Sekanjabin (Honey-Vinegar Drink)

BeveragesArabic, 10th centuryal-Warraq, Kitab al-TabikhCrown Hospitality SpreadCurrent project — cooking pending

Original

One of the most popular SCA event beverages. Named in al-Warraq (10th c.) and widely served across the medieval Islamic world. Nasrallah (2007) provides the al-Warraq text. Cariadoc's Miscellany provides a tested redaction that has been made at hundreds of SCA events.

Source: Cariadoc's Miscellany (5 recipes = 25 cups syrup) — pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/islamic_dinner.html

My Redaction

Cariadoc's Miscellany: 4 cups sugar, 2½ cups water — dissolve and bring to boil. Add 1 cup vinegar, simmer 30 min. Cool, add a handful of fresh mint. Dilute to taste with cold water (roughly 1 part syrup to 5–10 parts water).

For hospitality: THE SCA standard event drink. Make syrup weeks ahead. Dilute day-of with cold water and ice. Non-alcoholic, refreshing, sweet-tart. Scales to any quantity. The mint version is most popular.