[Sca-cooks] Arabic terminology in Anonymous Andalusian and Kitab Wasf al-At’imah al-Mu’tada (The Description of Familiar Foods)

[jimandandi at cox.net]

A person who could easily answer this question is Urtatim, but she's still at Gulf Wars I believe.

Madhavi

-----Original Message-----
From: Sca-cooks <sca-cooks-bounces+jimandandi=cox.net at lists.ansteorra.org> On Behalf Of Alec Story
Sent: Wednesday, March 13, 2019 7:42 PM
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Arabic terminology in Anonymous Andalusian and Kitab Wasf al-At’imah al-Mu’tada (The Description of Familiar Foods)

I'm working on a project where I'm trying to draw a line between several sharbat recipes I found in a 13th century Chinese cookbook - and they are called "sharbats" in that book - and the sharbats of the Arabic world.

I can't read Arabic though, and my usual sources are off at Gulf wars.  I'm in a bind because I neglected to ask them this question - and I need to submit my documentation soon :)

Do any of the gentlefolk on this list know if the syrups in the Anonymous Andalusian (
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/Cookbooks/Andalusian/andalusian10.htm#Heading491)
use the term "sharbat?"
http://italophiles.com/andalusian_cookbook.pdf indicates that they are "sharab" which certainly sounds like it's the same word.  Is that the same as https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D8%B4%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%A9#Arabic, which is descended or at least related to the Persian sharbat?

What about the Laimun Safarjali ("lemon quince") from Kitab Wasf al-At’imah al-Mu’tada (The Description of Familiar Foods)?  I learned of it from this author https://sableroseblog.wordpress.com/2018/03/28/laimun-safarjali-quince-lemon-syrup/,
but I don't have access to the translation in Medieval Arab Cookery by Charles Perry to see if they mention sharbat in the original text.

Is it accurate to conclude that these drinks, along with Sekenjabin, represent a continuum of sweet and sour beverage syrups?

--
Þorfinnr Hróðgeirsson
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