出版社:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
摘要:In the absence of a pharmaceutical guide for the usage of apothecaries and merchants of drugs and drinks, which took into account the evolution of pharmacy and the development of pharmaceutical products, Cohen al-‘Aṭṭar wrote a new manual in which he reminded us not only of the writings of his predecessors, but also the point of view of his contemporaries, notably his proper experiences he carried out in his shop in Cairo to make pharmaceutical products and the means to preserve them. This pharmaceutical manual, the richest in medicine formulas, also stands out on account of the extensive use of sugar in the making of recipes. Given the fact that this product was available in large quantities in Egypt and Syria during the second half of the 13th century, it gradually substituted honey to become the principal ingredient in the making of drugs and drinks. Thus, sugar broke through the food world to become the privilege of the royal class, who turned it into one of the essential elements for their festivities.