Here’s the last of the Chai and Charmcraft-associated recipes that went into the book; after this, I’ll be writing up ones that didn’t make it into the paper edition. This is one of the recipes from the banquet meal with the gathered priests. (Photo credit to Sylvar of Openverse.)

I’m frequently surprised by how much the thousand-year-old recipes from Egyptian and Persian and Arabic cookbooks resemble what we make today. (I’m not surprised by how tasty they are, but I am the kind of person who loves medieval flavor profiles, including sweet-with-sour and floral things.)

If you put a sizzling skillet of ‘ujja mu’tamidiyya in front of a person at a fancy restaurant today, they would probably be delighted. It’s basically a thick omelet with chicken and olives and cheese and an assortment of herbs scattered over the top. (In modern Egypt, a thick egg omelet or frittata with meat and vegetables, now called eggah or ejjeh rather than ‘ujja, is still made today.)

The historic version

This is one of the recipes contained in both Kanz al-Fawaid and Zahr al-Hadiqa, with a note from Daniel Newman in his translation of Zahr that while there was an Abbasid caliph named al-Mu’tamid, he believes the al-Mu’tamid in question was al-Mu’tamid ibn al-Abbad, the last ruler of Seville.

“Recipe for a muʿtamidiyya omelette with cheese: Take two chicken breasts and slice them thinly. Take one raṭl of meat and slice it in the same way. Wash and put in a pot over a fire and pour on one raṭl of good olive oil and two dirhams of salt. Boil until nearly done. Then, slice one quarter of a raṭl of cheese, and throw it into the pot with the meat. Season with two dirhams of dried coriander, and one dirham each of pepper and cassia. Add ten pitted olives. Then break twenty eggs into a large green-glazed bowl and pour on one ūqiya of murrī. Finally, cut some rue in it, remove [from the fire] and serve.” (Newman, The Sultan’s Feast, recipe 115)

The modern rendition

Given that most people don’t cook with 20 eggs and 2 cups of olive oil at a time nowadays, I’m scaling that back some! When I make a quiche in a reasonably standard pie dish, I use 6 eggs because that works out to about an egg per slice. While this is written as a thick omelet without a pie crust, I’m not going to argue if you decide you want a pie crust in there to make it easier to remove from a pie dish. Alternatively, if you’re confident of your frittata skills, an oven-safe nonstick or cast-iron pan can make it an all-in one.

• 6 eggs
• ½ cup (approx. 2 oz) cheese (or a meltable non-dairy cheese) – qanbaris or paneer may be historic, mozzarella or ricotta may be melty and tasty
• ½ to 1 chicken breast (or a can of chicken, drained)
• (Optional, if ½ chicken breast) Some other meat or protein as desired
• A couple tablespoons olive oil
• A pinch of salt
• ¼ tsp each of coriander, black pepper, and cinnamon
• Between 4 and 10 pitted olives, as you like (I won’t tell!)
• 1-2 tsp murri if you have it, fish sauce / soy sauce / Worcestershire if you don’t
• (Optional) Some chopped celery leaves or fresh parsley to substitute for the rue
• (Optional) Some sumac to sprinkle over the top 
• (Optional) A pie crust or parchment paper if, like me, you’re more confident of your egg baking than your egg flipping

Everything up to the eggs happens in a skillet:

1. If your meat is starting out raw, slice it thinly. 
2. Heat your skillet, add the olive oil and salt, and cook the meat until reasonably done. (If your chicken starts in a can, drain it thoroughly before adding it to the skillet.)
3. Add the cheese, spices, and as many olives as make you happy.
4. Crack your eggs into a separate bowl and whisk them together. 
5. Add the murri or fish/soy/Worcestershire sauce to the eggs and stir through.
6. Decide whether you want to finish it in the skillet or bake it in an oven. 

If you’re going for the skilleted version:

1. If you don’t trust your flip skills, start the oven preheating to 350.
2. Pour the whisked eggs over the contents of the pan.
3. Stir gently for about 5 minutes until it starts setting up.
4. If you trust your flip skills, flip away. (I have never trusted my flip skills that much.)
5. If you don’t trust your flip skills and have that oven going, bake it until it’s golden on top and/or around 160 F / 71 C on a food thermometer. The time needed will depend on how much stovetop pre-cooking it got. (If you have the knack of frittatas, use your own favorite method!)
6. (Optional) Sprinkle the chopped celery, parsley leaves, and/or sumac over the top before serving. 

If you’re going for the baked pie dish version:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F / 175 C
2. For quiche, line your pie dish with a crust; for a baked omelet, line your pie dish with parchment paper.
3. Pour the skillet-prepared mixture into your pie dish and distribute it evenly.
4. Pour your whisked eggs over the ingredients.
5. Bake for about 35-45 minutes, until 160 F / 71 C or until a toothpick comes out reasonably clean. (If using a crust, you may want to shield the edges with tinfoil or a pie protector when the crust looks golden.)
6. (Optional) Sprinkle the chopped celery, parsley leaves, and/or sumac over the top before serving. 

Alterations for food sensitivities

If you need an eggless and/or vegan version, the primary contenders for eggless omelets seem to be chickpeas or tofu. 

The historic cookbooks do have eggless omelet recipes based on chickpeas or aquafaba, so if chickpeas work for you, Monica at The Hidden Veggies has a chickpea-based omelet recipe that you could adapt to use olives and similar flavor notes.If chickpeas don’t work for you, Alison at Loving It Vegan has a tofu-based frittata instead. (I’d need to swap the cornstarch as well, personally.)