Al-Khwârizmî at the table

In 9th-century Baghdad, meals were not served as single courses but as a succession of dishes placed together on a large cloth (the *sufra*) spread on the floor. One began with soups and legume porridges, moved on to sour or perfumed meat stews (the *qudur*), then to honey-and-almond sweets, all accompanied by flatbreads and cool drinks. The order was not rigid: profusion and the balance of flavors (hot/cold, sour/sweet) according to humoral medicine mattered more than 'courses.'

A fermented liquid condiment made from moldy barley and salt, aged for a long time: the 'garum' of the Abbasid world, a source of umami that Baghdad cooks added to almost everything. Alongside saffron, rose water, and grape vinegar, it defines the taste of this learned cuisine.