safflower

Ingredients

safflower, Mount Sinai alkali, wine-vinegar, pomegranate seeds, water

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Dry safflower, pound it in a mortar, and sift it with a hair sieve. Leave it in a pot, pour water over it, and stir well. Set a cloth handkerchief on a wooden carrier and pour the safflower into it until its water drips. Pour water a second time and take out that water from under it, then collect it and rub it with your hand until it comes out pure and clear, then take the handkerchief and pull it tight and leave it on a slab. Add Mount Sinai alkali in two portions. Squeeze it all together until its dye comes out in your hands. If your hands have turned red, it has taken its share of the alkali. Return it to the vessel, tighten it, and pour over it enough water to submerge it. Leave it beneath a perforated basin so its water drains into it, then transfer the water that drains into another vessel. Add wine-vinegar or pomegranate water to modify the color. Change the water every day to preserve it.

Evidence

"As for the *al-ikar*, the origin of its work is that you take the safflower and dry it and pound it in a mortar and sift it with a hair sieve, then leave it in a pot, then pour water over it and lower your hand into it and stir it well, then set a cloth handkerchief on a wooden carrier and pour the safflower into it until its water drips into its heart and you see that its water has turned into *mursajida*"

Remarks

The recipe describes a method for extracting a red dye from safflower using alkali and either wine vinegar or pomegranate water. The use of a perforated basin and the changing of water suggest a purification or preservation process.