Kubaneh () is a traditional

Yemenite Jewish Yemenite Jews, also known as Yemeni Jews or Teimanim (from ; ), are a Jewish diaspora group who live, or once lived, in Yemen, and their descendants maintaining their customs. After several waves of persecution, the vast majority of Yemenite J ...

yeast bread that is popular in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. It is traditionally baked overnight to be served for

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...

breakfast. The bread is often served alongside

haminados Haminados, also known as huevos haminados, chaminados, or braised eggs, is a traditional Sephardic Jewish cuisine, Sephardic Jewish dish popular in Israel. These eggs are cooked for a long time, resulting in red-brown whites and darkened yolks. T ...

(eggs that are baked in their shells along with the bread), and grated tomato.

History

Although a Jewish community existed in Yemen for thousands of years, only a very small community of Jews remains in Yemen today. Yemenite Jews traditionally made their kubaneh from either

sorghum ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae, grass genus ''Sorghum (genus), Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain i ...

flour or

cornmeal Maize meal is a meal (coarse flour) ground from dried maize. It is a common staple food and is ground to coarse, medium, and fine consistencies, but it is not as fine as wheat flour can be.Herbst, Sharon, ''Food Lover's Companion'', Third Editi ...

during the regular weekdays, but used wheat flour on Sabbath days and holidays., first published in ''Bat-Teman'' (Heb. "Daughter of Yemen"), edited by Shalom Seri, Tel-Aviv 1993, pp. 97–98 Some would add to the dough either sugar, honey or black cumin. Baking was done in a greased pot, tightly sealed, and left to cook overnight. The kubāneh was eaten the following day while it was still hot, and many of the diners have been known to ask for the ''qaʻeh'' – the hard and oily lower crust, known for its delicate taste. During the winter months, some were known to insert in the kubāneh the fatty-tail of sheep, or some other piece of meat, which was baked overnight along with the dough. This was considered a delicacy and was served to women after childbirth.

Overview

Kubaneh is a Yemenite Jewish bread baked overnight and eaten for breakfast or

brunch Brunch is a meal, often accompanied by "signature morning cocktails" such as mimosas, bloody marys, espresso martinis, and bellinis, taken sometime in the late morning or early afternoon – the universally accepted time is 11am-2pm, though mod ...

. It is baked at a low temperature in a tightly covered container. Ingredients include flour, sugar, salt, and butter (or margarine). Eggs in their shell are sometimes added to the container and served as an accompaniment. Kubaneh is traditionally served with grated tomatoes, or served with

zhug Sahawiq (Yemeni Arabic: , IPA: aħaːwiq, is a hot sauce originating in Yemeni cuisine. In other countries of the Arabian Peninsula it is also called mabooj (), and bisbaas. In Israel, it is commonly known as zhoug or zhug (from Judeo-Yemenit ...

clarified butter Clarified butter is butter from which all milk solids have been removed. The result is a clear, yellow butter that can be heated to higher temperatures before burning. Typically, it is produced by melting butter and allowing the components to ...

, and hot pepper-garlic chutney.

In popular culture

Kubaneh was featured in the popular Israeli television series '' Beauty and the Baker'', as the lead character Amos Dahari, played by

Aviv Alush Avraham Aviv Alush (; born ) is an Israeli actor, musician, model, and television host. He is best known for playing Amos Dahari "The Baker" in the Israeli series ''Beauty and the Baker'' (''Lehiyot Ita''), and as Jesus in the American film ''Th ...

(who himself is of Yemenite and Tunisian Jewish descent) is from a

family.

References

{{Cuisine of Israel Shabbat Israeli breads Mizrahi Jewish cuisine Jewish breads Shabbat food Yemeni breads Yemeni-Jewish culture in Israel

History

Overview

In popular culture

See also

References