The thirteenth-century Syrian cookbook Scents and Flavors is out in paperback this month with a new foreword by Claudia Roden, author of A Book of Middle Eastern Food. 

In this video, translator and culinary expert Charles Perry shows us how to make chicken with blackberry sauce. Check out the video and written recipe below! Consider pairing this dish with another recipe from Scents and Flavors, like lemon-pistachio stuffing or carrots with mint and coriander.

If you try any of the recipes from Scents and Flavors, we’d love to hear about it on Twitter and Facebook.

Chicken in Blackberry Sauce (Tut Shami)

12 ounces blackberries (or black mulberries, if available)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon minced mint leaves
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Dash clove, dash nutmeg
Salt
1 ½ pounds chicken, whole or parts, cooked by roasting or grilling

Puree the blackberries and strain the juice. Transfer the juice to a frying pan, add the sugar and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often with a spatula, until it has the consistency of thick cream, 15 to 17 minutes.

When the sauce is done, let it cool and stir in the mint leaves, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and salt to taste. Serve the chicken hot or cold with this sauce on top, or dip the chicken pieces in it as if it were barbecue or Buffalo wing sauce.

Serves three or four.