Sekanjabin

Sekanjabin, also known as Oxymel, is a beverage traditionally made from honey, fermented vinegar, water and various fruits and herbs. The name ‘Sekanjabin’ is an Arabised version of the original Persian term serkangebin, a combination of the Persian words ‘serkeh’ (vinegar) and ‘angebin’ (syrup/sweetness) and literally means ‘honeyed vinegar’.

Sekanjabin was considered initially as a medicinal drink and has been used by many of the great physicians since early times – such as Hippocrates, Galen and Avicenna. There are almost 1200 types of sekanjabin described in the Persian pharmaceutical manuscripts, such as Qanoon-fel-teb (The Canon) by Ebn-e-Sina, (aka Avicenna, AD 980-1037), Keteb-al-Hawi (Continents) by Ra^zi’s (AD 860-940), and Zakhireh Kharazmshahi by Esmail Jorjani (AD 1042-1136).

Main Components/Ingredients

Honey – honey is a naturally occurring food with superb health benefits that are still used today. Honey has been used for centuries as a therapeutic antioxidant and used to treat cough, fever, asthma, wound healing, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, antiviral and as an antidiabetic.

Vinegar – vinegar was first recorded by the Babylonians and residues have been found in urns in Egypt, as well as being recorded in some texts in China (1200 BCE) and ancient Greece and Rome (400 BCE). Vinegar has been used in remedies due to its bioactive components which determine its antimicrobial, antidiabetic, cholesterol-lowering responses, antioxidative, anti-obesity, antitumor and antihypertensive effects.

Herbs – Herbs were frequently added due to their associated health claims and beneficial properties, as well as a flavouring to food and beverages.

 

Original Preparation

Sekanjabin is prepared traditionally by boiling equal amounts of honey and vinegar on low heat for 15 minutes. The following excerpt is from a translation of The Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook.

 Syrup of Simple Sekanjabin (Vinegar Syrup)
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 ûqiya and a half of this with three of hot water.

- A ratl was a dry measurement that was between 300 grams (8^th Century) and 450 grams (12^th Century).
- A ûqiya or uqiyah is around 37.5 grams.

Redaction

500ml         White Wine Vinegar
1kg             White sugar
½ Cup        Water

- Mix the sugar and water in a large pot over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.
- Add the vinegar, stirring whilst pouring and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer for around 10-15 minutes. Skim if necessary and turn off the heat.
- Once cool, bottle and store. This should make around 1 litre of Sekanjabin, depending on how long you simmer it for. 

Serving:
To serve, the syrup is diluted in either hot or cold water at 1:12 ratio of syrup to water.

Changes made:
Changes were made for the weights from the original recipe due to wanting to make the recipe simple and reduce the need for measuring.

 

Adaptations:

I have spent the last year or so attempting different methods to add flavour. Traditionally mint has been used as a flavouring, and another adaptation I have seen/used is from Thomasina Coke, who uses Mistress Adrienne’s redaction for Lemon Sekanjabin.

Mistress Adrienne’s Lemon Sekanjabin:
4 cups     Raw sugar or your choice
1 cup       Water
2 cups     Lemon juice
2 cups     White wine vinegar or your choice
1 cup      Grated lemon peel, or slithers of peel without the pith

- This should make about a litre, depending on how long and hard you boil it
- Dissolve the sugar in the water over low heat, add the vinegar, bring to a rolling boil, skim if necessary, and leave boiling for about 15-20 minutes.
- Switch off heat, add the lemon peel, stir well, then add the lemon juice and stir again. Cover and leave to cool for several hours (overnight works well). Strain and bottle. 

I normally leave the peel in the syrup for up to 1 month before removing, as it will infuse more flavour into the syrup over time. Although lemon sekanjabin does not normally last long in my house for it to be removed.

Mint Sekanjabin

500ml     White Wine Vinegar
1kg         White sugar
½ Cup     Water
½ Cup     Fresh mint, chopped

- Follow the same steps as the original redaction, up until you turn off the heat.
- When you turn off the heat, add the chopped mint and allow to cool.
- Once cool, remove the mint and bottle.
- Or alternatively for a stronger flavour allow the mint to sit in the syrup for up to 2-4 weeks before straining and bottling.

If you can get your hands on around a ½ cup of Chocolate Mint leaves, use these in place of normal mint and you will have a subtle chocolate mint syrup.

Infused Sekanjabin’s

I have used an alternative method to infuse flavours into sekanjabin. I have used the following method to make the following berry flavoured sekanjabins.

- Blackberry                         - Blueberry                         - Boysenberry
- Cherry                               - Lavender                          - Raspberry
- Strawberry                       - Tayberry

 

For this version I have doubled the original recipe so I can give out as gifts or consume at home and will generally last our family a year before needing to do another batch. This will make around 2 Litres of Sekanjabin.

Choose from:

340g    Blueberries
275g    Brambleberries/Blackberries
275g    Boysenberries
275g    Cherries, halved and pitted
275g    Raspberries
275g    Tayberries
500g    Strawberries, hulled and sliced in half
40g      Fresh Lavender

1 Litre White Wine Vinegar
2 kg     White Sugar
1/2 C   Water

Take your chosen berry and gently wash and if you would like you can cut if you wish, and put in an airtight glass jar with the White Wine Vinegar for 1 month.

After one month, strain out the berries and reserve the liquid. You can discard the berries.

In a large pot on the stove, mix the sugar and the water over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Add the infused vinegar, stirring whilst pouring and bring to a boil. Once boiling, allow to simmer and reduce for 10-15 minutes. Skim if necessary and turn off the heat. Allow to cool then bottle.

Even Simpler Measures

If you don’t want to be as specific in weight or don’t pick your own berries, you can use the following ratio for store bought berries:

1 punnet berries : 500ml white wine vinegar : 1kg white sugar : ½ Cup water

Use the same method as above.


Note: If using store bought berries a punnet is generally:
250g strawberry
125g Blackberry/raspberry
170g Blueberry

 

 

References:

Orhan, H.İ., Yılmaz, İ. & Tekiner, İ.H. Maulana and sekanjabin (oxymel): a ceremonial relationship with gastronomic and health perspectives. J. Ethn. Food 9, 12 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42779-022-00127-6

Abbas A, Ghozy S, Minh L, Hashan M, Soliman A, Van N, et al. Honey in bronchial asthma: from folk tales to scientifc facts. J Med Food. 2019;22(6):543–50.

Ahmed S, Sulaiman S, Baig A, Ibrahim M, Liaqat S, Fatima S, et al. Honey as a potential natural antioxidant medicine: an insight into its molecular mechanisms of action. Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2018;2018:1–19.

Coke, Thomasina, https://thomasinacoke.wordpress.com/2018/07/21/sekanjabin/

Kordafshari G, Kenari H, Esfahani M, Ardakani M, Keshavarz M, Nazem E, et al. Nutritional aspects to prevent heart diseases in traditional persian medicine. J Evid Based Complement Altern Med. 2014;20(1):57–64

Manuscrito Anonimo (13th c. Andalusian.) An Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook of the Thirteenth Century, a translation by Charles Perry of the Arabic edition of Ambrosio Huici Miranda with the assistance of an English translation by Elise Fleming, Stephen Bloch, Habib ibn al-Andalusi and Janet Hinson of the Spanish translation by Ambrosio Huici Miranda, published in full in the 5th edition of volume II of the cookbook collection.

Measuring the Medieval Islamic Economy, Western Social Science,  Weights and Measures, Various Sources, https://medievalislamiceconomy.uwo.ca/measures/Weights-Measures-Various-Sources.xlsx

Nimrouzi M, Abolghasemi J, Sharif M, Nasiri K, Akbari A. Thyme oxymel by improving of infammation, oxidative stress, dyslipidemia and homeostasis of some trace elements ameliorates obesity induced by high-fructose/ fat diet in male rat. Biomed Pharmacother. 2020;126:110079

Orhan, H.İ., Yılmaz, İ. & Tekiner, İ.H. Maulana and sekanjabin (oxymel): a ceremonial relationship with gastronomic and health perspectives. J. Ethn. Food 9, 12 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42779-022-00127-6