#sekanjabin

[ryeoduibggeannain]

I made sekanjabin today!

and put together an oil lamp with the float kit I got at pennsic. I hope I find the wire and other kit I got, I wanna make one to go outside sooo badly.

the sekanjabin turned out perfectly - especially for it being my first go at it. this is definitely gonna be a staple in my house from now on considering how easy it is to make. i used wildflower honey, apple cider vinegar, and fresh mint + rosemary for flavor.

[eflornithinevaniqa]

Sekanjabin Iranian Mint Vinegar Syrup The traditional Iranian mint-vinegar drink, Sekanjabin, made with honey and mint, is wonderfully refreshing on a hot summer. 5 cups water, 8 cups orange blossom honey, 12 large sprigs fresh mint, 2 cups white wine vinegar

[ydavboulogne]

I think this moved past syrup stage

[romilography]

Strawberry, Ginger and Mint Sekanjabin Based on an old Persian recipe, this soft drink syrup lasts practically forever with no special maintenance. Excellent for camping and incredibly cool on a hot day!

[dduane]

I'm trying the honey candied apples recipe from cooking in the middle kingdoms and I definitely boiled the apples too long. But I'm gonna plow ahead anyway and so the apples are in a quart mason jar and fingers crossed that they make it intact through the process. BUT anyway I was going to use the honey leftover after to make some sekanjabin/ shrub... just boil it with some vinegar and figs and mint and ginger and see what happens. I've never made any of these things before so we'll see (having 3-4 cups of honey serve double duty got me over the motivation hump to try these new recipes)

Do you have any suggestions with what to do with the honey mixture after you boil it down and remove the apples?

I’d be tempted to make a spiced sponge or yellow cake of some kind*, and then soak the cake with it.

(For those interested, the recipe in question is here.)

*ETA: possibly also flavored with orange zest and maybe some long pepper.

[sca-nerd]

favorite sekanjabin

I grew up on the classic cold mint and apple cider, but I know some people will use different vinegar and will also add other stuff. What's your favorite and do you drink it hot or cold?

My sister and I are now on a mission to find a couple of combinations for a thing we're doing in our household, so I need your recommendations. Yes, I realize I can just google suggestions, but that's not what I want. I want to know what YOU personally have tried and liked and recommend.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, BOY HAVE I GOT A TREAT FOR YOU.

[tired-reader-writer]

So in chapter 2 of my fic Winds of Wolfsong I was originally going to go much more in-depth with Nowruz, the new-year celebration, what with food and all, I even collected notes.

However, I did not actually end up including a lot of the stuff in the chapter itself, most of it didn't even end up being written into the first draft. I was gonna figure out the incorporation of symbolism as I wrote, which didn't end up happening, whoops.

But I gathered notes, they'll probably come into use in the future and hey, y'all might be interested and find some use out of those too.

Sizdah Bedar (Persian: سیزده‌بدر – sīzdah bedar), (lit. 'Thirteen outdoor') also known as Nature's Day (روز طبیعت – rūz-e tabī'at), is an Iranian festival held annually on the thirteenth day of Farvardin, the first month of the Iranian calendar (and the first month of spring, during which people spend time picnicking outdoors. It marks the end of the Nowruz holidays in Iran.

This actually made it into the fic, what with the little family going out for a picnic in the morning, though they did the actually get to have the picnic due to... stuff happening. Isfan says:

Today is the thirteenth of the new year, the last of Nowruz, the second one without Lady Jahanara.

So... yeah!

A custom performed at the end of the picnic is to throw the sprouted greens (سبزه – Sabze) that were part of the traditional Haft-Seen Nowruz display into moving water.

In the chapter Isfan says:

They would cast the Sabzeh sprouts in this stream afterwards, all of them, together.

It is actually customs for young people to knot the sprouts together if they're wishing for marriage partners, it didn't get mentioned in the chapter because nobody was looking for a marriage at the moment. Shapur is resolute to not wed, the kids are too young, Sanira and Behnam are married to each other.

Sekanjabin (Persian: سکنجبین), one of the oldest Iranian drinks, is made of honey and vinegar. Sekanjabin is usually served in summer. It is sometimes seasoned with mint. It is very popular in summer, but it is also an inseparable part of Sizdah Bedar. Iranians eat lettuce with Sekanjabin. This act is symbolically a promise to stay healthy during the New Year. Sekanjabin is a compound of سرکه serke "vinegar" and انگبین angabin "honey".

I at the very least wanted to include Sekanjabin buuuuuut I couldn't find the space. Oh well, it'll have to be put in cryosleep for future use.

Ash-e doogh, (Persian: آش دوغ), also known as "yoghurt soup", originates from the Azeri region of northwest Iran and is one of the traditional soups of Ardabil. It is a common dish found in many regions and cultures within West Asia, including Iran, Azerbaijan, and Turkey. Ash-e doogh is a soup usually made with yogurt or doogh, as well as different kind of herbs (such as coriander, leek, tarragon, mint, and parsley), vegetables (such as spinach, purslane, chickpeas, peas, onion and garlic), lamb meatballs, eggs, rice, salt and several types of spices. Fried mint with oil (and sometimes garlic) is used as a topping for the soup. This soup can be made vegetarian.

Doesn't have much of a symbolic thing going on, just collected in case I may need it.

One of the most common foods cooked on the occasion of Nowruz is Samanu (Samanak, Somank, Somalek). This food is prepared using wheat germ. In most countries that celebrate Nowruz, this food is cooked. In some countries, cooking this food is associated with certain rituals. Women and girls in different parts of Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan cook Samanu in groups and sometimes during the night, and when cooking it, they sing memorable songs.

Samanu did actually make it... into a discarded draft. I ended up erasing the sentence and I can't find it again but it was just a passing mention of the brothers having it with bread for breakfast. Samanu does have a symbolic meaning, especially associated with Nowruz, as it is one of the seven items placed on the Haft-sīn table during the celebration.

The Haft-Seen table is composed of “haft” (or seven) essential symbols that represent nature, and “sin” which may have been shortened from “sini” (or trays), which held these essential symbols. The symbols break down into three from the material world (or “donyaheh mahdoodiat”), three from the immaterial world (or “donayeh maanah”) — this is the world of meaning and ideas — and one symbol that sits between and ties these two worlds together.

×

By tradition, Iranian families take great pains to create the most beautiful Haft-Seen table that they can, for not only does it embody values both traditional and spiritual, it is also appreciated by the visitors during Nowruz visiting exchanges as a reflection of the families' aesthetic sense and good taste.

×

Typically, before the arrival of Nowruz, family members gather around the Haft-sin table and await the exact moment of the March equinox to celebrate the New Year. The number 7 and the letter S are related to the seven Ameshasepantas as mentioned in the Zend-Avesta. They relate to the four elements of Fire, Earth, Air, Water, and the three life forms of Humans, Animals and Plants. In modern times, the explanation was simplified to mean that the Haft-sin (Persian: هفت‌سین, seven things beginning with the letter sin (س)) are: • Sabze/Sabzeh (Persian: سبزه), Sprouting/Grass – wheat, barley, mung bean, or lentil sprouts grown in a dish, the symbol of rebirth and growth. • Samanu (Persian: سمنو) – sweet pudding made from wheat germ, the symbol of power and strength. • Senjed (Persian: سنجد) – Persian olive, the symbol of love. • Serke/Serkeh (Persian: سرکه) – vinegar, the symbol of patience. • Sib/Seeb (Persian: سیب) – apple, the symbol of beauty. • Sīr/Seer (Persian: سیر) – garlic, the symbol of health and medicine. • Somāq/Somagh (Persian: سماق) – sumac, the symbol of sunrise.

Man, reading the notes again, I wish I could've found a way to incorporate this but oh well, no use lamenting over it now. I'm sure I'll find some use of it in the future.

But they're not the only items on the Haft-sīn table.

Items that don't start with "س" but, nonetheless, are invariably included: • Tokhm-e Morg Rangi (تخم‌مرغ رنگی): Eggs, the symbol of fertility. • Ayina (آینه): Mirror, the symbol of self-reflection. • Shem'a (شمع): Candle, the symbol of enlightenment. • Maahi-ye Qırmız (ماهی قرمز): Goldfish, the symbol of progress. • Ketaab (کتاب): Book, the symbol of wisdom.

I'm less bummed about those because I wasn't determined to include them anyways but here they are nonetheless!

I don't know when they'd take down the Haft-sīn table, if they would've taken it down yet, so I may be able to squeeze some use out of it yet. We'll see.

@innerchorus You said you were interested so here ya go!

[frannyzooey]

Kelly!! I’m going to NY for an extended work trip and my mind is SPINNING thinking about walking around the same places birdie and ez are, the nyc magic, feeling the love in the springtime air 🥹 I can’t remember but do you have a post sharing all the locations you mentioned or thought of while writing? Would love to walk in their footsteps 💕

omgomgomgomg — you are living my DREAM 😍 I’ve often daydreamed about going back and taking a sort of “In The Dark” tour

Here is the official In The Dark Guide:

Chapter One:

NYU (Cee and Birdie's college)

The Guggenheim (Birdie's dream museum)

The Bean (the coffeeshop where Birdie and Cee eat lunch together for the first time)

Chelsea (the neighborhood Ezra's brownstone is in)

Chapter Four:

Chelsea Farmer’s Market

Strand Books (bookstore where Ezra corners Birdie)

Chapter Five:

Brighton Beach (neighborhood where Ezra scouts antiques)

Tribeca, Greenwich Village, West Harlem, Midtown (all neighborhoods)

Chapter Six:

Sofreh (Persian restaurant where Ezra celebrates his birthday, and drinks their signature cocktail: a Sekanjabin Martini)

Breads Bakery (French lunch stand in Bryant Park)

Chapter Seven:

The Library (punk bar in East Village)

Chapter Eight:

Central Park, the section along 59th and 6th, The Museum of Modern Art and La Bonne Soup (Ezra and Birdie's date weekend)

Chapter Nine:

The New York Public Library, East Wing (where Cee hides after finding out)

Chapter Ten:

The Museum of Modern Art (specifically the painting, The Dream by Henri Rousseau, which is actually also Pedro's favorite and he used to visit it a lot when he lived in NYC). Inside the museum, there is a section of windows that face a courtyard and that was where Ezra was pacing during his phone call with Birdie.

Chapter Eleven:

Hudson River Park, between 100th-125th St (cherry blossom lined paths where Ezra and Birdie walk)

The High Line (they also take walks here, you should def check this out)

Chapter Twelve:

NoMo SoHo (hotel where Ezra and Birdie spend their last night - it's gorgeous)

I think that's everything! A lot of the inspiration for this story came from just walking around the city with @krissology - the graffiti, the sounds, the endless streams of people, the architecture, the train, etc. A lot of the photos I used in my moodboards for this story were taken directly from my camera roll. ❤

If you end up going to any of these places, let me know!! I wish I could come with you and I hope you have a ton of fun! ❤

[adelza]

A Taste of Gold and Iron

Y'all I DO NOT normally write original posts-but I am reading the aforementioned book by Alexandra Rowland and MY GOD-this is not a slow burn-this is barbecue thats been picking up smoke and flavor for the last....nine hours of audiobook and i am loving it!!

Like seriously-no spoilers but as of half way through the book I am cackling like a mad woman at Eomere's very very type A 'I'll keep all here and then I'll die' coping mechanisms hitting a critical failure moment-he is trying so hard and failing so miserably

If you are a fan of two very otherwise compentent and clever people being absolute morons when it comes to romance, world building so interesting I have dug up and made recipes out of drinks mentioned off hand-its fantasy Ottoman empire!! My Daevabad obsessed brain is so happy to be running around in this environment-(The one spoiler I will give is that Persian Mint Lemonade/Sharbat Sekanjabin is a core memory and quasi meet cute for the two leads? And I can verify is delicious)

Seriously if you want loved City of Brass and are a fan of politics/mystery acting as a fanastic counterbalance to a queer romance go find this book! (It's on libby for one thing)

[wiltedrosebouquet]

yall im so vehemently overwhelmed. so fucking overwhelmed. lemme just.

my only irl partner is moving states at the end of the month so we’re going back to all ldrs. fucking blows.

tomorrow is a smaller scale weekly event we usually go to that we’ve skipped the last two weeks bc of not feeling up to it. don’t really feel up to it again but are gonna feel worse if we don’t go.

said event is having a potluck so we have to make some sekanjabin to bring

i was invited to perform at a benefit event again (cool) but i will not be playing guitar because we royally fucked up last time due to having too little time to prepare. potentially debuting with drag (also cool) but have no fucking clue where to even start with the costuming and choreography

also that benefit event is less than 2 weeks away

irl partner finishes college + their internship next week and we’re going to the ren faire

please make like four physical roses there is too much shit to deal with

[shrapnelstars]

Sekanjabin is good. I'm having one that is made with mint and chili instead of mint and vinegar. This is making me want Jal-jeera again.

[kennedyjustus]

Asian - Strawberry, Ginger and Mint Sekanjabin Based on an old Persian recipe, this soft drink syrup lasts practically forever with no special maintenance. Excellent for camping and incredibly cool on a hot day!

[phandroids]

Cuisine - Ginger Sekanjabin Recipe

Sekanjabin is a refreshing Persian drink. This recipe makes a ginger-flavored syrup which, when stirred into water, makes a spicy, refreshing soft drink.

[gadisoktober]

Ginger Sekanjabin Sekanjabin is a refreshing Persian drink. This recipe makes a ginger-flavored syrup which, when stirred into water, makes a spicy, refreshing soft drink.

[din-o-pia]

Strawberry, Ginger and Mint Sekanjabin Recipe

Based on an old Persian recipe, this soft drink syrup lasts practically forever with no special maintenance. Excellent for camping and incredibly cool on a hot day!

[dogstarblues]

things i accomplished (this is a HUGE anomaly like i havent gotten this much done since last july) no particular order

1. made a cake with rose cardamom syrup and vegan buttercream

2. cooked breakfast

3. prepped and cooked lunch and dinner

4. a load of laundry

5. three loads of dishes

6. showered

7. rearranged the pots and pans cabinet

8. washed my face

9. washed my hair

10. dressed in real clothes

11. got gas

12. went to the bank

13. walked my dog

14. finished the amount i was supposed to read for book club

15. got two more chapters into Southern Book Club

16. made sekanjabin

17. wrote poetry