[Sca-cooks] Sekanjabin Origins

[David Friedman]

1. The Fihrist of al-Nadim isn't a cookbook. It's something between 
an annotated bibliography and an encyclopedia--a list of every book 
al-Nadim has read, with brief comments, arranged by subject. The 
English translation runs to two volumes. It mentions sekanjabin but 
does not, I think, give a recipe.

2. There is a recipe for sekanjabin in the 13th c. Andalusian 
cookbook that Charles Perry translated and I published as part of 
Volume II of my cookbook collection. The translation is webbed at:

http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/Cookbooks/Andalusian/andalusian_contents.htm

The sekanjabin recipe is in the chapter on drinks near the end.

It is for "simple sekanjabin" and uses sugar or honey and vinegar and 
no additional flavoring.

  Modern middle eastern sekanjabin, in my experience, is flavored with 
mint. The chapter in the cookbook has lots of other flavored syrup 
drinks, but it doesn't call them sekanjabin.

I know of no evidence that "sekanjabin" includes the range of 
flavorings suggested below, and suspect that what your correspondent 
has picked up is the use of the term as it has mutated in recent SCA 
practice. On a quick google, I foud a recipe with cinnamon--and it 
was clear from the accompanying text that it was a modification to my 
recipe invented by someone in the Middle Kingdom.

I hope that helps.

>Part One
>
>This message came through one of my SCA Middle Eastern lists:
>>  ...The last couple of weeks has seen me putting an A&S entry together...
>>  My idea was to serve a dual purpose however. I have noticed a trend
>>  lately of how the heavy weapons guys frequently have a
>>  "mini-commissariat" at the List at events now. I thought I would do
>>  the same, but do one for the Fencers.
>>  ...and my plan was to enter it in the A&S Competition.
>>
>>This is where I ran into a problem. I have spent days looking for an
>>original text. Hopefully you will know what I mean.
>>
>>I am looking for the "original text" (primary documentation), IN ARABIC,
>>for Sekanjabin (aka Persian Mint Drink). It is in a book called Fihrist of
>>al-Nadim, circa 10th c. If I recall correctly this is the first printed
>>cookbook from the ME!. What I am looking for is either a scan of said
>>recipe, a hard copy (photocopy) of same, or electronic text of some sort
>>(Email, Word etc). My computer supports Arabic so that's not a problem. :)
>
>Does anyone have access to an original SCA-period Arabic (or 
>Persian) recipe for Sekanjabin?
>
>-----
>
>Part Two
>
>Someone answered the above message by saying:
>>  A slight correction - Sekanjabin does not mean Mint.  It means a
>>  sugar/vinegar syrup. It may be flavored with mint, or cardamom, or ginger,
>>  or strawberry, or anything else.  It is sometimes mixed with water to drink,
>>  sometimes milk, and sometimes left alone as a salad dip/dressing.
>>  I got my recipes from doing a search on the word sekanjabin on Google.
>>  After seeing that all the recipes were variations fo the same technique, I
>>  branched out on my own.  I have no idea where you'd get a copy of an
>>  original recipe.  Ask Cariadoc is all I can think of.
>
>To the best of my knowledge, the basic sweet (originally honey) and 
>vinegar mixture used diluted with water as a beverage is called 
>oxymel (from the Greek for vinegar and honey) and was known to the 
>ancient Greeks and Romans (who also called it oxymel since they used 
>a lot of Greek food terms).
>
>From what i can tell, many, if not most, of other flavored recipes 
>are SCAisms. While sekanjabin is a kind of oxymel, not all oxymels 
>are sekanjabin.
>
>And, uh, i've never heard of mixing an oxymel with milk - i'd think 
>that would curdle the milk. Or am i wrong?
>
>Anahita
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-- 
David/Cariadoc
www.daviddfriedman.com