"Saja sama whatsis period lemonade"

Welcome back to the kitchen. I apologize for the time between posts, but I'm still working on figuring out what to write while adjusting to a new barony and kingdom. A request from my lord this last week for some of that "saja sama whatsis period lemonade" inspired a flurry of activity in my kitchen, though, and a bit of research, and seemed like a perfect topic to write about.


So, lets back up a bit. At a recent event, one of the drinks provided was Sekanjabin, which I had never heard of until moving here. Wow, was I missing something! Sekanjabin is a drink made with sugar or honey and vinegar, then mixed with water. Cedric drank multiple liters of this at the event, which was important due to the heat.

I was a bit skeptical at first. How could vinegar be good in a drink? Well...American Lemonade is made with lemon juice, sugar and water. Lemon juice and vinegar are both acids...so really, the concept is very similar. Hence, the "period lemonade" reference. It was more accurate than I had realized at the time.

I have now made several batches of various flavors, and am working on various different techniques and proportions for this. The first basic recipe I was given was as follows:

Basic Sekanjabin
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vinegar

In a small saucepan, mix water and sugar over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Simmer gently for 15-30 minutes, then remove from heat and add vinegar. Cool, and add sekanjabin to water, at a ration of 5-10 parts water per part sekanjabin. (Basically, mix it to taste.)

Now, using this basic recipe, you make flavors by adding things to the syrup as it's simmering. I've used fruit and mint, which resulted in a very refreshing drink, and we've also done spices such as cinnamon and cloves. Changing the type of vinegar will affect the flavor, too, and gives endless variety to the options.

Flavor combinations I've done so far include -

 Summer Berry Mint - frozen raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, with fresh mint and good red-wine vinegar

Strawberry Mint - frozen strawberries and fresh mint with cheap red-wine vinegar

Raspberry Peach Mint - frozen peaches with a few raspberries, fresh mint, cider vinegar

Spiced - Cinnamon stick, whole cloves, nutmeg, ginger and cider vinegar

After playing with these a bit, I started thinking and doing a bit more research. Knowing that refined sugar like we have today wasn't as readily available in period, I looked for the historical recipe. The ones I've found includes honey and vinegar mixed at a two to one ratio.  Here's a link to both an anglo-saxon and an arabic recipe for, essentially, the same drink, just called different things.

I made a batch yesterday using honey and apple cider vinegar, spiced with a cinnamon stick and some cloves. Mixed into water, it was vaguely reminiscent of spiced cider. (Well, of course it would be!) Cedric prefers the spiced versions, I prefer the mint. The kids don't seem to be too particular.

Right now we have two camping events coming up where we are expecting hot weather - Great Northeastern War followed closely by Pensic. Playing with recipes should give me plenty of syrup to keep us all hydrated. For climates and events where hydration isn't such an issue, though, I think that a sekanjabin flavored to complement a feast would be a nice touch. It's something I hope to be able to try soon.

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Update:

First, I think I forgot to mention that Sekanjabin is Shelf-Stable. You don't need to refrigerate the mix. If you add fruit, it is less stable, but should still be ok for a couple weeks (if you haven't drunk it all by then.)

Second, I forgot to mention that you do strain the herbs/fruit out of the mix before storing.

Next - I've been working with more closely period versions of this. Specifically, using honey instead of water and refined sugar. I've had fairly decent results so far, but I'm still working on it. I also want to try using Demara sugar, as a less-refined sugar, but I haven't gotten there yet.

Spiced Honey Cider Oxymel

Two parts Honey, one part apple cider vinegar with a cinnamon stick and some cloves. Tasted a bit like spiced cider when mixed with water.

Blackberry Mint Oxymel

Two parts Honey, one part apple cider vinegar with fresh blackberries (couldn't find frozen) and fresh mint.  Based on the idea that blackberry brambles and mint grow/grew all over the place in England, and have since Anglo-Saxon times. Not as sweet as the original berry-mint I made with refined sugar, but more period and healthier in general.

Spiced honey wine Sekanjabin

Two parts Honey, one part good red-wine vinegar with a cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, and a few cloves. Pretty good, but I'm still adjusting to the flavor of this one. Would likely be good hot, or to accompany a feast. I think it would be good with some currants or dates boiled in with it as well. This was based more on the idea of what would be available in the arabic regions, hence the change from "Oxymel" to "Sekanjabin" in the name.