rag parchment (pergamino de paño)

Ingredients

flax fibers, old cloth scraps, quicklime, wheat starch, omna

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

In the Islamic West, paper was manufactured from flax fibers, primarily sourced from old cloth scraps. These materials were soaked in quicklime, washed, pounded, and subsequently dried in molds (p. 16). To achieve a surface similar to parchment, known as 'rag parchment' (pergamino de paño), the paper was sized with wheat starch—a Persian innovation that rendered the surface more suitable for writing with ink (p. 16). The Lapidario of Alfonso the Wise also mentions a substance called 'omna' used as a sizing agent to make the final product whiter and glossier (p. 16).

Evidence

"In the Islamic West paper was made from flax fibers (generally in the form of old cloth scraps), which were soaked in quicklime, washed, pounded, and dried in molds."

Remarks

The paper-making center of al-Andalus was Játiva, producing a distinctive product known as 'shâtibî' (p. 16). The production was characterized by mass-production in large water-powered mills, a response to burgeoning Islamic scholarship (p. 16). Surviving specimens of medieval Catalan paper have been found to be identical in texture and composition to the Andalusi product (p. 16).