sikbaj

English

Etymology

Arabic سِكْبَاج (sikbāj), Middle Persian [script needed] (*sḵbʾk' /⁠*sikbāg⁠/). Doublet of escabeche.

Noun

sikbaj (uncountable)

1. A dish of meat cooked or marinated in vinegar and often also honey, eaten since at least the sixth century and historically popular among Arabs and Persians.
   • 1906, Stanley Lane-Poole, The Thousand and One Nights, page 244:

     He then called out, Boy, bring to us the sikbaj, the like of which is not found among the dishes of Kings!— and, addressing my brother, he said, Eat, O my guest; for thou art hungry, vehemently so, and in absolute want of food.

   • 2014, Tariq Ali, The Islam Quintet: Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree, The Book of Saladin, The Stone Woman, A Sultan in Palermo, and Night of the Golden Butterfly, Open Road Media, →ISBN:

     Even the Kurds with their addiction to grilled meat were forced to admit that the sikbaj they ate that night had been prepared in heaven. A drumroll awoke us next morning.