Averroes at the table

In 12th-century Córdoba, meals were not served as "starter, main, dessert" but around a large communal table (al-māʾida) where dishes arrived together or in waves: a base of bread (khubz) broken with the right hand, fragrant meat stews (marqa, tafāyā) scooped up with bread, refreshing syrup drinks (sharāb), and honey-fried sweets to finish. The meal followed both a medical and a gourmet logic: balancing hot and cold, dry and moist, according to the theory of humors inherited from Galen.

Murrī, a fermented condiment made from mouldy barley and salt (a distant cousin of garum), gives Andalusian dishes their salty-fermented depth; saffron (zaʿfarān) gives them their gold and perfume. Together, they define the cuisine of Al-Andalus in the cookbooks of the time.