Hot Honey Crispy Fish: A 10th-Century Arab Dish for Today’s Table

posted on: Aug 4, 2025

By: Blanche Shaheen/Arab America Contributing Writer

If you trace the origins of the Mediterranean Diet along the historical path of Arab countries, you will find that food was considered far more than sustenance. In the Medieval Arab world, meals were carefully constructed. Every ingredient served a medicinal purpose, curated for balance, digestion, and vitality. It is no accident that today’s Mediterranean diet bears some of its medicinal and healing properties from ancient Arab physicians who practiced medicine through a culinary lens. 

The notion that food is medicine isn’t just a cliche. In The Caliph’s Kitchen—a modern adaptation and commentary on Ibn Sayyār al-Warrāq’s legendary 10th century cookbook Kitāb al-Ṭabīkh, you will find recipes that predate our modern understanding of the Mediterranean diet, yet mirrors it in its wisdom.

The 10th-century Arab kitchen was deeply influenced by Galenic medicine which held that food had healing properties. Every meal was meant to balance the body’s four humors—blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile—through carefully chosen ingredients.

One example is this crispy fish dish with vinegar and honey sauce.  A thousand years ago, cooks in the Islamic Golden Age used vinegar not just as a flavoring agent. Vinegar was also a preservative, a digestive aid, and even a medicine. Combined with warming spices like coriander, cumin, and black pepper, vinegar created a sauce that enhanced both the taste and the digestibility of proteins like fish — particularly important in an era without refrigeration.

At first bite, this fish is crispy and savory. The vinegar-cumin sauce is warm, tangy, earthy and garlicky. The touch of honey and sprinkle of pomegranate seeds adds just enough sweetness to balance the whole aromatic dish. 

This fish recipe is not only delicious, it was ahead of its time on how it aligned with modern nutrition science:

• White fish is a clean, lean source of protein, rich in B vitamins and low in fat.
• Cumin aids digestion, balances blood sugar, and is packed with antioxidants.
• Vinegar supports gut health, improves insulin sensitivity, and enhances flavor without calories.
• It’s dairy-free, and anti-inflammatory — especially when made with olive oil which is rich in polyphenols.

This recipe still holds up today, a time capsule in recipe form. Best of all, this ancient dish takes under 30 minutes to make with easy to find ingredients. To see the technique, click on the video below:

Crispy Spiced Fish Fillets with Cumin-Vinegar Sauce

Ingredients 

• 4 white fish fillets about 1 pound (dover sole, rockfish, cod, or sea bass work well)

• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup semolina
• Olive oil or ghee, for frying
• For the dressing:

• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• 1-2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp honey (optional)
• Pinch of salt
• Optional garnish:
• Chopped parsley or cilantro
  Pomegranate seeds or lemon wedges

Instructions:

• Pat the fish fillets dry. Mix cumin, coriander, turmeric, salt, and pepper. Rub evenly over the fish. Lightly dredge in flour or semolina.
• Pan-fry the fish: Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Fry fish until golden and crisp — about 3–4 minutes per side depending on thickness. Remove and rest on a paper towel-lined plate.
• Make the sauce: In a bowl, whisk the vinegar, olive oil, honey, garlic, cumin, and coriander. Simmer for 2 minutes.

Plate and finish: Drizzle warm cumin-vinegar sauce over fish. Garnish with cilantro, lemon wedges, or pomegranate seeds.

Blanche Shaheen is an Emmy Award winning  journalist, host of the YouTube cooking show called Feast in the Middle East, and cookbook author. For more authentic and classical Middle Eastern recipes, you can purchase her cookbook, “Feast In the Middle East here: https://secure.mybookorders.com/mbo_index.php?isbn=9781545675113   For her cooking video tutorials, visit https://www.youtube.com/user/blanchetv   Her recipes can also be found at https://feastinthemiddleeast.wordpress.com/

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