Chef Fadi and historian Kotoz discover the merchants of the Silk Road who have brought exotic spices in Europe and in the Arab world.
A historian and a chef make a culinary trip through history to discover the roots of Arab cuisine and his influence on today’s food and flavors. Kotoz Ahmed, researcher in the history of Arabic food, and Fadi Kattan, a renowned Palestinian chef, Travel Europe in search of recipe manuscripts at the time of old dynasties and Arab empires. In this last episode, they learn how Cairo has become an influential cultural center, while the silk route linked Egypt to China, Russia, India, Iraq and Levantine merchants, controlling the spice trade in Mamluk. Aleppo was also an important melting pot, at the crossroads of several commercial routes – one of his 13th century books presented the idea of food as pleasure, bringing perfumes, perfumes and medicinal oils in the kitchen, an innovation at the time. Kotoz ends by cooking Al Mashoka, which means “the adored”, using exotic ingredients of Arabia, Aleppo and spices of the Far East.
