The book that brought me to Sayyida al-Hurra
I stumbled upon a story that really caught my attention while reading my book Outlandish by Nick Hunt. It is an adventurous travel book that brings you along his excursions to four dreamy locations in Europe. The first is the Cairngorms of Scotland and the historic reintroduction of reindeer to Scotland. Nick opens an animalistic portal and his perspective to the Arctic closest to Europe. He then brings you along to the mystical Polish forest of Białowieża and the existential crisis Bison faced throughout wars and politics. Last was the Hungarian Steppes that the Huns sailed by horse which was by far my favorite part of the book, where people try to reach traces of their history and their ancestral past.
Before the last section of this book, he wrote about the Spanish desert and the town called Texas Hollywood in the heart of it which was used by the famous director Sergio Leone to stage his cult Spaghetti Western classics such as For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly with Clint Eastwood crunching the Iberian sand with his boots and his spurs spitting it back out. That town still exists today, as a sort of attraction park to the cowboy-obsessed.
Nick Hunt went into more detail about the history of all these places. For Spain, it is unavoidable to mention the Muslim rule of Al-Andalus, as I have in my previous post on Tapas and Hungover Kings:
He went on to speak about the Spanish Moors who had been expelled or exiled and were forced to North Africa, some embracing their new act as guides for incursions by pirates! (Finally, I get to talk about pirates!) Known as The Barbary Coast which is named after the Berbers, the indigenous people of North Africa became the main hub for corsairs such as El Joraique, Jan Janszoon van Haarlem, and Sayyida al-Hurra. There was only half of a paragraph about Sayyida al-Hurra, so here I am to expand on her history.
Sayyida al-Hurra
Her story is compelling, which I will get into but the thought of what was to eat on her ship consumed me. I believe we are well aware of the food and drink during the Age of Sail (1570 to around 1860) with the stereotypical rum-drunk pirate. The so-called Age of Sail is predominantly Eurocentric in terms of English written history, there is so much more to learn about the voyages and adventures from other parts of the world. Such as the Pirate Queen Zheng Yi Sao commander of the Guangdong Pirate Confederation. Or Zheng He’s treasure trips in China, or the Ottoman Admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa who collaborated with Sayyida al-Hurra and the Barbarossa brothers dominating the Eastern Mediterranean, just to name a few.
Instead of speaking mostly about the great men of the past, I want to shed some well-earned light on Sayyida al-Hurra. Born between 1485 and 1495 to Andalusian nobles in Grenada. Her father, Ali ibn Rashid al-Alami founded the city of Chefchaouen in Morocco in 1471 and fled back to Morocco with his family due to the Spanish Reconquista of Andalusia, more specifically the Muslim kingdom of Granada in 1492 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile. That monarchy enslaved about one hundred thousand Muslims and forced another twenty thousand to flee.
Highly educated, and fluent in several languages, her continuous education as de-facto vice-governess of Tetouan came from her childhood promised husband who turned governor and was 30 years her senior. Once her husband died in 1515 the people of Tetouan accepted her as governess, Sayyida earned the title al-Hurra, which was a symbol of power and respect and also meant free woman. She was the last Muslim woman in history to use the title. Some sources state that since she was a successful and undisputed pirate leader of the western Mediterranean she easily earned that responsibility. 1
Much later on, in 1541, she accepted a marriage proposal from Ahmed al-Wattasi, Sultan of the Moroccan Wattasid dynasty (King of Morocco), who traveled from Fez to Tétouan to marry her — a 245-kilometer voyage, after all. This is the only recorded account of a Moroccan king marrying outside of his capital, or domain in Islamic history. She wasn’t willing to let the people of Tétouan believe she was going to give up governing her city. Even though she would be bestowed with much power by marrying a Sultan, she would stay loyal to her people. That is leadership.
All the while she, with the little we know about her character, couldn’t forget or forgive what happened to her and her family being forced to flee her place of birth. She turned to piracy to take revenge on the Christian enemy, the Spanish, and the Portuguese once they attacked her land. She made contact and formed an alliance with the legendary Ottoman admiral Hayrettin Barbarossa from Algiers, known as Red Beard. At the height of her power, she terrorized the Andalusian coast and controlled much of the Western Mediterranean, as Barbarossa controlled the east.
According to The Forgotten Queens of Islam by Fatima Mernissi Spanish historical documents from 1540 mention negotiations "between the Spaniards and Sayyida al-Hurra" took place after a successful pirating operation in Gibraltar. She was well respected and feared by Christians, as a Queen who ruled the Mediterranean Sea and yet was merciless towards her Spanish and Portuguese captives. Barbarossa used his fleet to ferry refugees away from the fighting.
“The undisputed leader of the pirates in the Western Mediterranean” - The Forgotten Queens of Islam by Fatima Mernissi.
Slave raids and incursions continued to haunt the Andalusian coastline, accompanied by the decreasing frequency into the 17th century where piracy was a major threat until the early 19th century. An estimated one-hundred thousand to one million people were kidnapped from the Iberian coast and sold into slavery in North Africa and the Middle East. This explains why, in part, how little populated Andalucía still is today. 2
She was dethroned by her son-in-law in 1542 and from there on out it is hard to find further information about her. Just a vague pointer that for the next twenty years, stripped of all power she lived in Chefchouan, the city her father founded. 3
What food was on board of Sayyida al-Hurra ship?
Finally, I will circle back to food, as I always do. To my first point of the easily found knowledge of food on European or American ships or pirate ships. Corsair culture is different from every continent and country. So let’s dig in to find what was to eat on a Moroccan pirate ship. Or specifically, Sayyida al-Hurra’s ship.
The vast amount of culinary influences Morocco received from Berber, Tuareg, Arab, and Moor influences and later from Ottoman and the French is still palpable and can still be tasted today. For example:
The first inhabitants of Morocco were the Berbers from around two thousand years ago. They introduced, quite a bit later, the world-famous Moroccan staple dishes that signify its cuisine to this day; cous cous and tagine, and the technology of the tagine clay pot. The most important ingredients from the Berbers were: chickpeas, beans, dates, figs, and almonds.
The arrival of Arab culture in Morocco was during the 7th century and brought with them breads and grains, as well as their own spices and those from China and India such as: cinnamon, ginger, paprika, turmeric, saffron, caraway, and cumin. Also, Persian influence brought the dried fruits and nuts that are still present in tagines, and with that Persian influence came the sweet and sour technique which added an extra arsenal to Moroccan cuisine.
The Moors, or the Muslim inhabitants mainly based in the Iberian peninsula, from the 8th century onwards impacted Moroccan cuisine with olive, olive oil, and the gift of citrus and fruit trees, and the Sephardic Jews of Spain introduced fruit preservation and pickling.
The famed Arab traveler Leo Africanus ( born al-Hasan Muhammad al-Wazzan al-Fasi c. 1465-1550), mentioned couscous with delight: “Of all things to be eaten once a day it’s alcuzcuçu (couscous) because it costs little and nourishes a lot.” 4
All these must have been on board her pirate ship. Any pirate crew would appreciate pickled vegetables, dried fruits, nuts, couscous, and spices which essentially can be stored for long trips. Scoop out some fish along the voyage, toss it in some spices, fire it up and you have a hearty meal to feed your crew and avoid mutiny. In terms of alcohol, my wild guess can’t imagine any, due to Islamic religious beliefs.
Finally, Morocco has a nifty history of preserving meat. This technique must have been like gold on any Berber ship and surely an essential staple on Sayyida al-Hurra’s ship. Khlii and gueddid are the answer to keeping meat good to go on a long voyage. Gueddid are strips of calf or lamb meat that are marinated in a spice mixture for two days. After marinating the strips of meat, they are exposed to direct sunlight and magically granted perfect preservation for several months. Khlii is a confit of gueddid, from a slow and long simmer of gueddid in olive oil and suet. The khlii confit can keep for months, and even for a year or two if left at room temperature. Khlii is a specialty from Fes, also known as the “Capital of Khlii” and the exact same place Sayyida al-Hurra’s second husband, Ahmed al-Wattasi hails from. 5
The Tuareg who are a large Berber ethnic group principally inhabit the Sahara and are also indigenous to Morocco live as nomadic pastoralists. Their rich history and food technology could have been present on Berber ships. Such as Taguella, a flatbread made from wheat flour and cooked over charcoal buried under the sand. Moroccan millet was surely brought on ships for quick porridge to be made or mixed with sauces.
There is a slim chance that the Tuareg drink called Eghajira was also on her ship. Eghajira is made by pounding millet, goat cheese, dates, milk, and sugar and served for special occasions. It might not be the most logical beverage to transport in terms of ingredients, but still fun to dive into. Finally, gunpowder green tea and mint were surely essentials on board. Moroccan mint tea is made by adding mint and sugar, or honey to gunpowder tea while brewing.
Ending on a sweet and minty note, I’m glad to have delved into a side of history that isn’t as available as some of us would like. In the name of pirates and the freedom to roam, and eat freely.
Eghajira-ly yours,
The Greasy Pen,
Outlandish - Nick Hunt (page 145)
A Pirate's Life for She: Swashbuckling Women Through the Ages by Laura Sook Duncombe https://www.google.de/books/edition/A_Pirate_s_Life_for_She/eB6SDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover
Bygone Badass Broads: 52 Forgotten Women Who Changed the World by Mackenzi Lee https://www.google.de/books/edition/Bygone_Badass_Broads/SM1FDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover (Sayyida al-Hurra)