Mishmishiyya

Name: Mishmishiyya
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 1 h 50 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Baghdad
Ingredients: 800 g bone-in lamb shoulder, cut into large pieces; 200 g dried apricots (mishmish), halved; unsulphured preferred; 2 tbsp rendered tail fat, clarified butter, or neutral oil; 1 large onion, finely sliced; 400 ml lamb stock or water; 0.5 tsp saffron threads, steeped in 3 tbsp warm water for 15 minutes; 1 tsp ground cinnamon; 0.5 tsp ground cumin; 0.5 tsp ground coriander; 0.25 tsp ground black pepper; 0.25 tsp ground ginger; 1.5 tbsp white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar; 1 tbsp honey; 1 tsp salt; 30 g toasted whole almonds, to scatter over the finished dish; 1 tbsp rosewater (optional, for the festive version)

the Abbasid apricot and saffron lamb stew from the tenth-century Kitāb al-Ṭabīkh: lamb braised in a sweet-sour sauce of dried apricots, saffron, and warm spice in the manner of the Baghdad court kitchen

Origin: Abbasid Caliphate, Baghdad (present-day Iraq)

From the journey of Apricot.

The mishmishiyya is one of the documented recipes of the Abbasid court kitchen, preserved in Ibn Sayyar al-Warrāq's Kitāb al-Ṭabīkh (c. 940 CE), the most comprehensive Arab cookbook of the medieval Islamic world, compiled from earlier recipe collections of the Abbasid caliphs. The dish takes its name directly from the Arabic word for apricot, mishmish, and it exemplifies the central principle of Abbasid court cooking: the marriage of meat, sour fruit, aromatic spice, and a perfuming agent (saffron, rosewater, or musk) into a single preparation of careful balance. The Kitāb al-Ṭabīkh contains several variants of the mishmishiyya, some using fresh apricots and some dried, some enriched with almonds or raisins, and all characterised by the sweet-sour quality achieved by dissolving the fruit into the braising liquid. The sweet fruit, the vinegar or lemon, and the saffron work together to create a sauce that is at once warming and refreshing, a balance the Abbasid cooks considered the mark of naẓāfah (refinement) in cooking. The recipe given here follows the spirit of the manuscript closely: lamb braised with dried apricots, a little vinegar, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, and saffron until the apricots dissolve and the sauce achieves the characteristic Abbasid amber-gold colour.

Ingredients

Meat

800 g bone-in lamb shoulder, cut into large pieces

Fruit

200 g dried apricots (mishmish), halved; unsulphured preferred

Fat

2 tbsp rendered tail fat, clarified butter, or neutral oil

Aromatics

1 large onion, finely sliced

Liquid

400 ml lamb stock or water

Spice

0.5 tsp saffron threads, steeped in 3 tbsp warm water for 15 minutes
1 tsp ground cinnamon
0.5 tsp ground cumin
0.5 tsp ground coriander
0.25 tsp ground black pepper
0.25 tsp ground ginger

Acid

1.5 tbsp white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar

Sweet

1 tbsp honey

Seasoning

1 tsp salt

Finish

30 g toasted whole almonds, to scatter over the finished dish
1 tbsp rosewater (optional, for the festive version)

Method

Heat the fat in a heavy pot over medium-high heat. Brown the lamb in batches on all sides until well coloured. Remove and set aside.
In the same pot, reduce heat to medium. Add the sliced onion and cook for 10 minutes until softened and golden. Add the cinnamon, cumin, coriander, pepper, and ginger and stir for 1 minute until fragrant.
Return the lamb to the pot. Add the dried apricots, stock or water, saffron water, vinegar, honey, and salt. Stir to combine, scraping up any caramelised bits from the bottom. Bring to a gentle simmer.
Cover and cook over very low heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. The apricots should have largely dissolved into the sauce, which will be thick, amber-gold, and fragrant. The lamb should be very tender.
Taste and adjust the balance of sweet (honey), sour (vinegar), and salt. The medieval sweet-sour balance leans toward moderate sweetness with a clear sour note. Add the rosewater now if using, and stir in gently.
Serve over fragrant long-grain rice or flatbread, scattered with the toasted almonds.

Notes

The Kitāb al-Ṭabīkh variants of the mishmishiyya sometimes include dried cherries, raisins, or fresh apricots instead of dried; some specify pomegranate juice rather than vinegar. This version uses dried apricots as the most historically reliable main ingredient, the form that would have been available year-round in the Baghdad market. Rosewater is an optional Abbasid luxury flourish, used to perfume the finished dish at the table; musk was used in the palace kitchen but is not a practical ingredient today. The dish is equally good served the next day after the flavours have deepened further.

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