drink-syrups-msg - 7/10/18
Period drinks based on a honey and water or sugar and water syrup base. The often mentioned Sekanjabin drink is a sharbat using mint and vinegar as flavorings.
NOTE: See also the files: Sekanjabin-art, Bev-f-Hot-Day-art, infusions-msg, sugar-msg, beverages-msg, Non-Alco-Bevs-art, wine-msg, Orng-Lmn-drks-art, cider-msg.
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Stefan at florilegium.org
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This file covers all period drinks that are made from concentrated syrups, made with sugar or honey with additional ingredients or by reducing fruit juices by boiling or evaporating some of the liquid.
Jalab - Beverages containing rosewater or rosewater syrup. (from Persian gul = rose and ab = water).
Rabb (or robb) - boiling fruit juice - with no sweetener - down to a thick syrup.
Sharbat (Arabic) - are all sorts of beverage syrups made usually with sugar, but sometimes with honey (transliterated as sherbet from the Ottoman).
Skanjabeen - one specific type of sharbat made with vinegar and sugar or honey.
From: rhe6 at tank.uchicago.edu (mindy miriam rheingold)
Date: 17 Feb 90 04:17:00 GMT
Organization: University of Chicago
In a recent posting, Cariodoc mentions several Islamic drink recipes
made by boiling fruit juice with sugar or honey and mixing the
resulting syrup with water.
One of these recipes uses lemon juice and sugar and is the closest
thing to a "modern" tasting drink that we have, though it does not
taste exactly like modern lemonade. It is a good recipe to use if
you want to be in period but are feeding folk who are hesitant
about trying new (or in this case, old) or different foods. It is
quite refreshing, especially when served cold, though some people
prefer it hot.
Madeleine des MillesRoses
Grey Gargoyles
(Mindy M. Rheingold)
From: justin at INMET.INMET.COM (Justin du Coeur MKA Mark Waks)
Date: 22 Aug 90 22:08:43 GMT
Re: Drinks to try
Those interested in something a little different (debatably period -- someone
who knows the sources better than I might be able to give a better opinion of
how much so) should try experimenting with some relatively normal spices in
sekanjabin. One local favorite (introduced by Mussttafa) is to make Cariadoc's
standard recipe, but substitute a large handful of minced or crushed ginger
for the mint. Very tangy, and quite tasty. My personal favorite is to toss in
one or two dozen cinnamon sticks, and let it steep overnight. The sweetness of
the sekanjabin goes very well with the cinnamon flavor...
-- Justin du Coeur
From: ddfr at quads.uchicago.edu (david director friedman)
Date: 23 Aug 90 03:37:26 GMT
Organization: University of Chicago
Sekanjabin is not a generic term for flavored syrups diluted in water
to be used as drinks--it is the name of one such. The Manuscrito
Anonimo translated into Spanish by Ambrosio Huici-Miranda (13th
century Andalusian) contains a whole chapter of such drinks, with a
wide range of flavoring.
David Friedman
DDFR at Midway.UChicago.Edu
From: bloch at thor.ucsd.edu (Steve Bloch)
Date: 4 Jan 91 01:53:52 GMT
sinister at ac.dal.ca (Corman) writes:
> At the last event which I had the opertunity to attend, I was treated to a
>delightful drink called sekanjabin (sp?)....
>I was hoping someone could post here-on how its recipe.
Several recipes appear in Cariadoc's _Miscellany_, which I have not
before me. One is taken from Claudia Roden's book of Middle-Eastern
cookery (in print, not too hard to find), and calls for water,
vinegar, sugar, and mint. There are also one or two 13th-century
Andalusian recipes quoted there, omitting the mint (which is so
essential to the flavor as most of us are accustomed to it that
leaving it out borders on heresy. And the mint IS documentable to the
10th century or so, just not with enough specificity to make a
recipe.)
I have tried these recipes, fiddled with them, and much prefer the
following, which uses honey rather than sugar:
Dissolve 1-1/2 cups of honey in 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil, then
add 1/2 cup of vinegar and simmer for half an hour or more. After
removing from the heat, add a good-sized handful of mint leaves. Let
stand until you want to drink it (I have no idea how long it takes for
the mint to express!), at which time the mint should be strained out
and the syrup diluted by about 7 times as much water (10 is for
wimps). Delicious either hot (while shivering around a campfire) or
cool (at a feast, or coming off the battlefield). And the syrup
keeps unrefrigerated for months, because of the vinegar.
The honey should have some flavor (clover is for wimps) but not too
much (desert sage honey completely overwhelms the mint, and the
drinker). Likewise the vinegar: white vinegar will simply be sour,
balsamic would be weird, and either cider or wine is ideal. You can
use dried mint, but fresh is much better, and you probably have some
growing as a weed in your back yard.
Note: I used to add the mint at the same time as the vinegar, before
simmering, and was chastised for this insensitivity by an Iraqi
gentleman to whom I served it ("Very good, but the spices aren't
right. He burned the mint.")
Note also: various people of this Barony have discovered sekanjabin
syrup (a sugar version) for sale in 24-ounce bottles in Middle-
Eastern grocery stores.
As Cariadoc will no doubt point out, sekanjabin is merely the most
popular (in the SCA) of dozens or hundreds of similar drinks from al-Andalus. Others call for lemon, or pomegranate, or a variety of
roots and herbs, and I have made an excellent drink syrup from
rhubarb (but cannot document it).
--
Stephen Bloch
Joshua ibn-Eleazar ha-Shalib
>sca>Caid>Calafia>St.Artemas
bloch at cs.ucsd.edu
Date: 14 May 92
From: ddfr at quads.uchicago.edu (david director friedman)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations
Sekanjabin
Dissolve 4 cups sugar in 2 1/2 cups of water; when it comes to a boil
add 1 cup wine vinegar. Simmer 1/2 hour. Add a handful of mint,
remove from fire, let cool. Dilute the resulting syrup to taste with
ice water (5 to 10 parts water to 1 part syrup). The syrup stores
without refrigeration.
This recipe is based on a modern source: A Book of Middle Eastern
Food, by Claudia Roden. Sekanjabin is a period drink; it is mentioned
in the Fihrist of al-Nadim, which was written in the tenth century.
The only period recipe I have found for it (in the Andalusian
cookbook) is called "Sekanjabin Simple" and omits the mint. It is one
of a large variety of similar drinks described in that
cookbook of flavored syrups intended to be diluted in either hot or cold
water before drinking.
This is the period recipe--it appears to be two recipes with some
bits missing:
Syrup of Simple Sakanyabin
Take a pound of strong vinegar and mix it with two pounds of sugar,
and cook all this until it takes the form of a syrup. Drink an ounce
of this with three of hot water when fasting: it is beneficial for
fevers of jaundice, and calms jaundice and cuts the thirst, since
sakanyabin syrup is beneficial in phlegmatic fevers: make it with six
ounce of sour vinegar for a pound of honey and it is admirable ...
and a pound of sugar; cook all this until it takes the form of a
drink. Its benefit is to relax the bowels and cut the thirst and
vomit, and it is beneficial in yellow fevers.
Cariadoc/David
From: jtn at nutter.cs.vt.edu (Terry Nutter)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Sekanjabin
Date: 5 Dec 1993 22:48:20 GMT
Greetings, all, from Angharad ver' Rhuawn.
Cara asks,
>Could someone please either post or e-mail me a recipe using
>fresh mint leaves? I have been planting mint in various corners
>of my garden and expect to have enough to harvest next summer.
4 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups water
1 cup vinegar
handfull of fresh mint
Dissolve the sugar in the water. (Yes, four cups of sugar _will_
dissolve in two and a half cups of water.) Bring to a boil. Add
vinegar. Turn down to a simmer; let simmer for about twenty to
thirty minutes. Remover from heat. Toss in mint leaves. Let
cool. When it is completely cool, remove the mint leaves and bottle
the syrup. To drink, mix syrup with water to taste (for most people,
one part of syrup to anywhere between five and ten parts of water).
You can use either white or red wine vinegar or cider vinegar; I
prefer red wine, but that's purely personal. I've never seen much
success with flavored vinegars. _Don't_ use distilled (white)
vinegar; it's nasty.
The amount of mint does not greatly matter. I usually go out to
the mint patch and cut off sprigs until I'm bored, which happens
quickly B^}.
This recipe originated in Claudia Rodin's Middle Eastern cookbook,
and appears in Cariadoc's miscellany.
Cheers,
-- Angharad/Terry
From: jtn at nutter.cs.vt.edu (Terry Nutter)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Mint/vinegar tea?
Date: 8 Jan 1994 21:07:10 GMT
Organization: The Rialto
Greetings, all, from Angharad ver' Rhuawn.
Godfrey asks,
>A friend of mine encountered a mint and vinegar tea at one of the taverns
>at Pennsic one year. Does anyone know where I could find the recipe for
>such a tea? (She's throwing a party at the end of January and would like
>to serve this tea there.)
What you are referring to is probably sekanjabin. The recipe in general
use is from Claudia Rodin's Middle Eastern cookbook (and can be found in
Cariadoc's Miscellany). Directions follow.
4 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups water
1 cup vinegar
handfull of fresh mint
Dissolve sugar in water (yes, four cups of sugar _will_ dissolve in 2.5
cups of water). Bring to a boil. Add vinegar. Reduce heat and simmer
about 20-25 minutes. Remove from heat. Add mint and let stand. When
cool, discard mint and bottle. The resulting syrup keeps pretty much
indefinitely at room temperature. To serve, dilute with water to taste.
Most people like between five and ten parts of water to one part of syrup.
You can use just about any vinegar except white distilled vinegar; I prefer
red or white wine vinegar. You can use just about any fresh mint. If
fresh mint is not available, you can use mint tea bags, but be sure that
you use the 100% mint kind, not mint-flavored tea. When I use the tea
bags, I usually throw in a handful (anywhere up to a dozen). You can
also use loose dried mint, of course, but it's harder to filter out of the
syrup, and doesn't particularly improve with again.
Some people use honey instead of sugar. I'm less fond of that.
It's good hot as well as cold (hot sekanjabin is particularly wonderful for
people with head colds).
Enjoy!
-- Angharad/Terry
From: salley at niktow.canisius.edu (David Salley)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Mint/vinegar tea?
Date: 18 Jan 94 00:07:32 GMT
Organization: Canisius College, Buffalo NY. 14208
Just to give you an idea how long Sekanjaben "keeps", I was cleaning out the
cupboards and came across a bottle a quarter full of Sekanjaben that Cariadoc
had given me ... eight years ago! Naturally, I tried it out. Still delicious!
- Dagonell
SCA Persona : Lord Dagonell Collingwood of Emerald Lake, CSC, CK, CTr
Habitat : East Kingdom, AEthelmearc Principality, Rhydderich Hael Barony
Internet : salley at niktow.cs.canisius.edu
USnail-net : David P. Salley, 136 Shepard Street, Buffalo, New York 14212-2029
From: DEW at ECL.PSU.EDU (Durr ishJabal Bey alFarengi)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Frequent Complaint heard at Pennsic
Date: 1 Sep 1994 02:46:20 GMT
Organization: Orluk Oasis
Greetings to the Rialto (and all the viking ships in the Fjord)!
I serve sekanjabin frequently at Pennsic (just cause), and when someone
declines it (which occurrs), I explain what it is. Some still resist, saying
that they have tried it before and it "tastes funny" or "vinegary".
However, I can usually get them to sample mine, and their opinion is always
reversed (at least so far).
What may be the problem in many cases is the type or proportion of ingredients
that make the difference. May I offer my recipe for your consideration:
(This makes a syrup that I cut 1:8 or 1:15 with water, including Pennsic water
for those who are still scared by false rumors.)
4 cups sukkar (sugar) and 2.5 cups water
Bring these to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes.
Then add 1 cup RED WINE VINEGAR (and use the good stuff!). Remove from heat.
Crush FRESH LEMON BALM (a mint) and steep in the hot solution until the
mint is completely wilted. Remove and replace with more (I use as much as I
can, usually a bunch as big as my head).
Lemon Balm is a perrenial and may be obtained from most garden stores. It
grows like a weed.
Like most things, the better grade ingredients produce better results.
One other simple suggestion for hospitality: Peel and segment oranges.
Sprinkle lightly with ORANGE BLOSSOM WATER (or rose water) and cinnamon.
Makes a nice, light snack (and will keep without refrigeration if you just
cover it with cheesecloth). I know that dancers just devour these things
(loads of fructose, electrolytes, and other goodies).
Your Servant,
Durr ishJabal
Dale E. Walter |(Smokey) Baron Dur of Hidden Mountain
|Durr ishJabal min al-Maqfi Jabal abu Neefa Sultan ilorluk
dew at ecl.psu.edu |Orluk Oasis on the War Road (of Aethelmarc)
|Member # 02933
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: ddfr at quads.uchicago.edu (david director friedman)
Subject: Re: Pomegranate Wine?
Organization: University of Chicago
Date: Sat, 12 Nov 1994 20:16:10 GMT
I don't know about wine, but a 13th c. Andalusian cookbook has a
recipe for a pomegranate drink:
---
Syrup of Pomegranates
Take a ratl of sour pomegranates and another of sweet pomegranates,
and add their juice to two ratls of sugar, cook all this until it
takes the consistency of syrup, and keep until needed. Its benefits:
it is useful for fevers, and cuts the thirst, it benefits bilious
fevers and lightens the body gently.
---
I presume that this syrup, like others in the chapter, is intended to
be diluted with hot or cold water when needed. We dilute it with hot
water to make a nice sweet, hot drink.
David/Cariadoc
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: chris at aquasoft.com.au (Chris Robertson)
Subject: Re: Question about period food
Organization: Griffon Consulting (c/- Aquasoft P/L)
Date: Thu, 9 Feb 1995 09:16:53 GMT
Suze.Hammond at f56.n105.z1.fidonet.org (Suze Hammond) writes:
>BTW, could somebody please post a decent recipe for senkjabin?
>
>A friend in Meridies tells me it's practically unknown there, and he
>misses it.
>
>... Moreach
This is an article posted by Countess Arastorm the Golden several years ago,
which I carefully saved. The cordials are all good; I find I personally
don't like the switchel, but some of you well may. At the end I have added
a recipe for rose cordial which is from a modern cookbook (I can find out
which if anyone really wants to know), but is probably essentially unchanged
from medieval times, as it's very simple. (Rose cordial is great if you like
the rose taste. It's sweeter than sekanjabin.)
Both rose and sekanjabin are good hot as well as cold, and the concentrated
syrup keeps for months unrefrigerated. The rose cordial will get "fluffy bits"
in it which look as though it's growing mould -- this is just sugar
crystalising around the flecks of lemon flesh. Don't worry about it, it's
still good to use. Refrigerate diluted cordial, though, and use it within
a week or so.
> From: storm at hlafdig.stonemarche.ORG (Arastorm the Golden)
> Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
> Subject: Sekanjabin Recipes
> Date: 18 Jul 91 00:04:31 GMT
>
> SEKANJABIN -- (this is probably almost, if not exactly,
> what Cariadoc gives for a mint drink recipe)
> This first version is scaled for feasts, or for making a lot
> to take to the war. Once mixed it makes about 120 cups. I made
> this particular adaptation because the common brand of red wine
> vinegar near us comes in 40 oz bottles.
> Simmer: about 5 cups of red wine vinegar
> 10 pounds of sugar
> 3 quarts of water for 20 minutes
> Let cool and steep 1/2 oz of mint leaves in it while it cools.
> Strain and serve diluted with 12 parts water to one part syrup.
>
> It is a beautiful pale red and makes a pale pink drink. In some
> shires it is traditionally flecked with the ground mint leaves,
> in others they are careful that there is no hint of leaves in it.
> I have also tasted it with white wine vinegar, and cider vinegar.
> I prefer the original.
>
> (A more normal size batch requires 1/2 cup of red wine vinegar,
> 2 cups of sugar, 1 1/4 water, and a few sprigs of mint.)
>
> Now for the alternatives I told you about.
>
> My favorite: Lime Ginger
> Simmer 2 cups of water
> 2 cups of sugar
> 1 pint of lime juice for 20 minutes
> Steep several slices of fresh Ginger in the syrup while it
> cools. It will be a lovely very pale green which can be enhanced
> by storing a curl of the lime skin in each bottle. The flavor
> can be increased by leaving a slice of ginger in each bottle too.
>
> I suggest that you either use a drop or two of food coloring
> or the inclusion of a token to show the flavor if you are going
> to stock several syrups. Green for lime, yellow for Lemon, and Orange
> for Orange.
>
> Clove Lemon: ( a scadian variant of lemonade)
> 2 cups of water
> 4 cups of sugar
> 1 pint of lemon juice simmer as above
> Steep a half dozen cloves in the syrup. If you leave any in
> the bottle, you may have to pour it through a strainer.
>
> Orange Cinnamon:
> 2 cups water
> 4 cups sugar
> 1 can orange juice concentrate
> 2-3 sticks of cinnamon.
> Note this is less sugar than in the others because of
> the sweetness of oranges. This will be cloudy. I haven't figured
> out how to get rid of it, if anyone else knows how -- please post.
>
> Switchel
> This is not a syrup -- the honey IS a syrup. You just
> make it up as you need it. I suggest the traditional unglazed
> pottery jug to serve it from. It keeps it cooler.
> 1 gallon water
> 1 cup honey
> 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
> 1 cup cider vinegar
> Note, it will take some effort to mix it properly if
> you are using cold water. try mixing the honey and vinegar first
> and gradually adding the water, mixing all the while.
> You can also make it with lemon juice instead of the
> cider vinegar -- it has more vitamin C, but less potassium, I
> wouldn't use it as a gatorade substitute except with the cider
> vinegar.
>
> I can't give you the recipe, but I will remind you of the
> absoloutely luscious drinks one gentle was selling at the war last
> year -- he made syrups by boiling sugar syrups -- probably not so
> different from the above -- but with strawberries and blueberries in
> them. As he said, after he strained the fruit out, resulting in
> the syrups, he had no trouble finding volunteers to eat the sweetened
> pulp. I can imagine it would make a *great* topping for ice cream or
> sherbet. Then these syrups were mixed with ice water as above. It
> would result in a blue alternative in your line of syrup bottles.
> We have had some fun allowing our butler to offer the assortment to
> the guests. I guess strawberry season is gone, but the wild blueberries
> are just coming ripe....
>
> Good luck
> Arastorm
And from Her Excellency Mistress Rowan's cookbooks, Rose Cordial:
500 g sugar
300 ml water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon red food colouring (or better: cochineal)
60 ml rosewater (from health food stores)
Make a syrup with the sugar, water, and lemon juice; simmer till it
coats the back of a spoon (20-30 minutes). Add rosewater, simmer a couple
more minutes.
--
Yseult de Lacy (Chris Robertson) chris at aquasoft.com.au
From: bronwynmgn at aol.com (Bronwynmgn)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: drinks, pennsic
Date: 20 Jul 1995 20:05:28 -0400
You asked about sekanjabin... The other name you may have heard is Persian
Mint Drink. The only way I know to make it is to make it up as a
concentrated syrup and then ilute it to taste. Basically, it contains
water, sugar, and vinegar, and has mint steeped in it. Here's my recipe:
Put 2 1/2 cups of water in a saucepan. Add 4 cups (yes, 4 cups!) of sugar
and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. The solution will miraculously
clear a few seconds after it boils as all the sugar is dissolved in the
water. At that point, add 1 cup of red wine vinegar and allow to simmer
for 20 minutes. Take it off the heat and add 6 sprigs of fresh mint or 6
teabags of _pure_ mint tea (Not regular tea with mint added, just mint
leaves. Celestial Seasonings sells both spearmint and peppermint). Let
it steep for about 6 hours, then strain if needed and bottle. It keeps
for months in the refrigerator. This recipe is supposed to be diluted
1:12 with water, but I dilute it to what tastes good. This recipe makes
about a pint of syrup.
Bronwyn Morgan o Aberystwyth
Shire of Silver Rylle, EK
From: ansteorra at eden.com (10/30/95)
To: ansteorra at eden.com
RE>Persian Mint Drink
<Moriel<C11Hartel at aol.com>>
>A long time Ansteorran friend has moved out of our fair kingdom and recently
>was asking for a recipe which I thought I had, but alas do not. Does anyone
>have the recipe for the Persian Mint Drink that the Two/Three Sisters Tavern
>used to make? Not only would I love to have it for my files, Lady Marsali
>Fox would be most thankful as well.
I'm afraid I have no such recipe. On the other hand, I *do* have a recipe
for a related drink, called Oxymel, which comes to us from the Romans, via
the Anglo-Saxons. It is also related to a Scandinavian drink called
"Switchel".
In it, essentially, one blends one part "Acetum", or a wine vinegar, with
one (or more) parts honey to 4-40 parts water (and, if desired, a bit of
salt). Undistilled wine vinegar has, according to sources cited in "the
History of Military Medicine" (by Richard Gabriel and Karen Metz), all sorts of
good minerals and electrolytes that are removed in the distillation process
that make it extremely healthy, particularly after hot sweaty work. It is for
this reason that the Roman military carried it in their canteens (and some what
changes the whole essence of the whole "giving Vinegar to Jesus while he was on
the Cross" bit).
I also suspect that it's the reason that the "mushroom tea" that is becoming
to popular is supposed to be good for you. As it ferments, the fungus
produces a type of vinegar.
As with mixing "Gatoraid" drinks, there is a balance of Vinegar to water that
really depends on personal tastes, and how dehydrated one is. In any case,
I understand that if you like vinegar, these things are pretty good, and
if you don't (and I don't) all I can say is that they don't taste as bad
as you think they are going to.
"Mihi Satis Apparet Propter Diarmuit Ui Dhuinn
Se Ipsum Appetenda Sapientia" University of Northkeep/Company of St. Jude
-- St. Dunstan Northkeepshire, Ansteorra
(I. Marc Carlson/IMC at vax2.utulsa.edu)
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 23:43:53 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: SC - Various
Derdriu writes, re beverages:
>If anyone else has ideas, I'm all ears.
Manuscrito Anonimo (13th c. Andalusian) has a whole chapter of
drinks--flavored syrups that you dilute with hot or cold water to drink.
Three of them, including sekanjabin, are in the _Miscellany_, webbed at:
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/miscellany.html
David/Cariadoc
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 10:09:07 -0800
From: "Crystal A. Isaac" <crystal at pdr-is.com>
Subject: Re: SC - rose sekanjabin/was coffee and tea
david friedman (Master Sir Cariadoc) wrote:
> Both Crystal and Kat seem to be using "sekanjabin" at least part of the
> time as a generic term for a family of syrup drinks. ...
I use the term "sekanjabin" to mean favored syrups with vinegar. I use
the term "syrup" or sometimes by the translated name, for example,
"syrup of carrots" to denote drinks with NO vinegar. This seems
consistent with the majority usage in the translated arabic cookbooks
and health manuals I have read.
I will stick with my previously stated agreement with Professor Martin
Levey, [Sakanjubin is Arabicized from Pers. sirka-anjubin, "vinegar and
honey."] and continue to refer to drinks containg vinegar as
sekanjabins.
I think refering to something as "the sekanjabin of dishes" might have
ment that is was tasty and well liked by everyone. In spite of the
expensive sugar, references to the drink are frequent (although not as
frequent as wine <smile>) enough to make me belive it was a very common
drink among the upper-class people we are trying to emulate.
I made an error in last night's post in not explaining why I included
the Syrup of roses and Syrup of mint recipes in with the sekanjabins. I
was merely trying to show that those ingredients were included in the
same cookbook, in another beverage recipe. This is not the best
documentation to show only that "they could have done it" but it seems
reasonable they would have used other beverage ingredients in the
"simple sekanjabins." I did not intend to confuse anyone into thinking
that all syrups are sekanjabins.
Incidentatly, the syrup of carrots is quite tasty and documents the use
of ginger in beverages. I should have included it last night, I
apologise for the oversight. Syrup of carrots is also from the
Andelthusian Cookbook.
<quote>Syrup of Carrots
Take four ratls of carrots, after removing the fibers [lit. "nerves"]
that are in the centers, and cook them in water until their substance
comes out. Then take the clear part of it and add it to three ratls of
honey, cleaned of its foam. The bag: ...[about three words missing]...
an uqiya of cubebs, two uqiyas each of ginger and long pepper, and half
an uqiya of cinnamon and flower of cloves. Cook until it takes the form
of a syrup. Drink an uqiya of this with three of hot water....<end
quote>
Crystal of the Westermark
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 14:50:24 -0800
From: "Crystal A. Isaac" <crystal at pdr-is.com>
Subject: Re: SC - rose sekanjabin/wa
I've made the current sekanjabin two ways. One method is to get regular
ole dried currants, wash and soak them. When the currants are fully
hydrated, dump them into the cooling sekannjabin mixture. When straining
through many layers of cheesecloth or a sturdy fine-mesh grain bag,
squeeze the currents to get all the flavor out. This method works ok,
but the color is not great.
For better color and flavor, buy Hero brand Black currant syrup. Most
stores that carry it have it near the jams&stuff. It's expensive, about
$14 for a 16oz(?) bottle last I looked. Use a quarter to half a cup. Mix
the Hero Syrup in at the very last minute before bottling, so's not to
lose any of the good smells. Works great.
If you have any sources for fresh black currants, I'd love to know about
it. I don't know anybody who grows them.
Crystal of the Westermark
Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 01:24:03 -0800
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: SC - currant sekanjabin (was rose sekanjabin/wa)
At 2:50 PM -0800 1/30/98, Crystal A. Isaac wrote:
>I've made the current sekanjabin two ways. One method is to get regular
>ole dried currants,...
>For better color and flavor, buy Hero brand Black currant syrup.
It is not clear from this whether Crystal realizes that she is talking
about two entirely different fruits. "Regular old dried currants," aka (in
period cookbooks) "raisins of Corinth," are a small raisin. Black currants
and red currants are a different fruit--the botanical name is "ribes." I
don't know which the period source she has referred to is talking
about--looking at it in the original might help. My dictionary believes the
ribes fruits got called currants because they looked like the other kind of
currants, and the name of the original currant derives from "Corinth."
David/Cariadoc
Date: Wed, 4 Feb 1998 16:28:57 -0800
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Lemon syrup (was SC - oxymel/hydromel/etc)
Syrup of Lemon
Andalusian p. A-74
Take lemon, after peeling its outer skin, press it and take a ratl* of
juice, and add as much of sugar. Cook it until it takes the form of a
syrup. Its advantages are for the heat of bile; it cuts the thirst and
binds the bowels. [end of original]
A ratl is a weight measure, about a pound. Given that sugar and lemon
juice are both roughly 2 c = a pound, that means equal volumes or equal
weights.
We often serve this diluted about one part in three or four of hot water as
a strong, hot drink. Alternatively, dilute it more in cold water and you
have thirteenth century lemonade. It doen't taste quite like modern
lemonade because of the cooking.
Elizabeth/Betty Cook
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 12:53:40 -0400
From: Marilyn Traber <margali at 99main.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Questions on Sekainjabin
Congrats, you made a 'jalab', where we get the term julip. Anything can be done
as a jalab, pomegranit, citrus and honey/spice are the main ones. technically,
sekanjabin is a jalab.
> Allison,
> I know that this will cause a few folks to have kittens, but...
> Last spring I started a batch of sekanjabin syrup, set the sugar
> and vinegar to boil, and went rooting in the refrigerator, and discovered
> the mint was gone (daughter Rotrude later confessed to having eaten it).
> The only other green things in the drawer were basil and rosemary, neither
> of which would be good in the syrup. It was late and I didn't fancy a
> trip tot eh all-night grocery. So I got to thinking- my hypocras
> powder was in the storage locker across town. But I had cinnamon sticks,
> cloves, and there were oranges in the fruit basket, so instead of the mint
> I used the spices and citrus peels. I let it sit for a day or two before
> straining, but the syrup was delicious and especially good hot. Has anyone
> else ever tried this?
> 'Lainie
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 22:53:59 -0700
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Questions on Sekainjabin
At 8:55 PM -0700 4/22/99, Laura C Minnick wrote:
,,,
> Last spring I started a batch of sekanjabin syrup, set the sugar
>and vinegar to boil, and went rooting in the refrigerator, and discovered
>the mint was gone (daughter Rotrude later confessed to having eaten it).
>The only other green things in the drawer were basil and rosemary, neither
>of which would be good in the syrup. It was late and I didn't fancy a
>trip tot eh all-night grocery. So I got to thinking- my hypocras
>powder was in the storage locker across town. But I had cinnamon sticks,
>cloves, and there were oranges in the fruit basket, so instead of the mint
>I used the spices and citrus peels. I let it sit for a day or two before
>straining, but the syrup was delicious and especially good hot. Has anyone
>else ever tried this? It isn't the same as the stuff with the mint, but
>since I started with the Sekanjabin Simple I dubbed it 'Spiced Sekanjabin'
>(original, huh?). Has anyone else had an 'oops' like that turn out?
The 13th c. Andalusian cookbook has a whole chapter of drinks based on
flavored syrups, of which sekanjabin is one. They include a basil drink, a
carrot and spice drink (throw out the carrots, use the water they were
boiled in!), and much more. I'm not sure just what defines the limits of
"sekanjabin," but it seems clear that most such drinks have other names.
David/Cariadoc
Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1999 07:02:55 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Questions on Sekainjabin
david friedman wrote:
> a carrot and spice drink (throw out the carrots, use the water they were
> boiled in!)
Given that carrots in period seem to have been a little closer to
parsnips than to modern carrots, I'll point out that when you boil
parsnips in the right mass proportion to water, you end up with quite a
respectable light syrup (fermentable and the basis of an alternative
stout in Britain). The above doesn't sound very surprising, but I agree,
it might not be the first thing a typical modern person would think of.
Adamantius
Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1999 23:04:33 -0700
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Questions on Sekainjabin
At 9:01 PM -0500 4/23/99, Heitman wrote:
>> a carrot and spice drink (throw out the carrots, use the water they were
>> boiled in!)
>
>Cariadoc, you mentioned a number of drink syrups. Where would I find the
>receipes for these?
In the 13th c. Andalusian cookbook that Charles Perry translated for me. It
is included in Volume II of the collection of source material I sell. I
plan to web it at some point, but when I asked Charles about it he said he
had some corrections he wanted to make first, and he hasn't sent them yet
(it was a while ago).
Here are some of them:
- ---
Chapter One: on Drinks
The Great Drink of Roots
Take the skin of the stems of fennel, the skin of the stems of celery, the
skin of the roots of carrot and ...[three words missing]... chicory and
Mecca fig, half a ratl each; three handfuls each of halhâl (lavender?),
cilantro of the spring [i.e., water source], dawmirân, tamarisk,
pennyroyal, ghâfit, chicory, mint, clove basil and citron basil; two ûqiyas
each of the seeds of celery, carrot and roses, fennel, and habba hulwa and
nânûkha [two names for, or perhaps two varieties of, nigella seed], and
half an ûqiya of dodder seed. The bag: half an ûqiya each of cinnamon,
flowers of cloves, ginger, Chinese rhubarb, Indian spikenard, mastic,
nutmeg and aloe stems, a mithqâl of saffron, six ratls of honey, cleansed
of its foam. Cook the herbs and seeds in water that covers them until their
force comes out; then take the clean part of it [strain it] and throw it in
honey. Put this on the fire, and leave the spices in the bag after they
have become mushy, throw them into the drink and macerate them time after
time, until their force passes into the drink. Lay it aside and take it
from the fire, let it cool, and keep until needed. Drink one ûqiya of this
with three of water on arising, and see that the water is hot. Benefits:
fortifies the stomach and the liver, opens blockages of the liver and
spleen, cleans the stomach, and is beneficial for the rest of the
phlegmatic ailments of the body.
The Little Drink of Roots: Way of Making It
Take the skin of the stems of caper bush, the skin of the stems of celery,
the skin of fennel root and the skin of wild carrots, two ûqiyas of each;
two handfuls each of halhâl (lavender?), cilantro of the spring, dawmirân,
ghâfit, chicory, pennyroyal and euphorbia. The bag: cinnamon, and flower of
cloves and ginger, an ûqiya of each; half a mithqâl of saffron; three ratls
of honey, cleaned of its foam. Cook the seeds and herbs, covered with
water, until their strength comes out. Then take the clean part, add to the
honey, and take it to the fire, and put the bag in a kettle until it forms
a well-made syrup. Take it from the fire and pour it into an earthenware
vessel. The drink is made with two ûqiyas of syrup to three ûqiyas of hot
water. Its benefits: it benefits the liver and opens occlusions of it, it
is useful for the spleen and cleanses the stomach of its extra phlegm
wherever it is found in the body, and it is of profit in diseases of
dropsy, God willing.
Syrup of Aloe Wood [Stem?]: Way of Making It
Take half an ûqiya of aloe, a quarter ûqiya each of cinnamon, cloves,
Chinese cinnamon, Indian lavender, nutmeg, mastic and saffron, a ratl of
sugar and the same of rosewater. Close the roots in a bag and place them in
the sugar and rosewater. Bring all this to the fire until it takes the
consistency of syrups; then remove it from the fire, grind eight grams of
musk, and throw it in an earthenware vessel. The drink is an ûqiya with two
of hot water. Its benefits: it fortifies the stomach, the liver, and the
other parts, cheers the heart, tempers the constitution a bit, and helps in
the beginning of dropsy.
Syrup of Citron Leaves: Way of Making It
Take fifty leaves and remove the dust on them with a cloth, then cover them
all with water in a pot and cook it until the strength comes out. Then take
the clean part of it and add a ratl of sugar. The bag: half an ûqiya each
of aloe stems, Chinese cinnamon, and cloves. Cook all this until it becomes
good to drink. Drink one ûqiya with three of water. Its benefits: it cheers
the heart with much gaiety, fortifies the internal organs, and softens the
bowels gently; it is extraordinary.
The Great Cheering Syrup: Way of Making It
Take half a ratl each of borage, mint, and citron leaves, cook them in
water to cover until their strength comes out, then take the clean part and
add it to a ratl of sugar. Then put in the bag: a spoonful each of aloe
stems, Chinese rhubarb, Chinese cinnamon, cinnamon and clove flowers; pound
all these coarsely, place them in a cloth, tie it well, and place it in the
kettle, macerate it again and again until its substance passes out, and
cook until [the liquid] takes the consistency of syrups. Take one ûqiya
with three of hot water. Benefits: It profits [preceding two words
apparently supplied; in parentheses in printed Arabic text] weak stomachs,
fortifies the liver and cheers the heart, digests foods, and lightens the
constitution gently, God willing.
A Syrup of Honey
Take a quarter ûqiya each of cinnamon, flower of cloves and ginger, mastic,
nutmeg, Chinese cinnamon, Sindi laurel, Indian lavender, Roman spikenard,
elder twigs, elder seeds, oil of nutmeg, bitter and sweet nuts, large and
small cardamom, wild spikenard, galingale, aloe stems, saffron, and sedge.
Pound all this coarsely, tie it in a cloth, and put it in the kettle with
fifteen ratls of water and five of honey, cleaned of its foam. Cook all
this until it is at the point of drinking. Drink an ûqiya and a half, and
up to two, with hot water. Its benefit is for weak livers; it fortifies the
stomach and benefits dropsy among other ailments; it dissolves phlegm from
all parts of the body and heats it a great deal, gives gaiety, lightens the
body, and it was used by the ancients like wine for weariness.
Recipe for Honey-Water
Take a ratl of honey and add five ratls of water, cook until the water
departs and the honey remains, and clean off the foam little by little.
Pound half an ûqiya of pellitory and place it in a cloth, put it in the
kettle and bruise it once and again until its substance comes out. Remove
it to an earthenware vessel, and take it from it at the necessary time, for
it makes up for all that which detracts from this notable quality.
The Recipe for Making a Syrup of Julep
Take five ratls of aromatic rosewater, and two and a half of sugar, cook
all this until it takes the consistency of syrups. Drink two ûqiyas of this
with three of hot water. Its benefits: in phlegmatic fever; it fortifies
the stomach and the liver, profits at the onset of dropsy, purifies and
lightens the body, and in this it is most extraordinary, God willing.
Syrup of Sandalwood: Way of Making It
Take two ûqiyas each of red and white sandalwood, and an ûqiya of white
manna of sugarcane. Then pound the sandalwood and cook it in rosewater
until its substance comes out, and let there be five ratls of the
rosewater. Then take the clean part of it and add it to two ratls of sugar,
take the tabâshîr and put it in a bag, and cook all this until it forms a
well-made syrup. Its benefits are to calm the heat of jaundice, to cut
thirst, and to profit in the other ailments and fevers of jaundice. It
leaves the nature as it is, without causing retention or thinness of urine.
It fortifies the stomach, the liver, and the other organs, and in this it
is most extraordinary.
Formula for Making a Syrup of Mastic
Take three ûqiyas of mastic, powder it and put it in a bag, then take a
ratl of mint and cook it, covered with water, until its substance comes
out. Take the clean part of it and mix it with three ratls of sugar and
honey, and cook all this until it takes the form of a drink. Drink two
ûqiyas of this with three of hot water. Its profits: for the stomach and
for digesting food; it cuts vomiting and binds the bowels, and fortifies
the liver: it is the utmost in this.
Syrup of Harir: Way of Making It
Take the almonds of silk and extract from them the small seeds, after
removing their hearts, four ratls. Then divide almonds and clean the dirt
from them, wash them very well in cold water until softened, and drain the
water. Then take water out of a river oriented Eastward; heat polished
steel and cool it in this water until the water is reduced by half and
changes color. Cook the harir in this water until its substance comes out;
press it, and add to the water three ratls of honey, cleaned of its foam.
The bag: half an ûqiya each of cinnamon and cloves, an ûqiya of ginger, an
ûqiya each of cubebs, long pepper and galingale. Then pound roots and put
them in a bag, which is then tied with a strong thread and added to the
honey and the clean part. Put it on the fire and cook it until a syrup is
made. Drink two ûqiyas of this with three of hot water. It profits in the
lack of urine, and increases desire well; it dissolves the fat from all
parts of the body and heats it well, God willing, by its generosity and
virtue.
Syrup of Mint: Way of Making It
Take mint and basil, citron and cloves, a handful of each, and cook all
this in water to cover, until its substance comes out, and add the clear
part of it to a ratl of sugar. The bag: an ûqiya of flower of cloves, and
cook all this until a syrup is made. Its benefits: it frees bodies that
suffer from phlegm, and cuts phlegmatic urine, fortifies the liver and the
stomach and cheers it a great deal; in this it is admirable.
Syrup of Fresh Roses, and the Recipe for Making It
Take a ratl of fresh roses, after removing the dirt from them, and cover
them with boiled water for a day and a night, until the water cools and the
roses fall apart in the water. Clean it and take the clean part of it and
add to a ratl of sugar. Cook all this until it takes the form of a syrup.
Drink an ûqiya of this with two of hot water; its benefits are at the onset
of dropsy, and it fortifies the stomach and the liver and the other
internal organs, and lightens the constitution; in this it is admirable.
A Recipe for Making It by Repetition
Take the same, a ratl of roses or more, and place it in water to cover it,
boiling for a day and a night. Then take out the roses that are in the
water and throw them away, and go with the same quantity of fresh roses,
which are to be covered likewise with this water, after boiling it a second
time, and leave this also a day and a night. Throw away these roses
likewise, and put in others and treat them as before, and continue doing
this for ten days or more. Its benefit and the strength of its making are
solely in the manner of repeating. Then clarify the water of roses and add
to it as much sugar, and cook it until it takes the form of a syrup. It
reaches the limit in thinning and moistening the constitution, God willing.
Syrup of Dried Roses
Take a ratl of dried roses, and cover with three ratls of boiling water,
for a night, and leave it until they fall apart in the water. Press it and
clarify it, take the clear part and add it to two ratls of white sugar, and
cook all this until it is in the form of a syrup. Drink an ûqiya and a half
of this with three of water. Its benefits: it binds the constitution, and
benefits at the start of dropsy, fortifies the other internal organs, and
provokes the appetite, God willing.
Syrup of Violets
Take a ratl of fresh violet flowers, and cover them with three ratls of
boiling water, and boil until their substance comes out; then take the
clean part of it and mix it with four ratls of sugar, and cook all this
until it takes the form of a syrup. Drink an ûqiya and a half of this with
three of hot water. Its benefits are in the fever of jaundice, it cuts
thirst and lightens the body gently, and benefits in dry coughs, but it
weakens the stomach.
David/Cariadoc
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 13:37:09 +1000
From: "HICKS, MELISSA" <HICKS_M at casa.gov.au>
Subject: SC - Syrup of Violets
Elinor Fettiplace (nouvelle cuisine I know) gives a recipe for Violet Syrup.
I have included the recipe and my notes below in case anyone is interested.
Please note, that in later times (and in English) these concoctions are
referred to as Sirrops or Syrups not Sekanjabins.
Meliora.
Syrup of Violets Elinor Fettiplace (1602)
First make a thicke sirop of sugar and clarifie yt well, then take blew
violetts and picke them well from the whights then put them in the sirrop,
let them lye in yt 24 howres keepinge it warme in the meane time, then
straine these violetts out and put in fresh, so do 4 times then set them on
the fire, let them simper a good while but not boyle fast put in some juice
of limonds in the boyleinge then straine yt and leepe yt to your use.
1 pint water
1 pound sugar
4 pints (volume) of violet petals
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Find a large garden bed covered in purple violets. Pick them for about 2
hours. Spend the rest of the day taking the petals from the rest of the
flower head and removing the white part of the petal.
Once this is done, you will have approximately one pint in volume of violet
petals. Mix the sugar and water and heat until the sugar dissolves. Cool
slightly and add the violet petals. Leave in a warm place for 24 hours.
Strain these petals out of the mixture, warm briefly and add the next pint
of petals. You would have spent most of this second day preparing this next
batch. Repeat this twice more.
After you have strained the final batch of petals warm the mixture and add
one tablespoon of lemon juice. simmer for ten minutes and then let cool and
bottle.
Date: Tue, 03 Aug 1999 14:10:47 PDT
From: "Bonne of Traquair" <oftraquair at hotmail.com>
Subject: SC - cherry-vinegar syrup drink
I was recently gifted with about 8 lbs of fresh cherries. My first
inclination was to make cherry jam. But, a decent enough version of that
can be purchased. I'm a fan of pickled fruits which are harder to find in
the stores. So, I found a recipe for pickled cherries.
After canning the pickled cherries, I had several cups of cherry and clove
flavored sweet vinegar. I recalled mention in the Florilegium of a drink
syrup along those lines. (Later located under "jalabs"). I experimented,
first adding more sugar and cooking it down. Later adding a tablespoon more
of red wine vinegar to the finished syrup, evidently I'd cooked all the
vinegar out trying to get to the syrup stage. I serve it diluted as for
senkajabin, 10:1. Yum!
Bonne
Date: Sat, 4 Mar 2000 10:32:53 -0600
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Re: Feast Beverages
At 11:08 AM -0500 3/4/00, alysk at ix.netcom.com wrote:
>In my local-ish area (Midrealm) sekanjabin is sometimes offered, but the
>tastes of the person who made it can often turn off the folk to whom the
>beverage is served. Frequently it is so vinegary that it is nearly
>undrinkable. Sometimes it is far too strong, even though the sweet and
>sour have been balanced.
There are two dimensions here--ratio of vinegar to sugar, and ratio
of both to water. The individual feaster can't do anything about the
former. But if the cook serves both sekanjabin and water, the feaster
can always dilute the sekanjabin down to his taste if it is too
strong.
David Friedman
ddfr at best.com
Date: Sun, 05 Mar 2000 17:28:37 EST
From: allilyn at juno.com
Subject: Re: SC - Feast Beverages
His Grace writes:
>>
I introduced sekanjabin to the SCA for the specific purpose of replacing
iced tea (Salaamallah, I believe, independently introduced it, probably
for the same purpose). Like iced tea it is a cold drink that is very
inexpensive and very little trouble. Unlike iced tea, it is a drink that
was in common use in period--albeit in the civilized world, not among the
Franks.<<
Sekanjabin is well received in summer in AEthelmearc, and has the
advantage of varying in taste with the type of mint and the type of
vinegar. Two summer feasts proved to me and my assorted cooking staff
that it is well worth the money to find and buy the imported red wine
vinegar from Modena, Italy. It's supposed to be aged in wood casks, as
finer liquors are, and has a much smoother taste than the
set-your-teeth-on-edge sharpness of many grocery store vinegars. Make it
up a week or three in advance, and it's one less thing to worry about.
Stretch your cooking staff on the day by assigning the mixing job to a
non-cook.
If we are going to leave lapses in our authenticity, then a period drink
that might have been known to crusaders, even if they didn't go out to
the kitchen and make some, is better than something more blatantly
modern.
Allison, allilyn at juno.com
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2000 16:28:20 -0500
From: Jenn/Yana <jdmiller2 at students.wisc.edu>
Subject: SC - modern recipe for sekanjabin
This Iranian/Persian recipe page does not suggest that sekanjabin is for
drinking. Never would have thought of making it for this purpose, but it
does sound like a refreshing thing to do.
- --Yana
From <http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/F.Mokhtarian/recipes/sekanjebin.html>;
Sekanjebin
Ingredients: (4 servings)
sugar, 500 grams
white vinegar, 100 grams
fresh mint, one small bunch
fresh lettuce, one bunch
Directions:
Dissolve sugar in two glasses of water and bring to a boil. Wash mint and
tie it together with a string and drop it in the mix. Allow the mix to
thicken. Add vinegar and boil for another minute. Remove mint. Serve cold
with fresh lettuce. Lettuce should be dipped in sekanjebin.
Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2001 22:03:45 +0100
From: TG <gloning at Mailer.Uni-Marburg.DE>
Subject: Re: SC - Oxymel, anyone?
E.g., the fourth century medical doctor Philargius has some medical uses
mostly for the spleen. Among other uses, he says that one should cook
certain plants in oxymel [1]. You could look if there is an article on
oxymel in the "Realencyclop‰die der classischen Altertumswissenschaft"
(ed. Pauly and Wissowa, 1894ff; about 100 vols.). If there is an
article, they have the references ...
In the Middle Ages, the Tacuin sanitatis (Taqwim al-sihha) of Ibn-Butlan
mentions oxymel in several places to mitigate certain food stuffs, and I
seem to remember that this text also deals with secanjabin somewhere
(just did not find it now; am somewhat in a hurry).
Preparations of different oxymels and secaniabins seem to have belonged
to the standard repertoire of apothecaries. The 'Compendium
aromatariorum' of Saladin of Asculo (a 15th c. handbook) refers to the
chapters of Mesue in which simple and complex secaniabins and oxymel are
described. Other texts quote and comment on recipes: e.g. the 'Luminare
maius' (1536) gives a recipe for a _Secaniabin de radicibus_ ('a
secaniabin of roots'; fol. xxxij), a number of oxymels and syrops ...
There should be a vaste body of material in other medical and
pharmacological texts of this kind.
Thomas
[1] "Optima enim sunt his capparis radicis cortices et scolopendrion et
myrices cortices et radices aut cymae; coquere autem haec omnia convenit
in aceto aut in oxymelle".
(Puschmann, Th., ed.: Nachtr‰ge zu Alexander Trallianus. Fragmente aus
Philumenus und Philagrius. Berlin 1887, 120. Other places where oxymel
is mentioned are in the index.)
From: "Elise Fleming" <alysk at ix.netcom.com>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 17:01:08 -0500
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Trying New Stuff
Stefan wrote:
>And I've got first hand stories of Sekanjabin syrup lasting several (five?)
>years on the shelf without refrigeration.
Yup. Mine's sitting up there and is at least 4 years old. No
problem with it. I also have some cordials that I tried five to six
years ago. Still sitting there...
Alys Katharine
From: "Sara Tallarovic" <electricfish at earthlink.net>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 11:00:15 -0700
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Dehydration
Marian Rosenberg wrote:
"Speaking of sekanjabin ... if you really really really hate making
sekanjabin (or, have read recipes and listened to friends tell of making
it and been scared away) I found a source for commercially made
sekanjabin. Ingredients: Sugar, Mint Flavored Vinegar, Water.
http://sadaf.com/store/page22.html
Sekanjabin Mint Syrup $4.99
The bottle is about the size of a wine bottle, and makes (at my
proportions of syrup to water) 10 liters of Sekanjabin.
(A quick scan of their site finds saffron, sumac, mango ginger chutney,
sesame candies, and other yummies at really good prices)"
I can vouch for this syrup made by Sadaf. It is REALLY good and very easy =
when camping or whatever. I bought a 24.5 fl. oz. bottle at my local Halal=
market for $4.49 and took it to Gulf War. We had a pitcher of Sekanjaban =
always sitting on the table for refreshment. A little syrup goes a long wa=
y...I still have some left. I add a touch of rosewater to it as well. Eve=
n the kids liked it.
-Shu'la
From: DeeWolff at aol.com
Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2001 13:09:18 EDT
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: [Sca-cooks]Sekanjabin
In a message dated 6/19/01 1:36:27 AM, Etain1263 at aol.com writes:
<< I'm also experimenting with various mints in sekanjabin. Does anyone use
the honey/vinegar method? (rather than the sugar one?) I'm interested in
what proportions are used >>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I use that method. I use 3:1. and I simmer it all day on a low flame. It
gets very thick.
I then pack up small containers (like ziplocks) and keep them in the freezer
so when I need a quick drink, I add it to water to taste (They WILL NOT
FREEZE, but they stay nice and cold).
With the mint garden slowly spreading into the lawn, sekanjabin is a usual
item in my menu in the summer.
(PS. I find spearmint is the best. Not too intense. But I also have
peppermint as well)
Andrea
Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 17:59:34 -0400
From: johnna holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Lemon Syrup?
jenne at fiedlerfamily.net wrote:
> Has anyone ever made lemon syrup for drinks from 'reconstituted lemon
> juice'? Do you mix it equal parts with sugar, and heat?
>
> -- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa
If you are thinking about using REALLEMON in the glass
bottles, I wouldn't. There is something really artificial
tasting about the lemonade/lemon syrup made from it. You can
use the frozen Minute Maid Juice that's in the freezer case.
It makes up fine. REALLEMON works ok in small amounts in recipes
like "Italian Beef" or certain desserts that only need 1-2 teaspoons.
Johnnae llyn Lewis
From: Bronwynmgn at aol.com
Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 08:36:56 EDT
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Lemon Syrup?
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
jenne at fiedlerfamily.net writes:
> Has anyone ever made lemon syrup for drinks from 'reconstituted lemon
> juice'? Do you mix it equal parts with sugar, and heat?
I do it all the time, and despite Siggy's objections, I find that it tastes
reasonably good. I don't own an electric juicer, and the tendonitis in the
wrists simply will not take all the hand squeezing required to make it in
the quantities I use (lemonade being one of my favorite drinks).
I worked it out with Food for Fifty book - if you are going for weight
measurement, use 1 1/4 cups of sugar for each cup of lemon juice. A pint is
NOT a pound the world around. I bring it to a boil to let the sugar get
into solution, and then simmer it for about half an hour or so.
I haven't kept any of it with the higher concentration of sugar for long, but
with using only 1 cup sugar to one cup juice I would find that even under
refrigeration, after a month or two, it would start to get lumps of what
looked like cotton in it. I wasn't sure what it was, but I pitched it on
general principles. I do tend to keep mine in the fridge or cooler.
Brangwayna Morgan
From: "Gwynydd Of Culloden" <gwynydd_of_culloden at yahoo.com>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Lemon Syrup?
Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 05:49:06 +1000
> > Has anyone ever made lemon syrup for drinks from 'reconstituted lemon
> > juice'?
While I have never used the "RealLemon" product being mentioned here, I make
huge amounts of Lemon Syrope (as I label it - based on the recipe in the
Miscellany except that I use bottled lemon juice not fresh squeezed) using
bottled, refrigerate-after-opening lemon juice. I find it to be very good
and I have had no adverse comments from consumers. I have only used fresh
lemons once and I think they were too young; the syrup was less than
successful. One day I might have another go at fresh juice, but the bottled
stuff is so convenient and cheap that I have no real reason to do so.
I use a variety of brands and this ingredient list is fairly much standard
for all of them (I add this simply because it is possible that there are
major differences between what I have available here in Tasmania and what is
available in the States).
"Reconstituted lemon juice, preservative (223), water added, 99.9% lemon
juice". When I make it to sell, I always include this information on the
label - some brands use 2 preservative numbers, so I alter the labels
depending on what I am using.
> > Do you mix it equal parts with sugar, and heat?
I make it following the instructions in the Miscellany; equal VOLUME juice
and sugar (i.e. cup for cup) mixed together and brought to a boil. Boil for
30 minutes. This keeps without refrigeration here for ages (months - at
least a year, in my experience). I think that the "cotton" like lumps which
someone else mentioned may be something which has happened to my rose and
sekanjabin syrups. From a discussion on the List some time back, I think it
might have something to do with the specific gravity of the solution (I
could be misremembering), however, it doesn't do any harm and simply soaking
the bottle of syrup in hot water returns it to its liquid form. I have
never had this happen to the lemon. If your syrup does this, I would
suggest trying this before ditching it. This stuff, as I said, seems to
keep for ages without refrigeration here in Tasmania. I keep a small supply
in the 'fridge so that it is cold when one wants to use it, but it does not
seem to be necessary.
Gwynydd of Culloden
From: Bronwynmgn at aol.com
Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 15:47:44 EDT
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Lemon Syrup?
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
jenne at fiedlerfamily.net writes:
> I'll try Brangwayna's recipe this year, and if it sucks, next year they
> can go back to the powdered stuff.
I'd take my version, even with cheapo reconsitituted juice, over the sugary
powdered crap any day.
I have made it with lemons once or twice. It's kind of neat having the pulp
in it (I sieved some of it out, but not all), and it does taste slightly
...sharper, or something, but the reconstituted stuff works for me.
Brangwayna Morgan
From: "Avraham haRofeh" <goldberg at bestweb.net>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Sugar Free Sakanjabin
Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2002 18:23:51 -0400
> I remember once in a blue moon ago (I think it was
> 2ish years ago) there was a discussion on this list
> about trying to make Sakanjabin with artificial
> sweetners. Did anyone ever get around to trying it?
> I'm teaching a class on Sakanjabin this weekend and
> would like to mention the attempt/results if anyone
> did it.
I made it with Splenda. It had a faint, odd aftertaste, and wasn't quite as
thick as regular sekanjabin, but was quite acceptable.
Avraham
****************************************
Avraham haRofeh of Northpass
(mka Randy Goldberg MD)
From: Bronwynmgn at aol.com
Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 16:42:11 EDT
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] re: Lemon Syrup
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
gwynydd_of_culloden at yahoo.com writes:
> I can't answer the question about figuring out the sugar content, but I can
> say that I think we make it up much more dilute than 1:5 - closer to 1:8 or
> even 1:10. I find that a little of this goes a very long way.
Yeah, that's why I said diluted at least 1 part syrup to 5 water - lots of
people make it more dilute than that, but that's about the strongest I've
seen most people do (that excludes my husband and the lady of my household,
who have been known to drink my sekanjabin syrup straight when they think
they can get away with it - yeeurgh.)
> those who haven't tried it, do try both Syrup of Lemons and
> sekanjabin hot - they are wonderful on a cold winter's night this way.
I haven't actually tried the sekanjabin, but the first time I made the lemon
syrup it was a cold rainy day, so we all drank it hot - yum.
I also have a recipe for a non-period spiced lemonaid which makes a wonderful
hot drink, especially when you have a sore throat.
To one gallon boiling water add:
4 lemons, cut in half and reamed out or squeezed (the juice is what goes in
of course); drop the shells in too.
12 whole cloves
about 1/8-1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (I think the original called for 4
pods of cardamom; I have ground on hand, and don't use the pods for anything
else, so..)
Let simmer for about half an hour, then take off the heat and add honey to
taste (after fishing out the lemon shells). This absolutely does need to be
refrigerated; it grows really interesting black stuff when it's not....
For those of you in the Bryn Gwlad area who remember the stuff Magdalena used
to make, that she called "Bronwyn's spiced lemonaide"? I used to be Bronwyn,
and this is the recipe she was using. By the way, if anyone knows where she
is, would you pass on my greetings and email address? I haven't heard from
her in years...
Brangwayna Morgan
From: jenne at fiedlerfamily.net
Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 12:26:57 -0400 (EDT)
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Fighter food
> >Ginger drink (with sugar)
> What kind of Ginger drink? This sounds great!
> I want some!
Right now, my current favorite ginger syrup is ginger, lemon, sugar and
water: 4 c. sugar and 2.5 c. water, bring to a boil, add 1 to 1.25 c. lemon
juice. Simmer until reduced by almost half, adding some shavings of ginger
and lemon peel. Then add 3-4 inches of ginger root, chopped, and boil a
bit longer. Add a little more lemon. Soak over night and bottle.
I've also had switchel-style ginger drink made by substituting ginger for
mint in the sekanjabin recipe and that was yummy too.
-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa
Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 12:48:18 -0400
From: "Christine Seelye-King" <kingstaste at mindspring.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] period beverages
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Here are the recipes from the Miscellany, none of them calls for mint. I
have also had syrups of violet (wonderful), rose (ok, but could get
cloying), carrot, tamarind, and others.
Experiment and have fun!
Christianna
Syrup of Simple Sikanjabîn
(Oxymel)
Andalusian p. A-74
Take a ratl of strong vinegar and mix it with two ratls of sugar, and cook
all this until it takes the form of a syrup. Drink an ûqiya of this with
three of hot water when fasting: it is beneficial for fevers of jaundice,
and calms jaundice and cuts the thirst, since sikanjabîn syrup is
beneficial in phlegmatic fevers: make it with six ûqiyas of sour vinegar for a
ratl of nhoney and it is admirable.
This seems to be at least two different recipes, for two different medical
uses. The first, at least, is intended to be drunk hot. In modern Iranian
restaurants, sekanjabin is normally served cold, often with grated cucumber.
Syrup of Pomegranates
Andalusian p. A-74
Take a ratl of sour pomegranates and another of sweet pomegranates, and add
their juice to two ratls of sugar, cook all this until it takes the
consistency of syrup, and keep until needed. Its benefits: it is useful for
fevers, and cuts the thirst, it benefits bilious fevers and lightens the
body gently.
Use equal volumes of sugar and pomegranate juice (found in some health food
stores). Cook them down to a thick syrup, in which form they will keep,
without refrigeration, for a very long time. To serve, dilute one part of
syrup in 3 to 6 parts of hot water (to taste).
Syrup of Lemon
Andalusian p. 279 (trans DF)
Take lemon, after peeling its outer skin, press it and take a ratl of juice,
and add as much of sugar. Cook it until it takes the form of a syrup. Its
advantages are for the heat of bile; it cuts the thirst and binds the bowels.
This we also serve as a strong, hot drink. Alternatively, dilute it in cold
water and you have thirteenth century lemonade. All three of the original
recipes include comments on medical uses of the syrups.
Hippocras
Goodman p. 299/28
To make powdered hippocras, take a quarter of very fine cinnamon
selected by
tasting it, and half a quarter of fine flour of cinnamon, an ounce of
selected string ginger, fine and white, and an ounce of grain of
Paradise, a
sixth of nutmegs and galingale together, and bray them all together. And
when you would make your hippocras, take a good half ounce of this
powder
and two quarters of sugar and mix them with a quart of wine, by Paris
measure. And note that the powder and the sugar mixed together is the
Duke's
powder.
4 oz stick cinnamon
2 oz powdered cinnamon
"A sixth" (probably of a pound-2 2/3 ounces) of nutmegs and galingale
together
1 oz of ginger
1 oz of grains of paradise
Grind them all together. To make hippocras add 1/2 ounce of the powder
and
1/2 lb (1 cup) of sugar to a 2 quarts of boiling wine (the quart used to
measure wine in Paris c. 1393 was about 2 modern U.S. quarts, the pound
and
ounce about the same as ours). Strain through a sleeve of Hippocrates (a
tube of cloth, closed at one end).
Date: Mon, 6 Oct 2003 00:31:22 -0400
From "Christine Seelye-King" <kingstaste at mindspring.com>
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] A jalab recipe - Syrup of Carrots
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
As I recall, when Serena made this for her feast, it came out a dark brown
with just a tinge of oarange - it just wasn't what I was expecting. It was
ok, not wonderful, not terrible, different, and ok.
Christianna
Syrup of Carots
Take four ratls of carrots, after removing the fibers [lit. "nerves"]
that are in the centers, and cook them in water until their substance
comes out. Then take the clear part of it and add it to three ratls of
honey, cleaned of its foam. The bag: ..[about three words missing]...
an uqiya of cubebs, two uqiyas each of ginger and long pepper, and half
an uqiya of cinnamon and flower of cloves. Cook until it takes the form
of a syrup. Drink an uqiya of this with three of hot water....
Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2003 10:01:06 -0700
From: david friedman <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com>
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] A jalab recipe - Syrup of Carrots
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Stefan quoted the recipe:
>> Syrup of Carrots
>> Take four ratls of carrots, after removing the fibers [lit. "nerves"]
>> that are in the centers, and cook them in water until their substance
>> comes out. Then take the clear part of it and add it to three ratls of
>> honey, cleaned of its foam. The bag: ...[about three words missing]...
>> an uqiya of cubebs, two uqiyas each of ginger and long pepper, and half
>> an uqiya of cinnamon and flower of cloves. Cook until it takes the form
>> of a syrup. Drink an uqiya of this with three of hot water....
and Micaylah replied:
> Imo, its a pretty straight forward translation except my brain is
> refusing to give up the equivalents of a ratl and a uqiya. I know I knew
> this. Can anyone please reiterate? I am also assuming that they want you
> to core the carrots?
A ratl is about a pound, an uqiya is one twelfth of a ratl--think
Troy ounce. And yes, it looks like coring the carrots. We did this
once and threw all the bits of the carrot we didn't use into a
chicken soup. The drink wasn't bad but wasn't good enough that we
have done it again.
Elizabeth/Betty Cook
Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 09:54:01 -0500 (EST)
From: <jenne at fiedlerfamily.net>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] lemon syrup
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Gah. Many years ago, when I first started making lemon syrup for the
dayboard for our 800 person event, there was a storm of protest on this
list to the idea of using reconstituted lemon juice (ReaLemon type) to
make the lemon syrup.
To be more authentic, I've made the lemon syrup for my upcoming feast
(80 seats) from fresh lemons. 40 of them, made about 2 quarts of
syrup, which should make about 8-10 pitchers of lemon drink. The taste
is a little better/different, but not much.
Guys, with all due respect, if you are making lemon syrup for large
numbers and don't have several lemon trees in your backyard, reconstituted
Lemon juice works just fine, and it makes it possible to get enough
Lemon drink for people!
-- Pani Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika jenne at fiedlerfamily.net
Date: Sun, 14 Nov 2004 16:39:05 -0800
From: David Friedman <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Pomegranite Juice
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
maire wrote:
> There are a number of middle eastern/islamic recipes that use
> pomegranite. May I suggest a "cruise" through the Anonymous Andalusian
> cookbook on His Grace's website?
> There's one, as well, in my Middle Eastern cookbook, that involves
> cooking chicken and onions and walnuts (?) in pomegranite juice.
> Very tasty, but don't do it in a cast iron pan, as it turns a rather
> distinct black!
> Uhm, you could also make a pomegranite version of sekanjabin syrup,
> using sugar and water and juice.
You don't need water. According to the anonymous Andalusian cookbook:
Take a ratl of sour pomegranates and another of sweet pomegranates,
and add their juice to two ratls of sugar, cook all this until it
takes the consistency of syrup, and keep until needed. Its benefits:
it is useful for fevers, and cuts the thirst, it benefits bilious
fevers and lightens the body gently. [end of original]
(A ratl is a weight, about a pound.)
What we usually do it to take equal parts sugar and pomegranate juice
and cook it down to a syrup; we once juiced pomegranates ourselves
and it wasn't very different (except a lot more work). I don't know
if the sour and sweet pomegranates are different varieties or
different ripeness. This is especially good as a hot sweet drink,
mixed up somewhat thicker than we usually do sekanjabin, maybe 1:4 or
1:6.
Elizabeth of Dendermonde/Betty Cook
Date: Sun, 14 Nov 2004 21:42:51 -0800 (PST)
From: Robin Carroll-Mann <rcmann4 at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Pomegranite Juice
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
-----Original Message-----
What we usually do it to take equal parts sugar and pomegranate juice
and cook it down to a syrup; we once juiced pomegranates ourselves
and it wasn't very different (except a lot more work). I don't know
if the sour and sweet pomegranates are different varieties or
different ripeness. This is especially good as a hot sweet drink,
mixed up somewhat thicker than we usually do sekanjabin, maybe 1:4 or
1:6.
Elizabeth of Dendermonde/Betty Cook
_______________________________________________
I have made an approximation of this as a cold drink, using pomegranate
molasses diluted with water, and sweetened with a simple sugar syrup.
It has gone over very well at the events where I've served it.
Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 15:56:16 -0500
From: Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise <jenne at fiedlerfamily.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Sekanjabin Origins\
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
> I've seen the word "jalab" used, by modern Middle Eastern grocers, to
> a particular drink syrup flavored with rosewater, but it's quite
> possible that it has or had a broader meaning of "drink syrup" in
> general.
Culpeper refers to jalaps or jalabs as a sort of drink made with
flavored syrup and water. So Sekanjabin would be a sort of jalab, but
jalabs wouldn't necessarily be sekanjabins or oxymels.
--
-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika jenne at fiedlerfamily.net
Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2004 14:15:28 -0500
From: Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise <jenne at fiedlrfamily.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Overdocumentation
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
I was told, emphatically, that lemon syrup drink made from fresh lemon
juice was very different from that made with reconstituted lemon juice.
But, for a dayboard for 700, I used the reconstituted stuff. For a feast
for 80, where I only had to do 8 pitchers worth, I juiced the 40 lemons
and made it fresh. And that's when I found out there isn't that much
difference after you've heat-processed it to make syrup.
--
-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika jenne at fiedlerfamily.net
Date: Sat, 20 Nov 2004 10:49:37 -0800
From: lilinah at earthlink.net
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] jalabs (was Sekanjabin Origins)
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
After a fair bit of discussion on that other SCA Middle Eastern list,
i am now of the opinion that "jalab" is not the best word. I have now
shifted to "sharab" which really does mean "syrup" and which word is
used in both the past and in current times for flavored syrups used
to make beverages.
In our current times, jalab is a specific type of drink syrup made of
date syrup flavored with rose water. I did find "jullab" in
SCA-period, but not used separately. In the book "The Description of
Familiar Foods", translated by Charles Perry, on p. 343 of "Medieval
Arab Cookery", is a recipe for a meat and nut dish called Jullabiyya.
Next to the name in brackets, Perry has "jullab, syrup". But there
are no recipes for jullab as a syrup.
There is, however, in the same book ("The Description of Familiar
Foods") a recipe for "sharab jalil al-qadr", translated as "syrup of
sublime power", p. 441. It is made with soaked raisins, rainwater,
honey, and spices, and drunk mixed with water. So here is an example
of "sharab" actually used for a syrup.
Of course, if i knew the names of the recipes in the Andalusian
cookbook in their actual Arabic i could better tell if "sharab" was
what they any of them were called.
Also, i don't know if Sekanjabin qualified as a "sharab". I am not
saying it is not a sharab, i just don't know if it is a sharab. As an
oxymel, it could be considered to be in a different category. Or
maybe not.
Finally, Stefan, you can include my Laimun Safarjali recipe in that
section. It is a beverage syrup of lemon and quince juice flavored
with rosewater which i made from scratch for my Persian course in the
Principality of the Mists Fall Investiture Iron Chef Feast. I will
send it to you directly. Folks can also find it on my website:
http://home.earthlink.net/~lilinah/2001_Feasts/
persianrecipes.html#quince
The original is also in the Book of the Description of Familiar
Foods, on pp. 442-443 of "Medieval Arab Cookery".
Turns out this is still made and i bought a bottle of the Sadaf
brand. It was tasty, but i was spoiled by my homemade kind, so i
doctored the commercial syrup with fresh lemon juice and rose water.
Anahita
From: lilinah at earthlink.net
Date: November 20, 2004 1:14:39 PM CST
To: StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
Subject: Lemon-Quince-Rosewater Syrup
Hi, Stefan:
Here's the recipe i said i'd send you for the Florilegium - just cut along the dotted line :-)
Anahita
----------------------------------------------------------------
Laimun Safarjali - Lemon-Quince-Rosewater Beverage Syrup
I cooked a totally period mostly Persian course for the Principality of the Mists Fall Investiture Iron Chef Feast 2001. When I was shopping for ingredients, I went to a Persian food store. I searched the shelves in hopes of finding a (synthetic) musk flavored extract or syrup called for in a couple recipes. I didn't find any. But much to my surprise, I found a bottle of Lemon-Quince syrup from an American Persian food supplier. I bought it to taste test. It was delicious. My homemade syrup was even more delicious.
Original:
One part quince juice and three parts filtered syrup, in both of which you have boiled pieces of quince until nearly done. They are taken up, and the syrup takes it consistency. To every pound of the whole you add two ounces of lemon juice. Then return the pieces of quince; they improve the consistency. It is scented with musk, saffron and rose-water and taken up and used.
-- from "The Book of the Description of Familiar Foods", trans. Charles Perry, p. 442-443, in "Medieval Arab Cookery", Prospect Books, 2001.
My Recipe:
2 dozen medium to large quinces
5 to 8 pounds granulated white sugar
1 tsp. crumbled saffron threads
juice of 12 lemons
4 capfuls of Cortas brand rosewater
(you may need to adjust for other brands of rosewater)
1. Cut quinces in quarters. Core and remove flower and stem ends. Cut further into eighths (that is, each quince is ultimately cut in eight pieces).
2. Put quinces in deep kettle, cover with water and turn fire to high.
3. Pour in 5 lb. sugar. Stir well.
4. When liquid begins to boil, reduce fire to medium and continue to simmer, stirring frequently so bottom of pan doesn't burn.
5. Do NOT mash the quinces. I did and it was a BIG mistake. I did not get enough syrup, although the mashed quinces tasted delicious.
6. Put crumbled saffron threads in a small dish and just barely cover with hot water. Soak at least 15 minutes.
7. When liquid has thickened and has become a lovely amber-rose color - many hours later - remove from heat, stir in saffron, and allow to cool.
8. When cool, put a strainer over a deep bowl, and begin scooping quinces and liquid out of the pot and into the strainer. Allow to strain without mashing or pressing fruit. Remove resulting liquid to another large container.
9. After you've drained the quinces well, and syrup has cooled thoroughly, check the consistency and flavor. It should be syrupy and have a tart-sweet flavor. It doesn't need to be clear. In fact, the original recommends having some fruity bits in it, so you can add some mashed quince at this point. If syrup isn't sweet enough, put in kettle on high fire, add more sugar, stir well, bring to boil, then reduce to high simmer, and cook down a little more.
10. When syrup is thoroughly cooled, stir in lemon juice and rose water.
11. Store in refrigerator.
12. To drink, fill a pitcher about 2/3 full of water and add a bit of syrup. Taste. Add more syrup until you are satisfied. It should have a sweet-tart flavor, redolent of quinces and roses. The commercial syrup is much denser than mine and was recommended to be diluted 1 part syrup to 5 parts water. I think mine worked at about 1 part syrup to three parts water.
By al-Sayyida Anahita al-Qurtubiyya bint 'abd al-Karim al-Fassi
Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 14:09:39 -0800
From: lilinah at earthlink.net
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] middle eastern food questions
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Stefan wrote:
>> There was a bottle of something labeled "Jallab Syrup". The information
>> was in Arabic, and the owner was busy with other customers so I didn't
>> want to bother him. Is this one of the syrups that are used to make
>> beverages?
>
> Yes, although I believe "jalab" is a general term and could mean any
> one of a number of flavors.
We had a fairly recent discussion on this list about the terms
sekanjabin, jalab, and sharbat.
My research in a number of Medieval Near and Middle Eastern cookbooks
and a number of modern Near and Middle Eastern and South Asian
cookbooks indicates that:
1.) Jalab/jalap is *not* a generic term, but the name of a rather
specific drink syrup. The beverage usually contains rosewater, sugar
syrup, and dates, and is served sprinkled with pine nuts.
2.) Sekanjabin is *not* a generic term. It is a Near or Middle
Eastern oxymel, i.e., contains vinegar and honey (literally) or sugar
(more commonly). If a beverage liquid/syrup is not an oxymel, it is
not sekanjabin. I have found, however, that way too many SCAdians use
"sekanjabin" as a generic term for a Medieval Near or Middle Eastern
- or modern SCA invented - beverage syrup with darn near any set of
ingredients, usually with NO vinegar.
3.) Sharbat *is* a generic term for Medieval and modern Near and
Middle Eastern, and even South Asian beverage syrups. BTW, the word
is the source of a somewhat archaic English term "shrub" for a
non-alcoholic fruit beverage and sherbet/sorbet (note - no "r" in the
second syllable - does not rhyme with "herbert").
Anahita
Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 17:23:43 -0500
From: Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise <jenne at fiedlerfamily.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] middle eastern food questions
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
> We had a fairly recent discussion on this list about the terms
> sekanjabin, jalab, and sharbat.
>
> My research in a number of Medieval Near and Middle Eastern cookbooks
> and a number of modern Near and Middle Eastern and South Asian
> cookbooks indicates that:
>
> 1.) Jalab/jalap is *not* a generic term, but the name of a rather
> specific drink syrup. The beverage usually contains rosewater, sugar
> syrup, and dates, and is served sprinkled with pine nuts.
However, in near-period European useage, there is a term 'julep' or
'juleb' that applies to drinks made with syrups:
See OED: "
[a. F. julep (14th c. in Hatz.-Darm.), in Pr. julep, Sp. and Pg. julepe,
It. giulebbe, giulebbo, med.L. julapium, ad. Arab. jul{amac}b, a. Pers.
gul-{amac}b rose-water, f. gul rose + {amac}b water.]
1. A sweet drink prepared in different ways; often, simply a liquid
sweetened with syrup or sugar, and used as a vehicle for medicine;
sometimes, a medicated drink used as a demulcent, .comforting., or
gently stimulating mixture.
1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 76 To {ygh}eue him in {th}e bigynnynge
Iulep{em}{th}at is a sirup maad oonly of water & of sugre. 1543 TRAHERON
Vigo's Chirurg. V. ii. 163 Vse them with a iuleb of vyolettes. c1550
LLOYD Treas. Health (1585) Fij, Iuleb is a cleare potyon made of dyuerse
waters and suger. 1597-8 BP. HALL Sat. II. iv. 27 The wholesome julap,
whose receat Might his diseases lingring force defeat. 1619 S. JEROME
Origen's Repent. in Farr S.P. Jas. I (1848) 245 It surmounts all
juloups. a1625 FLETCHER Hum. Lieut. II. ii, The gentleman no doubt will
fall to his jewlips. "
Cf: Culpeper's English Physitian:
"1. Juleps were first invented as I suppose in Arabia, and my reason is
because the word Juleb is an Arabick word.
2. It signifies only a pleasant Potion, and was vulgarly used (by such
as were sick and wanted help, or such as were in health, and wanted no
money) to quench thirst.
3. Now a daies 'tis commonly used,
[p. 248]
1. To prepare the Body for Purgation.
2. To open Obstructions and the Pores.
3. To digest tough Humors.
4. To qualifie hot distempers &c.
4. It is thus made (I mean Simple Juleps for I have nothing to say to
Compounds here; all Compounds have as many several Idea's as men have
crotchets in their Brain) I say Simple Juleps are thus made: Take a pint
of such distilled Water as conduceth to the cure of your distemper,
which this Treatise will plentifully furnish you withal, to which add
two ounces of Syrup conducing to the same effect (I shall give you Rules
for it in the last Chapter) mix them together and drink a draught of it
at your pleasure; If you love tart things ad ten drops of Oyl of Vitriol
to your pint and shake it together, and it will have a fine grateful
tast.
5. All Juleps are made for present use, and therefore it is in vain to
speak of their duration. "
-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika jenne at fiedlerfamily.net
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 01:04:56 -0400
From: Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise <jenne at fiedlerfamily.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: Sca-cooks Digest Jadwiga's Ginger Syrup
recipe
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
> Oooooooooooh. this is one I missed!1 Recipe please?
Lemon-ginger syrup... note, while syrups and jalabs can be documented to
period, this one isn't a documented example:
2.5 cups water
4 cups sugar
Dissolve together and bring to a boil, while you begin peeling and
chopping up a 4-5" long piece of fresh ginger.
When sugar mixture reaches a boil, add 1 cup lemon juice and reduce to a
simmer. Add ginger as it becomes peeled and cut up (I cut mine into 1/4"
thick slices and then into 1/2" dice to make candy of later).
Simmer mixture until reduced by about 1/3.
Remove from heat, cover, and leave overnight.
Strain out pieces of ginger and bottle. (You can boil the ginger pieces
in soft-ball-stage sugar syrup for candied ginger).
To serve, mix to taste with water (about 1 part syrup to 6-8 parts
water).
--
-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika jenne at fiedlerfamily.net
Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2007 02:13:52 -0400
From: "Nick Sasso" <grizly at mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Concentrated drinks shelf life
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
-----Original Message-----
Years if the syrup has enough sugar in it. This discussion has come
up here periodically. There are first hand accounts in this file of
five years or more of storing (and forgetting about) some sekanjabin
and it still being good.> > > >
In case anyone is interested, the fancy term for this is "water activity
level". After enough dissolved solids, the microbes just basically explode
or dissolve on contacting the substance due to water being succeed out of it
by osmosis. Oversimplification, I know, but it gives a little added
texture that no one really asked for.
niccolo difrancesco
Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2007 07:43:27 -0700
From: Britt <tierna.britt at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Concentrated drinks shelf life
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
On 9/28/07, Mairi Ceilidh <jjterlouw at earthlink.net> wrote:
> I don't even refrigerate it, and it keeps for months. Yeah, I "lost" a
> bottle in the pantry several years ago. It was probably a year or
> so old when I found it. Still good. Vinegar is a wonderful thing.
>
> Mairi Ceilidh
>
> I made some sekanjabin and some syrup of lemons today for Pennsic, and when
> I took them downstairs to the fridge, I discovered that we still have a lot
> of sekanjabin syrup from last year. It's perfectly clear and smells
> completely normal, but my husband is worried that it might not be
> any good. I seem to
> remember that sugar syrups are pretty stable and don't really even need to
> be stored in the fridge, but will last for a long time. Anybody
> have any ideas how long this stuff will last?
Mine's five years old, made with cider vinegar and turbinado. Still as
strong as ever, still good. When I worked in food service we used to
filter cloudy malt vinegar through a coffee filter and put it back on
the tables. I do same with my vinegars and probably would if the
sekanjabin got cloudy.
But when verjuice goes, man, you can tell it's gone. It grows a
'something' spongy in the middle of the bottle. Which is another
reason I just snort lightly at settlings in vinegar and use it anyway.
I have seen dead stuff, and it was scary.
- Teceangl
Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:50:48 -0700
From: Lilinah <lilinah at earthlink.net>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Sekanjabeen
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
On another SCA list, the topic of sekanjabeen came up. I erroneously wrote:
>> The only period recipe for it translated into English is in the 13th
>> C. Andalusian cookbook, and it does not include mint. Here's the
>> original recipe: (snipped)
And a listee named Asma replied:
> Actually, there is a second period recipe. It is a 9th century one
> that comes from _The Small Dispensatory_ written by Sabur ibn Sahl,
> and translated by Oliver Kahl in 2003.
(due to Giano's kindness i actually have a copy of this, and although
i read through it, i didn't remember the sekanjabeen recipe)
Here's the original recipe from the Small Dispensatory:
The preparation of sugar-and-honey-in-one oxymel which is useful
against fevers and thirst and clears the stomach.
You take ten ratl of good aged wine vinegar and pour it over about
twenty ratl of pure fresh water, more or less depending on how acid
and how exquisite the vinegar is; add from the root peels of fennel
and celery three uqiya each and from the seeds of fennel and anise
one uqiya each, but wash it all in water before soaking it in the
liquid, and leave that for a day and a night, after that cook it on a
low flame until one sixth of it vanishes; then take it off the fire,
and leave it to cool; then strain it through a cloth of cotton, let
two parts of this decoction from water and vinegar and roots and
seeds share one part of white sugar candy and add for each two and a
half parts of it one part honey water, cook that over a low flame
until one half of it is left, take it of the fire, let it cool ,
strain it, and use it after having previously skimmed the froth off
of it.
The extracted ingredients are;
good aged wine vinegar
pure fresh water
fennel root peels
celery root peels
fennel seeds
anise seeds
white sugar candy (this may be fanid, for which there are surviving
recipes)
honey water
Asma continued:
> The resulting sikanjabin is very tasty, and has a slight liquorice
> flavor. _The Small Dispensatory_ has a whole section dealing with
> beverages, although some of the are more medicinal than the one above.
> The really nice thing about this source is that since it is a medical
> text, the directions and the quantities are really precise, so it is
> possible to work directly from the original text.
In al-Kindi's 9th C. Medicinal Formulary, sekanjabeen is an
ingredient in a topical application to cure baldness and an
ingredient for a tooth cleaning powder, although i haven't found a
recipe in the Formulary for sekanjabeen.
And in Chapter One of the Medicinal Formulary of al-Samarqandi (early
13th C.), there is a lengthy discussion about sekanjabeen (translated
by Levey as "oxymel"), including that it "...is beneficial in acute
fevers since it calms the heat..."
Al-Samarqandi further notes:
"The ratio of its parts differs from one to another because of the
difference in vinegar and sugar, depending on the heat of the fever,
its humor, and the attributes of the nature of the drinker. In this
regard, the kind made from vinegar sharply sour with a double
quantity of very white sugar, cooked finely, is good to drink for
fevers which are extremely acute and hot. is good for those who can
endure it and do not dislike it. The viscous kind made from strong
wine vinegar with three times it of red sugar is for compound fevers
from yellow bile and phlegm. The vinegar may also be reduced from
that to the ratio of one fifth or less. It is necessary that the
sugar be washed a little at first, then thrown into the pot; on it
the vinegar is poured. It is placed over a slow burning fire until
the sugar dissolves. Then water in the same amount, more or less, is
poured on it according to the requirement. It is boiled, and then its
froth is removed. Honey is not good for acute fevers; it is effective
for the compound ones whose humors are cold. The ratio of the vinegar
to the honey depends on the thickness of their humors, viscosity,
thinness, and strength of putrefaction. The vinegar cools and quiets;
honey is a warming and easing agent.
"...The seedy oxymel is a compound with seeds to increase its
capability to open obstructions. In acute fevers, cold seeds are used
but in the fevers whose humor is cold and in the case of other
illnesses, then hot seeds are indicated. In the compounded ones, with
hot and cold together, one is concerned with the ratios as regard to
those of the humors and the organs. For example, if it is to be taken
for acute fevers, choleric humors, and for venal obstructions, then
it is made up of seed of the endive and the rind of the root, the
seed of cucumbers, and the water melon seed so that it is from seeds
which are cold and cause diuresis; it is especially effective against
blockage of the veins and for allowing the bile to flow."
This goes on for 2-1/2 more pages in the translation, with several
recipes for medicinal sekanjabeen.
One recipe includes:
fennel root rind
celery root rind
marshmallow root rind
caper root rind
fennel seeds
celery seeds
hyssop
"sticky fig"
raisins without seeds
along with vinegar and sugar
Depending on the ailment, galangal may be added, or blue lily root,
lily root, and maiden hair (a fern), or violet, marshmallow seeds,
quince seed, jujube, sebesten (a fruit, Cordia Myxa, which is still
used in herbal medicine in the Middle East and India), and poppy.
Let me add that the beverage al-Samarqandi thinks is best is pure
clear water.
--
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita
From: vujadea200 at aol.com
Date: June 7, 2010 8:35:27 PM CDT
To: ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org, kathuss at cableone.net
Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] Sekanjabin recipe
We have learned in my family to put a little bit of green food coloring into it as well.
Taking a big swig of that, when you are expecting water is NOT so great!
Adena Terricsdottir
-----Original Message-----
From: Betsy Marshall <betsy at softwareinnovation.com>
I use Cariadoc's formulation-
8 cups sugar,
5 cups water,
half cup of vinegar,
bring to a boil;
remove from heat
add big handful of fresh mint,
stir, allow to cool;
strain into bottles.
Mix as needed to flavor cold water, or into hot water for a nice mint tea
Hope this helps; Pyro
Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2011 18:21:27 -0400
From: "David Friedman" <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] sekanjabin, was: Freezing tarts.
At Tue, 30 Aug 2011 18:33:52 -0500, Haraldr Bassi wrote:
<<< Something I do with mine that most other people I've talked to don't is steep the mint or the ginger in the syrup overnight. >>>
A lot of people in the SCA seem to use "sekanjabin" to refer to syrup drinks in general. Manuscrito Anonimo has a chapter of syrup drinks, but the only one referred to as "sekanjabin" is vinegar with honey or sugar--neither mint nor ginger. Modern sekanjabin, still found in Iranian restaurants and groceries, has mint. I don't know of any evidence for a ginger flavored syrup drink called sekanjabin.
We generally leave the mint in the syrup until it has cooled, then remove most of the mint and bottle the syrup.
David/Cariadoc
www.daviddfriedman.com
daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/
Date: Thu, 31 May 2012 10:17:06 -0600
From: Rebecca Miller <rebecca.miller2009 at gmail.com>
To: Gina Shelley <paintedwheel at hotmail.com>
Cc: atlantia at atlantia.sca.org
Subject: Re: [MR] Looking for a sugar free sekanjabin recipe
<<< I know that there are some people who have worked out versions of
sekanjabin using artificial sweeteners. Is there anyone who can send
me a recipe? I want to give it to some mundane friends...
Orla >>>
Here is the recipes that House Wolfhou uses. The 2nd one is sugar-free. :-)
SEKANJABIN (with sugar)
Dissolve 8 c sugar into 5 c water in large pot on medium heat.
When it comes to a boil, add 2 c of wine vinegar.
Simmer 1/2 hour.
Add a double handful of mint, rosemary, thyme, or 1 lb grated ginger
root, or other herb
Remove the pot from the fire, and let cool.
Strain out the herbs and store in a 1 liter soda bottle. (green soda
bottles I think are best, to reduce sun light damage to taste)
Dilute to taste with ice water (usually about 5-20 parts water for 1 part syrup)
(1 batch makes enough for 2 times a 2 gallon cooler + ice...
therefore, 1 batch = about 70 x 1 cup servings)
SUGAR-FREE SEKANJABIN
Heat 5 c water in a large pot on medium heat til it simmers.
add 2 c wine vinigar and bring back to simmer.
Add 8 c splenda, stir to dissolve. Take off of heat.
Add 2 hands full of rosemary, thyme, or some other herb
Let cool.
Package in clean 2 liter soda bottle. Sometimes I will add boiled and
cooled water to soda bottle so bottle is full-ish, and division is
easier. (green soda bottles I think are best, to reduce sun light
damage to taste)
Makes about 4-5 gallons sekanjabin
THL Elwynne Liers
Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2013 01:12:11 -0700
From: David Friedman <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com>
To: lilinah at earthlink.net, Cooks within the SCA
<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Waste not, want not
This afternoon, I made some preserved quinces. Al-Warraq's recipe has
you first briefly boil the quinces in a honey/water solution, then drain them, then simmer them in straight honey for an hour or so. When I was finished I had about five cups of honey/water solution, some from the initial boiling and some from what didn't go into the jars with the
quince, all of it quince flavored.
At which point it occurred to me that the Manuscrito Anonimo sekanjabin
recipe gives both sugar and honey versions and that I saw somewhere a
reference to period quince sekanjabin. I did a rough estimate of how
much honey was in the water in order to figure out how much vinegar I
needed, boiled the honey water down, added vinegar, boiled it more until it got to about the thickness of sekanjabin syrup. Mixed up some with ice water--tasted pretty good. The rest is now in a small bottle.
And in the process I noticed that the Manuscrito Anonimo recipe has a
substantially higher ratio of vinegar to sugar than the modern recipe I
got from Claudia Roden's cookbook.
--
David/Cariadoc
www.daviddfriedman.com
http://daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/
Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2014 12:34:31 -0700
From: David Friedman <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com>
To: "sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] A Julab Puzzle
Julab is a medieval Islamic syrup drink made of sugar, water, and
rose water. Ibn Sina (Avicenna) gives a recipe for it which according to one source (Martin Levey's _Early Arabic Pharmacology_) has 1 part rose water to 2 parts water to 12 parts sugar by weight. Nasrallah, in her notes to al-Warraq, says the recipe is 16:2:1 sugar to water to rose water
With either 6:1 or 8:1, in my experience, the concentration of sugar is
high enough so that some of the sugar crystalizes out, which seems
pointless. One possible explanation is that both sources have
mistranslated the units. Another is that Avicenna's sugar was much less
pure than ours, although that doesn't strike me as very likely. I may
try it at some point with a Mexican sugar cone, on the theory that that
might be closer to what he was using, but I don't see why that would
give a significantly different result.
Suggestions?
--
David Friedman
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2014 15:40:04 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] A Julab Puzzle
It is also possible that medieval julab had precipitated sugar crystals in it.
It may also be that you are storing the bottle where the temperature
differential will cause a slightly supersaturated solution of sugar to
precipitate. I think you will find the less pure sugar highly problematic, molasses is far more difficult to dissolve that highly refined crystalline sugar.
Bear
From FB:
Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya
4/1/18
Posting so I have it when I need it...
Sharbat are commonly on the table in the Islamic world.
Records of Ottoman feasts list many possible juices as the basis for a sharāb made similarly to the pomegranate
Barberry
Bitter Orange
Cherry
Date
Lemon
Mulberry
Peach
Pear
Quince
Rose
Rose and lemon
Tamarind
Recipe for lemon syrup in the 13 c. anonymous Andalusian cookbook on David Friedman's (Cariadoc) website:
Syrup of Lemon
Take lemon, after peeling its outer skin, press it and take a ratl of juice, and add as much of sugar. Cook it until it takes the form of a syrup. Its advantages are for the heat of bile; it cuts the thirst and binds the bowels.
And a Lemon-Quince syrup with rose and saffron from another cookbook:
Laimun Safarjalī
One part quince juice and three parts filtered syrup, in both of which you have boiled pieces of quince until nearly done. They are taken up, and the syrup takes it consistency. To every pound of the whole you add two ounces of lemon juice. Then return the pieces of quince; they improve the consistency. It is scented with musk, saffron and rose-water and taken up and used.
(Familiar Foods, p. 442-443, "Medieval Arab Cookery")
Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya
The Ottoman beverages are from books by Stéphane Yerasimos (Á la table du Grand Turc) and Marianna Yerasimos (500 Years of Ottoman Cuisine) ( I don't know if they were related).
They found their information in
- lists of dishes served to Sultan Mehmet II
- account books of the kitchens of the Ottoman palaces
- the Banquet Book of 1539, which documents the circumcision festival for Jihangir and Bayezid, 2 of the sons of Sultan Suleyman
A few are from the 17 c.
- account books of the Ottoman palace kitchens
- the Sohbetname, the diary of the Mevlevi Seyyid Muhammad Efendi
Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya
I have not found SCA-period recipes for Ottoman sherbet. I think for the most part they are made like those in Arabic language cookbooks: equal weights of sugar and juice with a certain amount of water, brought to a boil then simmered until the right consistency.
Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya
There were others, I just picked a few we could make. I have no way to get enough (or any) violets to make the violet sherbet. And I can't get date palm flowers, so I didn't list them.
Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya
Sharbat are the primary beverages. Sharab is the singular.
Jalab is one special kind of sharab. It is not a collective name for all of them. It is a kind with rosewater in it - from the Persian gul = rose and ab = water.
Skanjabeen is another type of sharab; a beverage syrup is only skanjabeen if it has vinegar in it.
From the fb "SCA Cooks" group:
Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya
SCA-period skanjabeen had no mint. Most of the time just wine vinegar, sugar (usually - sometimes honey), and water.
Syrup of Simple Sikanjabin (Oxymel)
from the so-called 13th c. Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook
Take a ratl of strong vinegar and mix it with two ratls of sugar and cook all this until it takes the form of a syrup. Drink a uqiya of this with three of hot water when fasting: it is beneficial for fevers of jaundice, and calms jaundice and cuts the thirst, since sikanjabin syrup is beneficial in phlematic fevers: make it with six uqiyas of sour vinegar for a ratl of honey and it is admirable.
=======
There are medicinal versions with multiple herbs and/or spices, but not to make it taste good - since they are medicinal. Here's one example:
The Description of Familiar Foods, c. 1373
Chapter 12, on Digestive Drinks.
(page 440, Medieval Arab Cookery)
Aqsima [oxymel]
24 dirhams pepper
24 dirhams ginger
rose hips cut from their calyxes
4 dirhams spikenard
4 dirhams betel
4 dirhams cardamom
4 dirhams cloves
4 dirhams mace
20 dirhams mint leaves
120 dirhams sharp wine vinegar
The ingredients which I have mentioned are pounded perfectly well and soaked with the mint in the vinegar for two days. It is made into a syrup with a gentle fire and taken up. When you want to make oxymel, you dissolve sugar in water and squeeze lemons on it and throw in a little rue and macerate it in it. Then throw on it a very little of this syrup. It turns into oxymel right away, and it is used. It is good for the digestion.
=======
And there is a version made with quince juice, from the 13 c. Egyptian "Kanz al-fawa'id fi tanwi' al-mawa'id"
Quince Sikanjubin
One needs the juice from Isfahan quinces or from another delicious and fragrant kind. Take one part [of juice], an equal amount of refined white sugar, and one-quarter of this same amount of strong vinegar, and make a thick syrup from it. If one wishes to add to it thin slices of quince, as the common people do, do this toward the end of the cooking... One may scent it with rosewater in which saffron and musk have been dissolved.
=======
As for using mint, which is modern, the way it is done in Iran is to make the syrup of vinegar and sugar and water. When it is done, take it off the fire, put the fresh mint into the hot syrup - do not cook the herb. When the syrup is cool, remove the mint.
Similarly to mint is this 19th c. Ottoman version
Sikenjebin
from Turabi Efendi's Manual of Turkish Cookery, 1864
Put in a saucepan the white of an egg, well beaten up, three pounds of powdered sugar, and pour in all at once three-quarters of a pint of the best white-wine vinegar; stir it once round with a wooden spoon, set it on a charcoal fire, and boil it for half a minute, then skim and take it off, and instantly put in a small bunch of sweet-marjoram tied up in a piece of muslin, put the cover over the pan, and leave it until cold, then pass it through a clean cloth, bottle and cork it up until wanted. In summer days it is an agreeable and refreshing beverage with cold water.
[the egg white is used to clarify the sugar, and is skimmed out and is not necessary with modern sugar]
<the end>