Sahawiq (

Yemeni Arabic Yemeni Arabic () is a cluster of varieties of Arabic spoken in Yemen and southwestern Saudi Arabia. It is generally considered a very conservative dialect cluster, having many classical features not found across most of the Arabic-speaking world ...

: , IPA: aħaːwiq, is a

hot sauce Hot sauce is a type of condiment, seasoning, or salsa (sauce), salsa made from chili peppers and other ingredients. Many commercial varieties of Mass production, mass-produced hot sauce exist. History Humans have used chili peppers and other ho ...

originating in

Yemeni cuisine Yemeni cuisine is distinct from the wider Middle Eastern cuisines with regional variation. 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 an insult ...

. In other countries of the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

it is also called mabooj (), and bisbaas. In Israel, it is commonly known as zhoug or zhug (from Judeo-Yemenite Arabic or IPA: ħuːq through ),

Etymology and pronunciation

The word ''sahawiq'' aħaːwiq comes from the Arabic root ( s-ḥ-q) which means to pestle or to crush. This makes it a semantically equivalent to

pesto Pesto (), also known as ''pesto alla genovese'' () or ''pesto genovese'', is an Italian paste made with basil leaves, crushed garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, salt, and grated hard cheese such as Parmesan or '' pecorino sardo''. It originated ...

. Formally, it is a plural form. The Hebrew word is pronounced , and not as the English spelling ''zhug'' might suggest.

Varieties

Varieties in Yemen include (green sahawiq), (red sahawiq), and (sahawiq with cheese, usually Yemeni cheese). ''Sahawiq'' is one of the main ingredients of ''

saltah Saltah (Arabic: سلتة) is a traditional Yemeni dish. ''Saltah'' is considered to be the national dish of Yemen. In the Ottoman Empire, ''saltah'' was used as a charitable food and was made with leftover food that was donated by the wealthy or ...

''. ''Wazif'' (traditional Yemeni dried baby sardines) is sometimes added to the ''sahawiqs ingredients and it is known as ''sahawiq wazif'' (). In Israel, one can find ("red zhug"), ("green zhug") and ("brown zhug"), which has added

tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...

es. Red zhug is made with red peppers while green zhug is made with green peppers, or

jalapeño The jalapeño ( , , ) is a medium-sized chili pepper Fruit, pod type cultivar of the species ''Capsicum annuum''. A mature jalapeño chili is long and wide, and hangs down from the plant. The pungency of jalapeño peppers varies, but is usual ...

s. Zhug may be referred to by the generic term (; lit. "hot/spicy"). Also known as zhoug, it is a popular condiment at Israeli

falafel Falafel (; , ) is a deep-fried ball or patty-shaped fritter of Egyptian origin that features in Middle Eastern cuisine, particularly Levantine cuisines. It is made from ground fava beans, chickpeas, or both, and mixed with herbs and spic ...

and

shawarma Shawarma (; ) is a Middle Eastern dish that originated in the Levant during the Ottoman Empire, consisting of meat that is cut into thin slices, stacked in an inverted cone, and roasted on a slow-turning vertical spit. Traditionally made with l ...

stands, and served with

hummus Hummus (, ; , , also spelled hommus or houmous), (full name: Hummus Bi Tahini) is a Levantine cuisine, Levantine Dip (food), dip, spread (food), spread, or savory Dish (food), dish made from cooked, mashed chickpeas blended with tahini, le ...

Preparation

Sahawiq is made from fresh red or green

hot peppers Chili peppers, also spelled chile or chilli ( ), are varieties of berry-fruit plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for their pungency. They are used as a spice to add pungency ( ...

(like bird's eye chillies or, less traditionally, jalapeños) seasoned with

coriander Coriander (), whose leaves are known as cilantro () in the U.S. and parts of Canada, and dhania in parts of South Asia and Africa, is an annual plant, annual herb (''Coriandrum sativum'') in the family Apiaceae. Most people perceive the ...

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...

, salt, black cumin (optional) and parsley, and then mixed with olive oil. Some also add lemon juice, caraway seed,

cardamom Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genus (biology), genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indon ...

, and

black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit (the peppercorn), which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diameter ...

. Traditional Yemeni cooks prepare sahawiq using two stones: a large stone called () used as a work surface and a smaller one called () for crushing the ingredients. Alternative options are a

mortar and pestle A mortar and pestle is a set of two simple tools used to prepare ingredients or substances by compression (physics), crushing and shear force, grinding them into a fine Paste (rheology), paste or powder in the kitchen, laboratory, and pharmacy. ...

or a food processor. Yemenis sometimes add '' Pulicaria jaubertii''. File:Red, Green and Smoked Skhug.jpg, Red, green, and smoked zhug File:Zhug, Skhug.jpg, Skhug and its ingredients File:Jachnun, grated tomato, skhug and a boiled egg.jpg, Jachnun served alongside boiled eggs, grated tomatoes, and zhug

References

{{Condiments Arabic words and phrases Arab cuisine Chili paste Hot sauces Israeli cuisine Middle Eastern cuisine Mizrahi Jewish cuisine Yemeni cuisine Indonesian cuisine

Etymology and pronunciation

Varieties

Preparation

See also

References