Chicken salad may seem retro, but this one is positively medieval. It’s a timely resurrection of a much-loved dish, described as the perfect summertime fare by Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi (poet, musician and cook) who devised this barida dish in the ninth century. The idea behind bawarid – cold dishes – is a mixture of meat or vegetables, brought together by a sauce. Timeless. Much like the sandwich… Many believe the sandwich to have been invented in 18th-century England by Lord Sandwich, however, medieval records turn back the clock. At ancient Persian banquets, you’d be served a sort of canapé called bazmaward or awsat, which was essentially thin flatbread (but not always) filled with roast meat, such as the following baridas, rolled up and sliced into pin-wheels. Today, we call these aarayes in parts of the Middle East. Bazmaward make for wonderful snacks or finger food to decorate the table with.