Kibby (1844), Old Woman's Hair (1844) and much more

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THE MODERN SYRIANS;
OR, NATIVE SOCIETY IN DAMASCUS, ALEPPO, AND THE MOUNTAINS OF THE DRUZES
FROM NOTES MADE IN THOSE PARTS DURING THE YEARS 1841-2-3
by An Oriental Student
(Andrew A. Paton on catnyp--ed.)
London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans
1844

Pg. 22:  The sherbet stalls and confectioners' shops are unique: here is the
broad platter of honey pastry (kunafeh), and the sauce of pomegrante grains
(hab-erraman), in its huge curiously carved and shining goblet...

Pg. 97:  At midday they dine: the dishes most in vogue are kibby, or chopped
meat and corn formed into balls and fried, rice rolled in boiled vine-leaves
(Pg. 98--ed.), various sorts of salads. and omelettes with herbs.
(Merriam-Webster has 1937 for "kibbeh."  OED has no entry at all--ed.)

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PERSIAN LIFE AND CUSTOMS
by the Rev. Samuel Graham Wilson
second edition
Edinburgh: Oliphant Anderson and Ferrier
1896

Pg. 129:  The _matsoon_ or _yogurt_ is a curd made by putting rennet in the
heated milk and letting it sour for several days.
(Several "madzoon" hits are in ADS-L archive.  Not in the revised OED?--ed.)

Pg. 249:  Among the favorite confections is _gaz_.  It is made from the juice
of the tamarisk-tree and has a delicious flavor...

Pg. 250:  ..._khulva_, a taffy of molasses and nuts, rock-candy, and
_peshmak_, which is made of sugar and butter, crystallized like snowflakes or
thistle-down, and formed into pyramids, cones, and other shapes.

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MEMOIRS OF A BABYLONIAN PRINCESS
written by herself
(Maria Theresa Asmar is on catnyp.  No, it's not Cher--she's Armenian--ed.)
in two volumes
London: Henry Colburn
1844

VOLUME ONE
Pg. 57:  Amongst the dishes which succeeded to these were a lamb, stuffed
with all sorts of herbs, rice, and pistachios, which was served up whole,
saffron being added, for the double purpose of giving it colour and flavour;
a number of roast fowls; stuffed gourds; two or three large dishes of a
vegetable, (Pg. 58--ed.) called "bamia;" and a dish made of a veal hash,
enveloped in vine leaves; "coobba" which is a crust made of green corn and
hashed meat, filled with a hash of beef and herbs, called "shar al ajouz," or
old woman's hair, of delicious flavour, and made up into globes, as large as
a man's head; many dishes of "kabap," or "kabob," as it is more usually
written, which is a kind of sausage meat, cooked on an iron rod; together
with a host of other recondite preparations, the names of which have passed
from my memory.

Pg. 59:  I had almost forgotten to mention the "nuckel," or dessert, which,
in its way, was in no wise inferior to the dinner.  There was a substance
having the consistency of snow, which is found on the leaves of trees, of a
green colour, having a delicious sweet taste, called in the Chaldean language
"gasgoul," and in Arabic "man al sama."  There were also the figs of Jebel
SInjar (a mountain to the northwest of Mosul,) of enormous size, some of them
being not less than six inches in length; the "laimoun halou," or sweet
orange, from Bagdad and Bassorah, a fruit almost as large as aa shaddock,
greatly resembling the orange in size and appearance, but far excelling that
fruit in smoothness of skin and sweetness of flavour.  So abundant is this
fruit in Mesopotamia that twelve are sold for a penny.  "Hammas," a sort of
kernel, resembling a dried harvest bean, which is roasted after the manner of
coffee; to which may be added pistachio nuts, pomegranates, and grapes.

Pg. 239:  Camel load, after camel load, poured into the camp, consisting of
flour biscuit, and rice; beside quantities of "basterma," (Pg. 240--ed.) a
kind of sausage, which is dried, and keeps well for a considerable length of
time; "kaourma," a preparation of hashed beef or mutton, cooked in grease and
crammed into skins, which is dished up, during the journey, with dates and
herbs, and makes a very palatable dish; "halawah," a sweet solid substance,
composed of "simsim," described in my account of the manufactures of Telkef,
honey, and other ingredients.

Pg. 299:  We had an excellent dinner.  Besides roasts, pillaws, kababs,
sambousack, and other dishes usually found at eastern tables, I tasted here a
dish called "jild el faras," literally horses skin, which is a preparation of
the Damascus apricots, so celebrated for their flavour and size, which are
boiled in a mass, till they become a thick marmalade.  This marmalade is
reduced to a tolerable consistency, and then rolled out into a large sheet, a
yard square, not thicker than the eighth part of an inch, which is then
rolled like a wafer.  The flavour is delicious.  At this dinner, too, wine
was served of various kinds; one of which, I remember, I found extremely
agreeable.  It was called Nebid el Asfar; it was of a gold colour, and I
learned that the Italians import a considerable quantity of it.

VOLUME TWO
Pg. 116:  We were provided with a stock of basterma, a kind of dried sausage
meat, or beef or mutton, mingled with spices, salted and dried, and eaten
either raw or broiled; kaorma, beef or mutton cut into pieces, and cooked in
its own fat, mingled with salt, spices, and savory herbs, which keeps for a
length of time; Cyprus cheese, (Pg. 117--ed.) which is delicious when
roasted; rice, dates, and other dry provisions.

Pg. 117:   Here we were soon visited by our friends in the town, to whom
intelligence had been forwarded of our arrival, and who immediately came
forth to meet us, bringing with them presents of a most acceptable kind, such
as lambs and fowls, besides a great abundance of the delicious fruits of
Jaffa (food fit for the dwellers of Paradise), bahmia and "ardeshaouk,"
artichokes (literally, "thorn of the earth"), as large as a good sized
pumpkin, and other vegetables.  Jaffa produces no fewer than two-and-thirty
different kinds of figs.

Pg. 179:  The Princess breakfasted alone in her room, on sherbet, a soup of
chickens, rice milk, kaimagh (cream cheese), kharisha (a cheese containing
odoriferous herbs from Mount Carmel,) dried fruits, and sweets of  different
kinds.