese cassia. It features in many fruit syrups, which are key to today’s Middle Eastern and North African cuisine, as well as in stews and escabeches. Often used for seasoning, cooks realised its freshness and intensity is much greater if sprinkled on dishes raw.

Coriander

Arabic al-Andalus cuisine is based on food as diet. According to Andalus cooks, coriander “combines well with food in the stomach and does not disappear quickly before being digested.” In the post-Middle Ages, due to the cultural association with the Arab occupiers, both the Spanish and Italians rejected this herb in their recipes. Portugal, on the other hand, embrace it.

Saffron

As one of the world’s most expensive spices, saffron was already a gourmet ingredient during the Middle Ages. It remains characteristic in Andalusian food, used in fish sauces, soups and meat stews, while in Portugal, perhaps due to its price, it has been replaced by turmeric (example: eel stew in Aveiro) or by safflower (Algarve and islands).

Ginger

This was cinnamon's best friend in al-Andalus cuisine. They are always together, with ginger used in teas, but also in syrups, stews, desserts, patês or vinegar dishes. According to an al-Andalus recipe, it is also “good for cold and intimacy.” Its refreshing flavour made it ideal for fruit sorbets, which Arabs initially made with mountain snow.

DISHES

Muxama 

Muxama is salted and dried tuna loin, typical of the Algarve, particularly the eastern part of the region. Similar to smoked ham in appearance and consistency, it can be found in the excellent Olhão market. It’s good in salads or on its own, with a drizzle of olive oil. Phoenicians and Romans had already used drying techniques to preserve fish, but it was the Arabs who made it popular in Iberia. The word comes from the Arabic “musamma,” which means “waxed.”

Pot Roast 

Just one example of bread cuisine that the Arabs used in al-Andalus. The most Arabic of these dishes in Portuguese food is the traditional Baixo Alentejo pot roast, which uses mint and lamb or kid, a favourite meat in Arab countries and ever popular in Portugal, which is a rarity in Western Europe. In addition to enjoying goat heads, the Arabs liked chicken stews, which can still be found in the Alentejo region.

Meatballs

Kebabs remain one of the dishes with a strong connection to the Eastern Mediterranean, and meatballs are a cousin, both belonging to the kofta family. The word “kofta” derives from Classical Persian and means “minced meat.” One meatball recipe collected by Ibn Razin (13th century) combines lamb leg and loin with egg white, cloves (“in moderation”) and spices. Portuguese meatballs are typical comfort food and a favourite with children.

Escabeche

Vinegar was one of the most important condiments and preservatives in the Middle Ages. In one of the two books compiling al-Andalus recipes, written in 1227 by a resident of the Spanish town of Murcia, there’s a whole chapter dedicated to vinegars. Acidic salads are classics. One prime example is carrot salad, which appears in the abovementioned book, prepared just like the Algarve version, with cumin and garlic. The same goes for fish escabeches, which are widely available in Portuguese watering holes.

Migas

From rabanadas (French toast) to migas (bread, garlic and bread concoction) and açordas (bread soups), not forgetting sopas secas (dry soups), there are plenty of recipes using wheat bread in Portugal. In his book, Best of Delectable Foods and Dishes (13th century), a veritable collection of al-Andalus cuisine, Ibn Razin has a chapter dedicated exclusively to “bread soups”, with 27 recipes. The bible of Portuguese cuisine, Cozinha Tradicional Portuguesa (1982), contains no fewer than 23 examples.

SWEETS

Marzipan

No people have used nuts and dried fruit in their daily cuisine like the Arabs. This mix is often associated with an abundant use of sugar, which was also brought to Portugal by the Saracens. Unsurprisingly, the Algarve is the Portuguese region with the most deep-rooted tradition of ground almonds, which are added to sugar and egg white to make the marzipan sweets found all over Italy, Spain and Portugal, especially in the Algarve.

Alcomonias 

Normally made for holidays and celebrations, alcomonias are a reminder of the Islamic presence in Portugal. They are diamond shaped and made from pine nuts, honey and toasted flour - as described in the cookbook, Cozinha Regional do Alentejo, published the late 1980s by Manuel Fialho, famous chef of the Fialho restaurant in Évora. In the Santiago do Cacém region, they can be enjoyed at the Feira do Monte and Feira de Santo André festivities.

Filhós 

To nobody’s surprise, cereals were a cornerstone of Arabic cuisine during the Middle Ages. Various ingredients were made with wheat flour, from pasta to couscous, the latter being one of the first foods made with durum wheat. Filhós are part of this tradition of sweets, where a flour dough is prepared, often with lard and cane sugar, then left to rise and inflate.

Aletria (vermicelli)

The origin of the word is “itria,” the Arabic term for “pasta in strips,” although experts indicate that this food initially came from Persia, and it was the Arabs who brought pasta to a modern-day part of Italy when it occupied the island in the 9th century. In Portugal, the word came to denote a sweet made with lemon, sugar and cinnamon. Aletria is more common in northern Portugal, which is not surprising, as the Arabs went as far as Trás-os-Montes.

Alfenim 

A sweet made with vinegar? Why ever not!? The Arabs loved vinegar (see escabeche) because they prized acidity to balance their food. Alfenim is mainly found on the island of Terceira, in the Azores, and Madeira (two islands that produced sugar cane), where the tradition of moulding sweets into animal or flowers continues. Nowadays, commercial production only occurs at the Athanásio patisserie, in Angra do Heroísmo.