#drachenwald

[thejoyofseax]

Cudgel War 2025 Laurel Prize Display: No Summer In Ireland (A Crown of Triads)

This was my entry for the Laurel Prize Display at Cudgel War 2025 in the Barony of Aarnimetsä in Drachenwald.

The triad is a medieval Irish poetic form, with some resemblance to the Japanese haiku. It does not have a defined meter or number of syllables, but has some broad characteristics that can be reproduced.

Triads are mostly known from a (probably) ninth-century work called Trecheng Breth Féne, translated as "A Triad of Judgments of the Irish", which contains 256 of them (not all strictly triads). There are also Welsh triads, and the form appears in later Irish law texts, possibly as an aid to memory.

The only existing translation of the Trecheng Breth Féne was by Kuno Meyer, in 1906. It includes material from six of the nine manuscripts known at the time, and three more have since been discovered. The other manuscripts might contain more triads. Additionally, Meyer’s translations frequently take more poetic license than a modern one would, so further examination of these would be useful.

The form is: Three [description of a category]: example 1, example 2, example 3.

The examples are sometimes direct; three things which match the description. Occasional triads have the third example as a twist - something that matches the description only in metaphorical terms, or which jars against the previous two in tone. 

Many of the existing triads are simple collections of notable places:

[49] The three highroads of Ireland: Slige Dala, Slige Asail, Slige Luachra.

[50] The three mountain-passes of Ireland: Baltinglass, the Pass of Limerick, the Pass of Dublin.

More are advice or proverbs:

[64] Three unfortunate things for a man: a scant drink of water, thirst in an ale-house, a narrow seat upon a field.

Some enforce social strictures and rules:

[71] Three unfortunate things for the son of a peasant: marrying into the family of a franklin, attaching himself to the retinue of a king, consorting with thieves.

There is a particular feature in this written form, where consecutive triads reverse one another:

[72] Three unfortunate things for a householder: proposing to a bad woman, serving a bad chief, exchanging for bad land.

[73] Three excellent things for a householder: proposing to a good woman, serving a good chief, exchanging for good land.

Explanation

For the triads I’ve written here, I’ve arranged them in three sets: winter, spring, and autumn, the joke being that Ireland has no summer. I’ve written them from the point of view of early medieval Ireland, using only the species of plants and animals I know to have been present (before the Norman introduction of ducks or pigeons, for example). I’ve also given a lot of weight to the importance of cattle, pigs, and grain, which were vital concerns both in myth and in law at that time. I’ve used the twist in the third example, sparingly; the reversal in consecutive triads; and a nod to the collections of places, although I’ve left them in the abstract rather than using place names which will be meaningless to most non-Irish readers. Seasonal concerns come through naturally from the three sets (each with three subsets of three triads), and I like the way this echoes the haiku.

Battle and warfare are mentioned only in the autumn set; there is a lot of evidence in early medieval texts from across Europe that battles were only fought in the gap between the harvest and the difficulty of travel in winter. Many conflicts in Ireland were over cattle, too, and the autumn is a good time to move them, whether moving yours to a winter pasture, or moving your neighbours' cattle to somewhere else.

The “Crown of Triads” references a meta-form in much later English poetry called a “Crown of Sonnets”, something which, despite sonnets being my main form, I have not yet succeeded in writing.

Winter

1.1 Three colours of winter: the black of night, the grey of the sky, the white of frost.

1.2 Three scents of winter: the smoke of peat, the sharpness of snow, the pine bough.

1.3 Three tastes of winter: the roundness of porridge, the salt of meat, the pang of hunger.

2.1 Three feelings of winter: being lost in the night, being cold, finding the firelight in the valley

2.2 Three fears of winter: the cattle lost, the food not enough, the coming of the snow.

2.3 Three hopes of winter: the warmth of the bed, the turning at the solstice, the coming of spring

3.1 Three birds of winter: the shrieking gull, the clucking hen, the bright robin.

3.2 Three beasts of winter: the cow in calf, the sow in pig, the fox in thieving.

3.3 Three places of winter: the fireside, the cliffside, the grave.

Spring

1.1 Three colours of spring: the green of the new leaf, the yellow of the celandine, the blue of the clear sky.

1.2 Three scents of spring: the milk for the calf, the garlic in the woods, the bitter last of the ale.

1.3 Three tastes of spring: the first of the greens, the new eggs, the fresh leek.

2.1 Three feelings of spring: the relief of eating, the worry of calving, the rise in the blood.

2.2 Three fears of spring: that the calf will die, that the cow will die, that the corn will not grow.

2.3 Three hopes of spring: that the calf will live, that the cow will live, that the corn will sprout.

3.1 Three birds of spring: the corncrake in the field, the gannet on the rock, the swallow in the sky.

3.2 Three beasts of spring: the calf by its mother, the piglet by the sow, the hare in the meadow.

3.3 Three places of spring: the river bank, the sea shore, the top of the hill.

Autumn

1.1 Three colours of autumn: the red of the berry, the gold of the leaf, the grey of the sky.

1.2 Three scents of autumn: the smoke of the fire, the mushrooms in the woods, the blood of the slaughter.

1.3 Three tastes of autumn: the sweetness of honey, the sourness of the sloe, the fresh-made bread.

2.1 Three feelings of autumn: the fullness of the belly, the comfort of the harvest, the dreams of the dead.

2.2 Three fears of autumn: the storm before the harvest, the boat lost at sea, the son lost in battle.

2.3 Three hopes of autumn: the grain store filled full, the salmon to smoke, the warriors victorious

3.1 Three birds of autumn: the goose in the bog, the swallows gathering, the crow among the dead.

3.2 Three beasts of autumn: the fatted boar, the climbing squirrel, the barn cat.

3.3 Three places of autumn: the wheat field, the peat bog, the battlefield.

References:

The Triads of Ireland, CELT Edition: https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T103006/

[inariedwards]

The European Society for Creative Anachronism (aka Medieval re-enactment) people are doing a "Kingdom University" aka a free online seminar-course-event about all sorts of things that Medieval re-enactment people find interesting.

All the lessons are taught by volunteer fellow SCA people, it's completely free, so basically it's gonna be a fun, cool hangout.

It's next weekend, the 24.-26.1.2025. It is in Europe-time so some of the timing is gonna be awkward for other time zones, but some of it is doable for Americans too.

(Plus the American kingdoms probably do Kingdom Universities sometimes so definitely look into your local SCA stuff too).

But yeah, all the deets are in the link: how to sign up, the schedules, Zoom and Discord, etc.

[sca-nerd]

GO MAKE AN AWARD RECOMMENDATION.

This is your reminder that their Majesties (current and future) rely on the eyes and voices of the populace to recognize the exceptional members of your Kingdom. They cannot see every act of service or skill, and they need your help to ensure that those who shine brightly are celebrated.

Do you know someone who deserves recognition? Whether it’s for service, arts, combat prowess, simply being a lovely person who makes events or activities that much better, or any other outstanding contribution, please take a moment to submit your award recommendations.

Don't be afraid to recommend yourself. You are allowed to be proud of your own contributions and request that you be recognized for them. If you are hesitant to do it, then ask someone in your Kingdom to do it for you. Everyone should be appreciated for their contribution of living the dream, because without each of you there isn't one.

And for those who don't feel the need for awards or even like they don't deserve one - then please accept my sincere gratitude for being who you are and being that person well. You're awesome, and I appreciate you.

Sincerely, Your SCA Mom (or Aunt)

[oodlenoodleroodle]

Hiii I'm a pretty new SCA-er too! :D :D

Y’all I’m doing it. I’m finally joining the SCA. I emailed the new person greeter who answered all my questions and will go to my first meeting this week.

Why now, you ask? Well. Because I was making a wicked cool historical costume for the Ren Faire and decided I wanted more opportunities to wear it

[dream-louder]

A long joke, as adapted from variations of this joke I have heard on Discord and around some fires, and a few of my own edits, which I figured Tumblr may also appreciate:

---

The king orders that a latrine ditch be dug in the middle of the list field...

In the East: Everyone whines and moans about it for the entire event and tells His Majesty that this is a stupid idea, but by the end of the event, the ditch is dug.

In the West: Everyone says, "Yes, your Majesty. What a wonderful idea, your Majesty." However, mysteriously, for six months, nobody in the kingdom can find a shovel.

In Atenveldt: The king's word is law, even when he gives silly or truly excessive orders. The resulting ditch is mundanely known as the Grand Canyon.

In the Midrealm: Half the populace wants to start digging. The other half argues it's against custom, corpora, and that Cariadoc never dug a ditch. Everyone agrees a ditch can't be dug unless the Ditch Digging Form is filled out, signed by KSen, countersigned by the autocrat, and voted on at two nonconsecutive Curia meetings.

In Atlantia: On Facebook there is a great outcry. People moan to the high heavens that ditches are unnecessary, ugly, non period, and unsafe for children. Online commenters universally agree that nobody wants a ditch and that it is impossible to dig ditches anyway, unaware that offline, at the event site, there's already a team happily digging.

In Calontir: "Great idea, Your Majesty, we'll have somewhere to bury all the dead."

In Ealdormere: An anti-ditch protest song is written that is so excellent that YouTube commenters are being introduced to the SCA via the song, twenty years later. Everyone forgets why the ditch even needed to be dug in the first place, including the king.

In Meridies: There is no need to dig a ditch. Just wait five minutes. The torrential rain will carve one out for you, without need for human intervention.

In Ansteorra: There is no need to dig a ditch. The tornados will dig one for you.

In Trimaris: There is no need to dig a ditch. The list field is already a swamp. His Majesty is welcome to take it up with the alligators.

In Drachenwald: No digging is permitted as the historic site is protected by law.

In Gleann Abhann: Someone starts trying to dig a ditch, however, a small amount of dust is kicked up and hits someone in the arm, which is considered excessive force by Gleann Abhann calibration. The dig team breaks for sweet tea.

---

The king orders a latrine ditch be dug in the middle of the list field and...

The KSCA will tell you that digging a ditch is a dumb idea but they are ultimately oathbound to dig a ditch if the King asks it.

The Laurels get sidetracked with a 15 hour long debate and 500 page long forum thread about period ditch digging methods. By the end, they believe they are ready to form a committee to assess the documentation to build consensus as to the correct period way to carve a shovel handle, though they aren't certain they'll be able to get their hands on the exact correct kind of wood without first growing some medieval trees.

The Pelicans don't need to bother to protest the ditch digging initiatives. They know that if they don't support it, it'll be mysteriously impossible to get it done.

The apprentices will collapse in anxiety not knowing if their ditches are dug straight and neat enough.

The squires will bet ten bucks on a competition to see who can dig the deepest ditch the fastest, and are found the next morning incredibly drunk on a beach, having dug a hole all the way through the earth to Australia. When asked if an 8 thousand mile deep hole really meets the requirements of having been asked to dig a ditch, they offer to share the alcohol if you'll let this one slide and not tell their knights.

The proteges will probably just dig the damned ditch, bless their hearts, poor fools.

(I've never heard a version of this joke that included MODs. Make up your own)

--

The Queen mentions, offhand, that she quite likes ditches.

Fifteen are dug for her within the hour, and five are painted in her favourite colour.

[alexseanchai]

ace pride dragon shoelaces, here we come!

I'm numbering my cards 0 to 19 bc I'm doing four stripes on each side of the dragons, and for rows 7-12 I'm turning cards 0-3 and 16-19 backward so it's twist-neutral

got from zero to all warped up in a bit over two hours, with Mila's help:

also I meant to take a break when the feed cats alarm went off, but Mila knows the sound of all the Alex get up alarms, and Mila said no:

but it is all warped and ready for me to load up the shuttle and go!

...tomorrow.

[arcanehobo]

Contact Effort, Will Delete Later

To @oodlenoodleroodle: Your blog is locked down not to take replies, and I can't message you because you don't follow this main blog (@thejoyofseax is a side blog). Posting on @thejoyofseax will push the message to RSS feeds all over Drachenwald, so that'll be a last resort to make contact. If you follow @arcanehobo here or contact me on Discord (arcanehobo there too), I can talk to you about museum stuff. :)

[cwen-northwice]

A good practice tonight. Spent some time working on my dagger work. It's a struggle, but I feel I'm picking it up quickly.

I did get a little...uh...in the weeds in a conversation about queer identity at the end there. I alluded to my inability to return to fair Drachenwald due to my home country being openly hostile to queer people, which prompted an explanation, which led into some clarifications, and suddenly it was an hour later and the Honourable Knight I was speaking with had, I hope, learned a few things about the queer experience.

I fear a few of the other members of our practice were not as excited that I took the opportunity to expound upon this particular subject. No one said anything but a few popped into the conversation before quickly retreating. And granted, they may very well have simply been staying in their lane and had no issues, but one does worry all the same.

I am opting to dig my heels in though. I frequently listen to people tell me stories involving politics I do not personal approve of or agree with. Not everything is worth an argument, and so I politely listen until the topic changes. I like to think I understand a fair bit about the lives experiences of people who have values I do not share. I play nice.

Today, it was their turn to sit politely and listen. Which they did. No one pushed back on me or said anything unkind. The conflict lies first and foremost in my own anxious imagination. But one does worry. So by reason of I've sat through discussions I did not like and I was fine, I am deciding it is okay for me to have a conversation that maybe other people were not keen about. With luck they learned something, even if they would have preferred a different conversation.

They're not really the people I'm talking to though. When I talk about queer identity with people who do not have one, I am talking to all my fellow blue feathers who do not know if this is a safe place for them yet. I am fostering an environment where it's okay to speak about these issues, these feelings, these identities. Growing up in Drachenwald (Flintheath, for the curious) it was not merely not okay, it was illegal. That I am safer in Ansteorra, a region famous for its hostile government, I am safer than my own home country. Truly the mind boggles.

So I will make it okay. I will carve a space for every queer person behind me. And if I have to risk not everyone enjoying a conversation about the lavender scare or why we use the word queer, then that's just the way it's gonna be.

(Also, I am getting mixed messages about preferred dagger technique. What is up with that?)

[abigailsultimatedecadesblog]

Storytelling Secrets

Originally tagged by @zelenxa 💗

Im not really much of a writer, which can be probably seen through my blog 🤣 So i will take this more like fun facts about mine save & myself

1. Theres eight kingdoms in my save, each inspired by countries. Miryang = Korea, Qingxia = China, Lusignia = France, Drachenwald = Romania, Brezovia = Czechia & Slovakia, Belloria = Italy, Athenoria = Ancient Greece, Maatkara = Ancient egypt.

2. We spend the most time in Brezovia as thats where im from :D

3. Im a huge fantasy geek, so even tho i try to take inspiration from real life events, theres probably gonna be a lot of fantasy stuff (And even more with SpinningPlumbob's upcoming plantsim mod 👀)

4. Im also a horse girl haha, so we will be spending a lot of time in the Clements household 💕

5. The Draculesti family is a inspired mix of vampires & the targaryens from GoT and HotD

6. Im currently at gen 5 with the main family. I started this challange around the year 2020, and restarted this year with Rana and her siblings & cousins

7. The Dulcinea's last name is inspired by barbie, specificly "Barbie as The Princess and the Pauper" as that was one of my favorite movies when i was little

8. The Ailstall family is inspired by Lannister's from GoT

Okay i think 8 is a good number to end at, hopefully this wasnt a dissapointment haha 😂❤️ I forward this to @timesimmer, @heartblobs and @deni-plumbob This is just a fun ask game so you dont have to answer 🌻

[thejoyofseax]

An Early Irish Feast for Drachenwald's Spring Crown, AS LVIII

Spring Crown this year was hosted by Dun in Mara in the territory of Glen Rathlin. As with almost all SCA projects, this feast didn't quite hit all the things I intended. In particular, I'd been thinking of having documentation available alongside it, and of a few more dishes that didn't make it in the end. A fermented porridge was high on that list. Next time!

Before I start talking about food, though, let me thank my kitchen crew: THL Órlaith Caomhánach, Lady Gabrielle of Dun in Mara, Noble Mallymkun Rauði, Lady Erin Volya and Cassian of Allyshia. There were a few other folk in and out of the kitchen too (THL Yda Van Boulogne did excellent work on the various flavoured butters), but these five did the bulk of the work. Lady Erin also provided lunch; cooking at Crown for 80 people as her first event cookery is notable.

The main idea here was to lean heavily on seafood, which isn't often done in SCA feasts in my experience, and represents the food of Ireland well. I also wanted to include pork as a main meat, emphasise oats and barley, and use plain vegetables presented well. There were to be condiments on the table, hence Yda's butters: plain, honey, mackerel and garlic-and-chive, as well as green sauce (largely Órlaith's work, with Cass finishing it out). Condiments and the number of them available were an important aspect of Irish medieval hospitality.

I also wanted to nod to the usual progress of early Irish feasts, which started with formal services and frequently ended up so raucous and drunken that the nobility woke up the following morning on the hall floor along with everyone else. So we served to the tables to begin, and then had a less and less orderly buffet.

The first "course" was a set of pottages. The main one was pork, cabbage, onion, carrots, turnips, and barley, which had been slowly cooked down over a number of hours. There was also a version with lamb, for those who couldn't eat pork, and this doubled as the gluten-free version, having no barley. And there was a vegetarian one, including barley, but substituting mushrooms for the meat. These were served with flatbreads, risen yeast dough having been a tough proposition in the Irish climate (and still is, really; that's why the most Irish of breads is soda bread).

As that was consumed, we stocked the buffet with: sides of salmon (steamed then baked), mussels (boiled), monkfish and mackerel (also steamed and baked), chicken pieces (baked), hard-boiled eggs, turnips with butter, carrots with honey, samphire (new to many, most enthused about it), caramelised onions, creamed leeks, buttered cabbage with and without bacon bits, and a broth-based porridge, accompanied by a variety of flatbreads and oat pancakes. And as that all cleared, we put out fruit, some cheese, some oaten biscuits, and a "cheesecake", of sorts.

Everything was plausibly pre-Norman Irish, with the exception of the oaten biscuits and the cheesecake base, which were egregiously modern - although I could argue for something very like them. Simple cooking techniques mean that those are broadly plausible as well - steaming may seem incongruous, but I'll have more to say on that again.

It all seemed to go down well. A number of people said they weren't sure about fish, and then followed with "… but that was great!", and the green sauce, the samphire and the cheesecake were particular hits. The technique of doing a wide variety of simple things usually does well, I find; even the pickiest of eaters can usually have a few things, and the adventurous can pile their plates with a wide variety.

And I had energy enough left to wander around the party hall later offering plates of fruit, cheese and biscuits, which is one of my favourite things to do.

[archduke42]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003) - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars - All Media Types Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Luminara Unduli, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Luminara Unduli, Barriss Offee/Ahsoka Tano, Barriss Offee & Ahsoka Tano Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luminara Unduli, Ahsoka Tano, Barriss Offee, Grievous | Qymaen jai Sheelal, Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious, CT-7567 | Rex Additional Tags: Jedi Culture & Tradition (Star Wars), Clones Summary:

Obi and Lumi are charged with taking Anakin, Ahsoka and Barriss on a special recon mission set up by Palpatine, but there are schemes within schemes as Sidious and General Grievous plan to double cross the Jedi. Grievous hints at a new diabolical weapon that will eventually need a Force Sensitive being to power it up.

Barriss has internal conflicts about the war when she realizes an old friend will be a target in the recon, and things become even more complicated when the group discover Clone prisoners that will need rescuing in a harrowing race against time!

More than one deception is happening on the forest world of Drachenwald!

Part 1 in an Obinara Trilogy

[oodlenoodleroodle]

For prev's tags re: SCA* in Germany:

14-16 March there is Meadowmarch Bootcamp (combat and fencing) in Hanau

25-27 April there is Arts in April (arts and sciences) in Würzburg

Also

24-26 January there is Kingdom University Online, which will be extra good for people who want to have a peek at SCA stuff without having to have period clothing ready to go.

You can find all the events in Europe (Kingdom of Drachenwald) at the event calendar: https://drachenwald.sca.org/events/calendar/#/

-

Also there is the listing of groups in https://drachenwald.sca.org/groups/ BUT! It doesn't list all the small ones! In Finland we have the official cantons, but there are also unofficial "villages" that technically go under the cantons.

So if you look at the list and go "boo, nothing near me" it might be that the people near you haven't got round to making a formal registreable association. But they still do things and they still are cranky old people.

Also poke around the German Barony's website too: https://www.knightscrossing.org/organisation/lokale-gruppen/

-

*Society for Creative Anachronism

Come join the SCA we have:

- Stabbing other people

- Stabbing cloth (sewing)

- Period Accurate Dancing (you will be bad at it)

- Stabbing yourself (also sewing)

- Hitting metal with other metal

- Nobel Prize Winner Milton Friedman’s Son, for some reason

- Cranky old people

- Sometimes there is food

[freswe]

Medeltidsveckan 2022 #medeltidsveckan #nordmark #medeltida #reenactment #livinghistory #baronyofknightscrossing #scaathome #medeltid #scasocial #costuming #hema #drachenwald #insulaedraconis #doublewars #larping #styringheim #goulmima #visby #trix #eldshow #ridderlighet #brottning #regrammysca #wrestler #wrestlers #wrestlingislife #nugoth #gotland #livestream (på/i Visby, Gotland Island, Sweden) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cg9WAfFMQXL/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[originallonemagpie]

So this is where I was teaching classes at the weekend. 'Wolfram von Falkenstein' in the list of teachers is me, as we were all credited by our SCA noms de plume.

Don't worry about the Whamageddon, the version here is and instrumental and doesn't count [I mention this not to spoiler but to reassure], and I do love to see Lorenzo closing these. Yes, that is my main man at the end.

[vikinginireland]

#inktober day 6. Husky. #inktober2019 #calligraphy #imadethis #romanrustics #romanrusticcapitals #madeindrachenwald #mySCA #duninmara #loughdevnaree #insulaedraconis #drachenwald #sheaffer #cartridgepen #scribal #artsandsciences #earlybirdfilter https://ift.tt/2AJBcoT

[thejoyofseax]

Arabic Lunch, Corónú Nollaig na mBan

For Drachenwald's 12th Night Coronation, The Honourable Lords Arpad and Unegen hatched the idea of a journey on the Silk Road, starting in Italy, moving through the Middle East and Mongolia to China in different meals. My contribution to this was Saturday's lunch, as an Arabic meal.

Lunch at Coronation needs to be filling, survive being kept hot for an arbitrary length of time, and cope with a wide range of allergies, tolerances, likes and dislikes. Some of the royalty were not keen on lamb, which rather limits what can be done in medieval Arabic cuisine.

Eventually I settled on some recipes from A Treasure Trove of Benefits and Variety at the Table: A Fourteenth-Century Egyptian Cookbook (2018), translated by Nawal Nasrallah.

(49) Recipe for rummāniyya bi-dajāj (pomegranate stew with chicken)

Boil a fine plump chicken (dajāj fāʾiq) in salted water, along with galangal (khūlanjān) and cassia (dār Ṣīnī), a stick of each, until it is almost done.

When it is completely cooked, take fresh pomegranate seeds, both sweet and sour. Press them with a stone, put them in a sieve (ghirbāl) and press them down [to extract] the juice. Take half the juice and add it to the pot. Blend the second half with some [finely crushed] almonds, and add it to the pot [in the final stage] when it is simmering on the smoldering fire, to thicken the sauce. Season it with aromatic spices, rosewater, and camphor. Keep the pot on the smoldering fire to simmer, and then remove.

Modern Version: Boil chicken pieces (thigh or leg, ideally) in salted water with galangal root and a stick of cinnamon. Add pomegranate juice (which we can just buy, rather than needing to make) to the pot, and mix some more with ground almond, adding it to the pot toward the end of cooking as a thickener. Season with ground ginger, ground cloves, and ground cardamom.

Notes: I left out the camphor, since getting food-grade stuff reliably is very difficult, and it’s a more alien taste than I want to use in a main dish. Rosewater is on the do-not-serve list for some of the royalty too, so I left it out.

(101) Recipe for taqliyyat yaqṭīn (fried dish with gourd)

You need meat, gourd, garlic, black pepper, chickpeas, cilantro, and a small amount of polished rice (ruzz mubayyaḍ). Boil the meat, [drain off its broth], and fry it with garlic, black pepper, and cilantro. Return the broth to it, and let it boil on a strong fire. Throw in the gourd and rice, and if preferred, some meatballs (mudaqqaqa), and then remove.

Modern Version: Simmer stewing beef in water until it’s falling apart (needs to be started early!). When it’s cooked, drain the broth, and fry off the meat with garlic and black pepper. Put it back in the broth with chopped butternut squash pieces, chickpeas, and rice, and cook until rice is done. Remove from the pot with a slotted spoon so that broth mostly drains away, and pile on platters.

Notes: Cilantro/coriander tastes like soap to many people, so I left it out here, and served it as a garnish instead. Exactly what the medieval Arabic gourd was is a bit of a mystery; butternut squash is an easily available substitute in the right direction. Chickpeas are listed at the beginning, but not mentioned in the method, so my guess was that they go in with the other ingredients at the end. These dishes were served with plain rice and flatbreads, with chopped coriander as an optional garnish, and there was also a vegan version of the rummāniyya bi-dajāj, replacing the chicken with chickpeas and aubergine pieces.

Everything seemed to go down well, and a few people were very pleased with some of the dishes, even the somewhat invented vegan version.