Traditional Yemeni food

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Traditional Yemeni food

Traditional Yemeni food is very simple and always prepared with fresh ingredients. Although it differs from one region to another, basic dishes are similar and often include bread, rice, vegetables, beans, chicken, beef and lamb. These are rich in spices -though not fiery- and low in fats and sugars. Most Yemeni families continue to prepare their traditional food, believing in its nutritional and health benefits.

Um Ali, mother of seven boys, said that she takes pride in that she raises her boys on Yemeni traditional food such as salta [meat broth], bint al sahn [bread eaten with honey], shafout [bread soaked in yoghurt with coriander], fatta [bread soaked in milk, broth and honey], break [bread stuffed with egg and meat], nashoof [bread with bulgur wheat, milk and yoghurt], aseed [porridge] and traditional Yemeni bread.

"There are a lot of nutritional benefits in Yemeni food, I don’t serve lunch without fresh salad and it has a lot of vitamins, moreover the salta has a lot of protein and starches because it includes meat, coriander, mint and fenugreek,” Um Ali said.



To each region its dishes

Although salta, a meat broth topped with fenugreek, is eaten all over the country, it is believed to have first been prepared over a hot furnace in Sana’a.

In South Yemen, especially in the coastal towns of Aden and Hodeidah, fish is *****d in a unique and delicious way. Tafaya is a dish *****d using tomatoes and red Aden chilies.

Another dish consists of rice, fried fish and fried potato, displayed in layers and sprinkled with spices.

Yemenis all over the country like to drink meat or chicken broth, which is nutritious and very healthy. Seasoned with black pepper and lemon juice, it helps the body defend itself against flu.

Food for different times of the day

A typical Yemeni breakfast consists of fool [a stew with brown beans, tomato, onion and chili], fried eggs with onion and tomatoes or liver *****d with spices. Yemenis usually eat them with a large pancake-like bread, made from wheat flour, sometimes covered with black sesame seeds.

Lunch is the main Yemeni meal and is served between 11:00 and 13:30, or even as late as 14:00 or 15:00. The national dish that is usually served for lunch is a thick, fiery, spicy green stew called salta that consists of lamb or chicken with lentils, beans, chickpeas, coriander, fenugreek and some other spices. In the northern part of Yemen, you can find fatta, a dish made from dry bread soaked in honey, broth or milk.

Dinner is always important for Yemenis but for those who are not looking to gain weight, dinner is usually a light meal, consisting for example of an egg or cheese.

Yemenis everyday refreshment of choice is red tea, drunk from small glasses at every occasion. It is usually very sweet. There's more than one way to make tea, and how you make it depends on which part of the country you're in.

There are two kinds of tea: the one prepared with or without milk.

Yemenis drink two kinds of coffee, one is prepared from coffee beans and it is called bun. A more common drink is qishr or qahwa which is prepared from coffee bean ****ls, cinnamon and ginger.



Tinned goods and the rise of fast food

Although tinned food is much easier to prepare, Yemeni housewives nowadays still prefer fresh ingredients in the traditional dishes they prepare.

Amina Ahmed prefers to feed her two children on bint al-sahn, a sweet bread made with eggs, flour and ghee, because of its high nutritional value. She also makes shafout, a thin bread with milk, fresh mint and coriander, for the calcium.

"I don’t know how to cook traditional Yemeni food, although I like it so much,” Aliya, mother of a girl and two boys said, “All I can cook is rice with meat and sambosa.”

Fast food restaurants are becoming more and more common in Yemen, especially in Sana'a, and increasingly more Yemenis prefer fast food although it is not the healthy option.

"I love burgers and roast chicken,” said Hanan Abdulkhaliq, 22, student at Sana'a University. “I know it will make me fat but I don’t know how to cook and I don’t have time to cook either."



Nutritionists approve of salta

“There are different kinds of traditional food in Yemen,” said Dr. Dhekra Al-Nuzaili, nutrition officer at UNICEF. “Salta, popular in the north of Yemen, contains vitamins A and C as well as protein, and is easy to digest.”

"It's important to mention that food loses its nutritional value when over*****d,” she added. “It's supposed to be crunchy just like Chinese and Japanese food, but that only for the vegetables; meat and chicken should be well-*****d because they can contain a lot of parasites."

"Fast food is harmful according to international medical reports, especially in Yemen where they reuse oil, which it harmful to the liver,” added Dr. Al-Nuzaili. “There is not enough supervision [in fast food restaurants], so imagine how many parasites and how much bacteria can be transmitted to our body."

Najeeb Abdulbaghi, a nutrition expert at the Ministry of Health, said that globally a daily diet contains 75 percent of carbohydrates. In Yemen, most meals include starches, especially in aseed, fatta, shafout, rice, potato and bint al-sahn.

"Only salta has different nutritional value as it contains protein and vegetables,” he added. “But sadly, Yemenis rarely eat salad and vegetables in general, especially in the countryside where they are unaware of importance of vegetables and fruit in boosting a body’s immunity," he said.

"My advice for Yemenis is to eat the traditional kedma [a type of bread], not only because it contains different grains but also because it is eaten with raw fresh vegetables,” he concluded. “If it's hard to eat them raw, you can parboil them.”



Yemeni ingredients

Wheat, contained in ma’souba and aseed, contains manganese and magnesium in very large quantities, and is rich in zinc, copper, iron and potassium. It is a great source of vitamin B6 -a vitamin found to cut risks of Parkinson’s disease by up to a half- and has a high nutritional value. When consumed, whole wheat contributes to a healthy metabolism, and has been found to prevent breast cancer, gallstones, asthma and heart problems. It also reduces the risk of high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol.



Yoghurt, found in shafout, boosts the immune system and ensures good digestion. One serving a day is said to prevent osteoporosis.



Garlic, an essential ingredient in shafout, fool and salta, is a good source of calcium, phosphorus and selenium, and a very good source of vitamin C, vitamin B6 and manganese. Garlic is recommended in diets to prevent asthma, breast cancer and high blood pressure.



Fresh coriander, contained in salta, has been used in Iranian medicine to prevent anxiety and insomnia. Reportedly, coriander juice is part of a treatment for acne, applied to the face like a toner.



Tomatoes, contained in salta and many other Yemeni dishes, are a great source of vitamin E, thiamin, niacin, vitamin B6, folic acid, magnesium, phosphorus and copper, and a very good source of dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, potassium and manganese.



Fenugreek seeds, an indispensable ingredient in salta, have been proven to have anti-diabetic effects and to boost the metabolic symptoms of those suffering from both type of diabetes. Fenugreek seeds are sometimes used by nursing mothers to increase their production of breast milk.



As for dates, contained in ma’souba, they have a high nutritional value. They are rich in natural fibers and contain oil, calcium, sulfur, iron, potassium, phosphorous, manganese, copper and magnesium. Studies have pointed to them being good, soaked overnight and crushed, for those with a weak heart. Regular consumption of dates has been found to help the growth of friendly bacteria in the intestines, and to be effective in preventing abdominal cancer.



Red and green chilies, essential ingredients in many Yemeni dishes, are a good source of vitamin B6. Red chilies also contain vitamin C and carotene. Chilies have been shown to delay the onset of arthritis and reduce associated inflammation and pain.



Fresh mint, contained in salta, is a good source of vitamin B6. It helps relieve stomach ache and chest pains.



Sources: Wikipedia, nutritiondata.com, whfoods.org

المصدر: YIAL FORUMS

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