Yemeni cuisine

Yemeni cuisine is distinct from the wider Middle Eastern cuisines, but with a degree of regional variation. Although some foreign influences are evident in some regions of the country (with Ottoman influences showing in Sanaa, while Indian influence is evident in the southern areas around Aden and Mukalla), the Yemeni kitchen is based on similar foundations across the country.

Customs

The generous offering of food to guests is one of the customs in Yemeni culture, and a guest not accepting the offering is considered as an insult. Meals are typically consumed while sitting on the floor or ground. Unlike the tradition in most Arab countries, lunch is the main meal of the day in Yemen, not dinner.

Food preparation

In Yemen, many kitchens have a ''tandoor'' (also called ''tannur''), which is a round clay oven.

Fruits and vegetables

Tomatoes, onions, and potatoes are some of the staple fruits and vegetables in Yemen.

Meat and dairy

Chicken, goat, and lamb are the staple meats in Yemen. They are eaten more often than beef. Fish is also eaten, especially in the coastal areas.

Cheese, butter, and other dairy products are less common in the Yemeni diet. Buttermilk, however, is enjoyed almost daily in some villages where it is most available. The most commonly used fats are vegetable oil and ghee used in savory dishes, while clarified butter, known as '' semn'' (سمن), is the choice of fat used in pastries.

Pork consumption is forbidden to Muslims in Yemen, in accordance with Islamic dietary laws.

Legumes

Broad beans are used in Yemeni dishes, such as bean salad. Lentils are also used in dishes such as stews.

Yemeni dishes

Breakfast dishes

Yemeni people prefer to have warm dishes in the morning. Typically, the meal would often consist of different types of pastries with a cup of Yemeni coffee or tea.

A more hearty meal would often include legumes, eggs, or even roasted meat or kebab, which is usually served with a type of bread either aside or as a sandwich. People in Yemen also make a breakfast dish that is made from lamb or beef liver, which is considered a bizarre delicacy to non-Yemenis.

Dishes common at breakfast include '' fattah'', '' fatoot'', ''ful medames'', '' mutabbaq'', and '' shakshouka''.

Lunch dishes

Unlike most countries, lunch is the main meal of the day in Yemen, not dinner. The largest amount of meat, poultry, and grains are consumed at lunch.

Dishes common at lunch include:
* '' Aseed''—a dish made from a cooked wheat-flour lump of dough, sometimes with added butter or honey
* ''Fahsa''—a Yemeni stew made from lamb cutlets with lamb broth

* '' Fattah''—a dish made with pieces of fresh, toasted, grilled, or stale flatbread covered with other ingredients
* '' Haneeth''—a slow-roasted lamb dish cooked in a ''tannour'' with a spice rub, usually served on a plate of rice
* '' Harees''—boiled, cracked, or coarsely ground wheat, mixed with meat and seasoned

* '' Jachnun''—a Yemenite Jewish pastry, traditionally served on Shabbat morning
* '' Kabsa''—a mixed rice dish, served on a communal platter
* ''Komroh''—made with fava beans, garlic, ghee, black pepper, and salt
* ''Mandi''—meat and rice with a special blend of spices, cooked in a pit underground
* ''Samak mofa''
* '' Shafut''— typically made with ''lahoh'' (a sourdough flatbread) or shredded bread, ''hakeen'' (traditional buttermilk) or yogurt, ''zhug'', and leek
*''Shawiyah''
* '' Thareed''—pieces of bread in a vegetable or meat broth
* ''Zurbiyan''—a dish made with lamb, rice, and saffron

National dish

After Yemen united in 1990, both North and South Yemen had similar cuisines. Despite its regional variations, ''saltah'' is considered to be the national dish of Yemen. The most common dishes consumed all over Yemen are made with rice and lamb.

There are many ways of preparing lamb in Yemen. In general though, the lamb is usually bone-in large chunks. It can be boiled in its broth and called '' maraq'', it can be roasted in an oven like '' haneeth'', or underground like ''mandi''.

Yemeni bread varieties

Breads are an integral part of Yemeni cuisine, most of which are prepared from local grains. Unleavened flatbreads are common. ''Ṣalūf'', a flatbread made from wheat flour, is the most common of all breadstuffs. The dough is allowed to ferment with ''ḫamīrah'', while some would baste the surface of the dough with a prepared batch of unseasoned fenugreek (''ḥilba'') prior to baking. These were almost always baked at home in an earthenware oven called '' tannour'' (تنور) in Arabic, the size of each bread roughly being in thickness with a diameter of to .

''Khobz al tawa'', ', ''malooga'', ''kader'', '' kubane'', '' fateer'', ''kudam'', ''oshar'', ''khameer'', and ''mulawah'' are also popular breads eaten in Yemen. ''Malooj'', ''khubz'', and ''khamir'' are popular homemade breads. Store-bought pita bread and ''roti'' (bread rolls like French bread) are also common.

Other Yemeni grain dishes

* '' ʻAṣīṭ''—sorghum meal, cornmeal, or green barley meal made into a thick paste after being boiled in water. Before eating, ''samneh'' or oil is added. Some eat ''ʻaṣīṭ'' during the afternoon meal (usually scooped up with one's fingers), where soup and meat are served, while others place it in the soup, along with '' ḥilba'' ("fenugreek dollop").
* '' Harīš''—a thick dish (groats), made with cracked wheat, – of the kernel's full size, known collectively as ''ğašūš''. There are some who add ''samneh'' (clarified butter), honey or sugar to ''harīš''.

:In Yemen, ''harīš'' is usually eaten on cold winter mornings, and, because of perceived health benefits, is given to women during the first weeks after childbirth, also to the infirm, the weak, and the frail.

:Similarly, ''harīs'' is a thick grain dish (groats), made with broken wheat, rice, lentils or beans, pre-cooked in water with an added fatty portion of meat or bone marrow, along with vegetables—spring onions (scallions), garlic, tomatoes, and more.

* ''Maṭīṭ''—a thin, farinaceous dish (porridge), made with ground wheat or barley (''maṭīṭ šiʻīr''), drunk with ''samneh'', and occasionally with grated onions or sweet marjoram, which gives it a bitter taste.Avshalom Mizrachi, ''The Yemenite Cuisine'', first published in ''Bat-Teman'' (Heb. "Daughter of Yemen"), edited by Shalom Seri, Tel-Aviv 1993, p. 99 (Hebrew)
* ''Našūf''—a thin, grain-based dish (porridge), made with broken wheat, cooked with either ''samneh'', sugar or honey, and sipped from a bowl, usually for breakfast. Villagers cook ''našūf'' with sour milk, adding '' zḥug'' (a hot cayenne-pepper sauce) for added flavoring, a dish known locally as ''našūf ʻalā zūm''.

Spices

A spice mixture known as '' hawaij'' is employed in many Yemeni dishes. ''Hawaij'' includes aniseeds, fennel seeds, ginger, and cardamom.

Yemeni cuisine is often prepared hot and spicy with the use of chili peppers, cumin