The Changes Introduced by Ziryab in the Hispano-muslim Diet.

it was he who founded the typical Andalusian school of music and he also invented the five-stringed lute. Another innovation was his institution of the use of the plectrum made from eagle’s claws. 
He began by teaching the people of Cordoba the most complicated recipes from the cuisine of Baghdad. He also introduced asparagus into Spain. He taught them how to conserve food by pickling, bringing a large variety of spices, dried fruits and fruit syrups with him. He modernized cooking and even table manners by exchanging the rough tablecloths commonly used at that time for others made of the finest leather. He also showed them how to organize an elegant banquet, demonstrating that goblets of fine glass combined better with this new table layout than beakers made of gold or silver.
He opened what would now be classed as a beauty parlour in Cordoba in which he taught the arts of make up, hair removal, and using toothpaste…  He established a calendar for fashion according to which from the beginning of June to the end of September one had to wear white, while spring was the season for light silk dresses and brightly coloured tunics …
The subject selected for this month’s themed talk is very interesting.  We are going to be finding out about the life and work of Ziryab, a very important figure in our history to whom we are greatly indebted.
Ziryab arrived in Cordoba in 822 from Baghdad.  Thanks to his musical genius, his encyclopaedic knowledge and his extremely refined customs, he immediately charmed the Umayyad Emir ‘Abd al-Rahman II and Muslim Spain in general.
He was first and foremost an innovator in music. Indeed in spite of his oriental origin

• Time: 2nd and 3rd Sundays, 10th and 17th September at 12.00
• Place: Museum of the Alhambra, Palace of Charles V