Arabic cookbooks go back a long way – to the tenth century, to be precise. Nine cookbooks have survived the centuries, including The Sultan’s Feast by the Egyptian scholar Ibn Mubārak Shāh.

Translator Daniel L Newman set himself a challenging task in translating and editing this cookbook from the fifteenth century. How would he capture the medieval Arab world and its tastes and culture and present them in a way modern, English-speaking readers would understand?

Professor Newman will introduce the audience to this tenth century culinary world in conversation with interdisciplinary food researcher Salma Serry who investigates the connection between the food, history and culture of the SWANA region.

Daniel L Newman is Chair of Arabic Studies at the University of Durham and author of An Imam in Paris: Account of a Stay in France by An Egyptian Cleric and The Sultan’s Feast: A Fifteenth-Century Egyptian Cookbook.

Salma Serry is an interdisciplinary food researcher, filmmaker and founder of @Sufra_Kitchen. She has a collection of over 400 historical cookbooks and culinary ephemera and was recently awarded the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC)’s grant for her ongoing research on the modern history of food in SWANA.

This event is in partnership with Emirates Literature Festival. To register for the event, please click here.