From 1001 Nights to Alice’s Restaurant, this cannabis-laced confection has been a favored treat of mystics, artists, and healers.
Edible Hudson Valley/Edible Westchester, Summer 2019
By Laura Chávez Silverman
Images by Randazzo & Blau
In her recipe column, Salt of the Earth, Laura Silverman writes about the hashish-laden candy of Morocco, Mahjoun.
To be clear, at this point, we were writing about hemp—the non-THC containing strain of cannabis. There were several reasons why we felt that it was important to devote an issue to weed in Edible. 1) We could see that cannabis agriculture was about to change the lives of many NYS farmers. 2) We were excited about weed as a regenerative crop that can literally remove pollutants from the soil. 3) We could smell that the legalization of recreational weed was imminent. 4) We knew that recreational weed was already hitting the underground food scene. 5) We were all for reparations made to the communities unequally prosecuted under Rockefeller Drug Laws. 6) After The Porn Issue of the previous summer, we wanted to top it.
Use The Weed Issue tag below to see some of the stories in this issue.
In 1954, Alice B. Toklas, life partner of the poet Gertrude Stein, published her eponymous, best-selling cookbook, which included a now-famous recipe for “hashish fudge,” a precursor to the immortal pot brownie. Toklas credits the poet and performance artist Brion Gysin with having given her the recipe, procured during his sojourn in Tangier, where this cannabis-laced confection is known as mahjoun. Needless to say, it was extremely popular with William Burroughs, Paul Bowles, and their adventurous band of expats.
Mahjoun, also known as “hashish jam,” has long been a traditional form of healing for the Berbers, Morocco’s indigenous peoples. It is most likely the favored treat of mystics, artists, and healers referred to throughout 1001 Nights. There are countless variations on this theme of dried fruits, nuts, and aromatic spices made into a paste and rolled into bite-size balls—sometimes including ingredients as arcane as starlight and beetle wings.
To make a version of mahjoun that’s legal in the Hudson Valley, try this recipe that substitutes CBD oil for the cannabis. It has its own calming and soothing properties, as do the rose petals and orange blossom water that moisten the rich combination of nuts, dates, and figs. Toklas deemed mahjoun “an entertaining refreshment for a ladies’ bridge club or a chapter meeting of the DAR,” so it seems there’s no parlor in which it wouldn’t be welcome.
MAHJOUN
6 ounces pistachios, shelled
3 ounces unsalted cashews, lightly toasted
4 ounces almonds, lightly toasted
4 ounces Medjool dates, pitted
3 ounces Black Mission figs, stems removed
¾ cup unsalted cultured butter, softened
½ cup honey
¼ cup hulled hemp seeds
3 teaspoons rosewater
2 teaspoons rose petals
1 tablespoon crystallized ginger, finely minced
1 teaspoon orange blossom water
1 teaspoon whole peppercorns, ground
1 whole nutmeg, ground
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
CBD oil, to taste
In a food processor, grind the pistachios into small pieces, not into a paste. Set aside ¼ cup for coating jam balls. Grind the cashews and almonds and mix with the remaining pistachios. Finely dice dates and figs.
Mix and knead all the ingredients together (except the reserved pistachios). Add a little more rosewater if mixture seems too dry; more ground nuts if too wet. Roll into balls about the size of a walnut and roll in the ground pistachios to coat. Place mahjoun balls in a single layer in a container, seal, and store in the fridge indefinitely.
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