Nini Sherini
Almond Cookies - contributed by Michael Hobbes

Original recipe from al-Baghdadi:

Aqras Mukarrara. Take white flour and knead lightly, then leave to rise. Take a ratl of sugar and a third of a ratl of almonds, grind fine, form into a fine paste with rosewater and syrup and make into thin cakes…

- Jung, Nizamat, trans. A Baghdad Cookery-Book by Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al-Karim al-Katib al-Baghdadi as compiled by Dr. Daoud Chelebi. Mosul, 1923. Found in A Collection of Medieval and Renaissance Cookbooks as compiled by Duke Cariadoc of the Bow and Duchesa Diana Alena, Private Printing, 1991.

Modern recipe:

  • Shortening
  • Eggs
  • Flour
  • Honey
  • Almond Oil
  • Rosewater
  • Dates, chopped finely 
In a bowl, crack the eggs. Mix with honey, rosewater and almond oil to taste. Whip until creamy but not to the point where meringue occurs. Fold in enough flour to make a stiff dough. Beat well. Next mix in the shortening until the dough is smooth. Add chopped dates. On a lightly greased baking pan, place 1 tbsp. of the mixture approximately three inches apart. (Be careful not to get too close as they spread while cooking.) Bake at 300° F for about ten minutes until golden brown. While still warm, brush with honey.

Adapted from: Mazda, Maideh. In A Persian Kitchen: Favorite Recipes from the Near East. Rutland, VT: C.E. Tuttle, 1989, 185.

Nini Sherini is featured in Coronation Feast of H.R.H Kenna

Metric, Celsius, & Gas Mark Equivalencies

Michael Hobbes is a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, living in Columbus, Ohio. He was recently awarded the Laurel, the SCA's highest honor for arts & sciences, for his work in cooking.

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