Best of Delectable Foods and Dishes from al-Andalus and al-Maghrib: A Cookbook by Thirteenth-Century Andalusi Scholar Ibn Razīn al-Tujībī (1227–1293)

The thirteenth-century cookbook Fiḍālat al-khiwān fī ṭayyibāt al-ṭaʿām wa-l-alwān by the Andalusi scholar Ibn Razīn al-Tujībī showcases the sophisticated cuisine that developed in the Iberian Peninsula under Muslim rule through its 475 exquisite recipes. Now available for the first time in English, this edition contains al-Tujībī’s complete text, based on a newly discovered manuscript now available for the first time in any language. To introduce readers to the wonders of cooking and foodways in al-Andalus and the Maghreb, the translated text is supplemented with an extensive introduction and glossary, illustrated throughout with 218 color miniatures and artifacts, with 24 modernized recipes to give readers a taste of the cuisine. This is a key resource on medieval material culture and the Arab culinary heritage in Iberia, and a delight to all lovers of food and cookbooks.

Nawal Nasrallah, Independent Scholar, has published books and articles on the history and culture of Arab food, including Delights from the Garden of Eden (Equinox 2013), and English translations Annals of the Caliphs’ Kitchens (Brill 2007), Treasure Trove of Benefits and Variety at the Table (Brill 2018), and Smorgasbords of Andalusi and Maghribi Dishes and their Salutary Benefits (Brill 2024).

"I have enjoyed reading Best of Delectable Foods, I have been fascinated and learnt a lot. Nawal Nasrallah has brought an extraordinary medieval world to life in an intimate kind of way through Al Tujibi’s cookbook. With this book, the English-speaking world will be able to better understand the Hispano Muslim styles of Spain and North Africa today and their influence further afield. They will also better understand the countries."
Claudia Roden, celebrated, pioneering author of books on Middle Eastern and Jewish food, June 2023.

“... al-Tujībī’s tome is a revelation... It will affect the way we cook from now on for sure.”
Sam and Sam Clark, cook book authors and chef-owners of Moro, in the Financial Times, June 10, 2022. click here.

"One of only a handful of surviving medieval Spanish cookbooks, Ibn Razin's Fiḍālat has been long known to scholars, even if incompletely. By at least the 17th century, 55 of its 475 recipes had disappeared. Then in 2018 a nearly complete 15th-16th century copy of the cookbook, originally composed in Tunis around 1260 CE, surfaced in the British Library. Alerted to the discovery, Nasrallah, a food historian, set out to produce the first complete English translation, preserving lbn Razin's culinary legacy while modernizing 24 of the recipes for the home cook. The book serves as Ibn Razin's ode to the cuisine of Muslim Spain, before having to flee the Iberian Peninsula's conquest by Christian armies. He nostalgically surveys a wide range of dishes, from everyday boiled fava beans to special-occasion sinhaji, an elaborate stew and forebear of Spain's classic olla podrida. This faithful translation is an important contribution to the history of Andalusi cuisine."
Tom Verde in AramcoWorld, July 1, 2022.

"When flipping through the 600 or so pages of the Fiḍāla’s recipes, their “novelty and exquisiteness,” as al-Tujībī characterized them, quickly becomes evident... While al-Tujībī never saw his beloved al-Andalus again, ...all of his favorite recipes have now returned home."
click here.

"Dankzij dit boek krijgen we inzicht in gerechten, hoe ze met de jaren zijn veranderd of juist hetzelfde gebleven, en hoe gerechten de verschillende gemeenschappen met elkaar verbonden. Dat wekt bewondering en is een aansporing om te experimenteren met die oude methodes en receptuur... Wat een bijzonder document heeft Al-Tujibi de wereld achtergelaten. Gelukkig maar. Wie beweert dat tijdreizen niet mogelijk is, heeft duidelijk nooit van dit magische boek gehoord."
Hassnae Bouazza in NRC Handelsblad, Zaterdag 11 maart/Zondag 12 maart, 2023.
click here

Shortlisted for the 16th Sheikh Zayed Book Award in the category ‘Translation’.

Listen to a special extended episode of the podcast "Cooking the Books" about 13th century Moorish cookery. On stage at the British Library in London Gilly Smith sits with the sold out audience as Polly Russell, curator of the British Library's Food Season introduces Sam and Sam Clark of Moro to the stage with translator Nawal Nasrallah and the Curator of Arabic Scientific Manuscripts, Bink Hallum to time travel to Moorish Andalucia and taste 800 year old recipes from the recently published Brill book cooked up Moro-style. click here.

Read an interview with the translator in the November/December 2022 issue of Aramco World click here.

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