Moorish Recipes.

Notes

First edition, limited to 185 copies, this numbered 21 on the limitation slip mounted on the front pastedown, no copies of this limited edition traced institutionally. Perhaps the earliest English cookbook devoted solely to Arab cuisine, with detailed instructions for some 80 dishes.

"The first purpose of this book is to provide, for those Europeans who wish to make Moroccan dishes, the recipes in the most approved and classical manner of Moroccan cooking... How many dishes may be of purely Mauretanian origin it would be hazardous to suggest. Some of them are know to have come from East, among which is the pastry called Treed, which History records as far away as Mecca. It can scarcely be thought rash to surmise this dish to have been introduced into Morocco in the time of Mulai Idris, descendant of the Prophet Mohammed, who fled to Morocco and whose body lies at Fez, the land of his exile. It was he who brought to the West the Mohammedan religion, and may not the faithful Fatima have brought to the Moors the recipe for Treed?" (Foreword).

Harrow educated John Crichton-Stuart (1881-1947) succeeded his father as marquess of Bute at the age of 19, becoming one of the richest men in Britain. He also inherited his father's love of architecture, undertaking a number of important restoration projects, among them Caerphilly Castle in Wales and Robert Adam's north side of Charlotte Square in Edinburgh. An avid collector of art, silver, stamps and coins, he also developed a passion for the history and culture of; Morocco he was silent partner in Rentistica, the largest real estate business in Tangier, proprietor of the English language newspaper, The Tangier Gazette, and established the famed El Minzah hotel. The book was published posthumously, and the editorial note acknowledges Bute's indebtedness to the El Menebhi family, "who made the collection of these recipes possible by giving him every facility to study the methods of Moorish cooking in their Tangier home".