Recipe of the Week: Medieval Catnip

In thirteenth century Egypt, an accomplished alchemist called Abū al-Qāsim Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-ʿIrāqī, known as al-Sīmāwī, wrote several books on alchemy and magic. Among these books was the Book of the Seven Climes (Kitāb al-aqālīm al-ṣabʿa), discussed in this post on the British Museum’s blog by Bink Hallum and Marcel Marée. al-ʿIrāqī also authored the alchemical Kitāb al-ʿilm al-muktasab fī zirāʿat al-ḏahab (Book of Knowledge Acquired Concerning the Cultivation of Gold) and Kitāb ʿuyūn al-ḥaqāʾiq wa-īḍāḥ al-ṭarāʾiq (The Wells of Truths and Elucidations of Paths).

In this last book, ʿUyūn al-ḥaqāʾiq, al-ʿIrāqī assembled thirty chapters of assorted tidbits of practical knowledge, such as inkmaking, magic, medicine, and recipes related to the useful and occult properties of plants, minerals, and animals. The handbooks also includes a large number of amusing or profitable tricks and sleights of hand, including a particularly intriguing recipe for the cat lovers among us:

ملعوب. اذا اردت ان ترقص القط وتتفرج عليه فخذ السنبل الطيب فدقه وسعط منه القط فانه يطرب ويفرح ويرقص فتتفرج عليه وترى عجبا

Ruse: If you want a cat to dance while you watch, take good spikenard, grind it and let the cat snuff from it. It will be thrilled and merry and dance. Watch it and you’ll see the miraculous!

While I obviously don’t condone animal testing and would always recommend caution as essential oils may be toxic to pets, there seems to be some anecdotal evidence floating around the internet that cats are indeed attracted to the smell of spikenard. No studies have confirmed the effect, and spikenard (generally identified with Nardostachys jatamansi, a plant in the honeysuckle family) is not closely related to catnip or other plants from the mint family. So, please enjoy this amusing recipe, but do not try at home!

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