A Bibical Feast

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers
for thereby some have entertained angles unawares.

Hebrews 13:2

As a Southern child, I spent a lot of time with my nose in a Bible. Think what you will about religion, the Bible is an extraordinary text. I was always fascinated with the recipe for a Scripture Cake. The recipe had biblical references requiring you to read the Bible to find the ingredients in the text. Now days when the recipe is printed, it usually gives you the ingredients, making the Biblical readings moot. As a child, however, it was like a cooking scavenger hunt.

When I put away the things of a child, I never put away my interest in Biblical cooking. There have been many cookbooks using Biblical ingredients including Kitty Morse’s A Biblical Feast, Foods from the Holy Land. Morse was born in Casablanca later emigrating to the United States. Following the admonition in Hebrews, she began cooking Moroccan tribal feasts, diffas, for family and friends. Her background gives her a natural understanding of indigenous food of the Holly Land and her scholarship brings those ingredients together to give a glimpse of what might have been cooked for Jesus and what can be produced in the home kitchen.

Thou didst prepare quails to eat a delicacy to satisfy a desire of appetite.

Song of Solomon 16:2

Grilled Quail

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for brushing the grill
1 clove garlic, minced
4 quail, rinsed and patted dry
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Prepare a charcoal fire. Brush the grill with olive oil.
In a small bowl, mix the olive oil with the garlic. Lightly coat the quail with the mixture. Sprinkle the bird lightly with salt and pepper inside and out.
Grill about 4 minutes away fro the coals, turning occasionally with tongs, until the juices run clear, 10 to 12 minutes. Serve immediately.

Grilled Quail and the Songs of Solomon! It’s enough to make you want to go to church.