Murrī oralmorí (in Andalusia) was a liquidcondiment made using a fermented solid-state starter called budhaj that was made withbarley flour or wheat flour, known fromMaghrebi andArab cuisines. Almost every substantial dish in medieval Arab cuisine used murrī in small quantities. It could be used as a substitute forsalt orsumac, and has been compared tosoy sauce by Rudolf Grewe, Charles Perry, and others due to its highglutamates content and resultantumami flavor.[1][2]
There are two types of murri known from historical recipes that have survived into the present day. TheIraqi-style murri from the 10th centuryKitab al-Tabikh byIbn Sayyar al-Warraq and the 13th centuryKitab Wasf al-Atima al-Mutada was made by wetting a combination of groundflatbread,barley flour (budhaj flour) and salt and allowing it to ferment.[3] The Maghrebi style of murri described in detail inKitab Wasf is made only with barley flour, and flavored withcarob,fennel stems,citron,pine nuts, mixed spices and bitter orange wood. The consistency is similar totreacle.[3]Kitab Wasf also describes a "Byzantine murri", but it is made with toasted bread instead of spoiled bread and includes caramelized honey.[3]
The authors of some Arabiclexicographical wrote thatmurri may be a word of foreign origin, and based on this, some modern scholars have speculated that the word could be derived from the Greekhalmyris ('a salty thing' and source for the Latin word forbrine,salmuria) and the condiment related to the Ancient Roman condimentgarum (orgaros in Greek). Although murri is not made with fish, the Arabic translation ofArtemidorus'Oneirocritica usesgaros formurri. While calling this "a translator's 'bright idea'",Charles Perry, an expert in medieval Arab cuisine, notes that both condiments do share the traits of being fermented, salty liquid seasonings, but it is unknown whether the technique or culinary use of a fermented sauce is of Greek origin. Perry writes that murri may represent "the Greek idea of a salty liquid seasoning as interpreted in the basically Persianized—and fish poor—Near Eastern environment," but cautions that this interpretation has some problems, including recorded recipes of a distinct "Byzantine murri".[3] David Waines, a British scholar of Islamic history, has written that there are two types of murri, "the more usual made from barley flour, and the other from fish." He further explains:[4]
There has been much confusion over the exact nature ofmurri, the prevalent view being that it derived from the romangarum, a fish preparation. In fact the most common form to which the recipes refer ismurri naqi made from cereal grain.
The recipe for murrī was mistranscribed with the fermenting stage omitted, in a 13th-century textLiber de Ferculis et Condimenti, where it was described as "salty water" elsewhere in the translation.[5]
Traditionally, murrī production was undertaken annually in households at the end of March and continued over a period of 90 days.[4] The first step in the process involved creating a fermented starter called budhaj or budhaq. This entailed mixing water and rawbarley to form a dough, then wrapping the dough infig leaves which are left to sit for 40 days. During this time a variety of different surface molds, bacteria, yeasts, and microorganisms ferment within the dough cake. The dough is then left to dry, ground and mixed with water, salt, and usually additional flour. It is then left to ferment for another 40 days in a warm place. The resulting dark mahoghany brown paste, mixed with water to form a liquid, is murrī.[1]
A fast method for preparing murrī is to mix 2 parts barley flour to one part salt and make a loaf that is baked in the oven until hard and then pounded into crumbs to soak in water for a day and a night. This mixture, known as the first murri, is then strained and set aside. Then,raisins,carob,dill,fennel,nigella,sesame,anise,mace,citron leaf, andpine seed milk are boiled with water and strained. The second murri is then added to the first, and boiled until thickened.[4]
Murrī mixed with milk was known askamakh.[6]
