Etiquette, Preparation, Key Spices

Here we reflect on the etiquette that we learned about Yemeni culture when they are eating along with how they delegate their food prep responsibilities in a day to day household and the key spices that are used in typical Yemeni cooking and how they enhance the flavor of the food.

Etiquette

The enjoyment of food and eating with others is important in Yemeni Food Culture. For example, conversations only occur before the meal—not during the meal. Talk about food doing the talking!

When approaching the dinner table (cushioned floor in most cases), you sit on the seats that are not honorary seats (unless you are the honorary guest) and eat from the same plate that is being shared closest to you. You must use your right hand to eat, as eating with the left and/or with utensils is inappropriate. 

You have to get use to sharing food on a large metal tray because that is how Yemenis dine!

— Joshua P.

What goes in a Yemeni Dish?

Yemeni Spices are an integral part to their cooking and are the essence of the flavor that comes out of there food. Cardamon for instance is a warm spice that that has light undertone of mint and adding it in can elevate many dishes, deserving of its name "Queen of Spices". Another commonly used spice is Fenugreek which is mainly used to make sauces for Yemeni flat bread along with being used in soups or stews.

Cardamon                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Fenugreek( Hilbeh)

But the main star of Yemeni spices is the spice mix called Hawaij, which is a mix of the above spices along with turmeric, ginger, black pepper, and a few other spices that are mixed together. This spice mix can be found all over Yemeni cooking and can be found in pretty most of their food from lamb and chicken to the soups and stews that they make just add it it and it will taste amazing.

The Heart of The Kitchen

Yemeni food is traditionally always made by the women of the household, and the man would not even touch the kitchen under normal circumstances unless its for butchering the animal for celebrations. The way that women pass down recipes is from generation to generation from mother to daughter.

Yemeni Kitchens have all the essentials that a typical kitchen would have, like ovens and a stove, but the special thing about Yemeni kitchens is that they have clay oven called a Tannur that is a bee hived shaped oven that is used to make their breads and how they cooks some of there meats inside of there. They use various means to control the temperature like fire wood or dung cakes to keep the fire on.

Kody and Josh