The oldest continuous cooking tradition on the Arabian peninsula, built on slow-roasted meats, fermented flatbreads and chilli-fenugreek relishes. Mandi (lamb cooked over smoke in a buried clay oven), saltah (the bubbling meat-and-fenugreek-froth stew), fahsa (lamb in hot stone pot) and zurbian (saffron lamb rice) sit at the centre; lahoh (sourdough pancake) and tawa flatbreads scoop everything. Sahawiq (green chilli relish) and hulba (whipped fenugreek) are universal; bint al-sahn (the layered honey bread) closes feasts.
Lamb shoulder slow-cooks for 2 ½ hours until it shreds; the broth reduces hard with sautéed onion, tomato, garlic and Yemeni spice mix (hawaij) into a thick, dark sauce. The shredded meat goes back in; a small amount of cooking liquor keeps it loose. Transferred to a stone pot, brought to a hard boil at the table, topped with whipped hulba and a spoonful of sahawiq.
Lamb shoulder is rubbed with a Yemeni spice mix (hawaij), browned, then steam-roasted at low heat for two hours until it shreds. The cooking juices are strained off; long-grain rice cooks in them with saffron, raisins and a bay-and-cardamom aromatic mix. The cooked lamb is laid on top of the rice; a piece of glowing charcoal is placed in a small heatproof bowl on top of the rice, drizzled with oil, and the whole thing is covered tight for 5 minutes to absorb the smoke. Lift, serve.
Lamb (or beef) is slow-cooked in a Yemeni tomato-onion-spice stew (called maraq) for two hours. Just before serving, the stew is transferred to a flameproof clay or stone pot, brought to a violent boil on direct heat. Whipped hulba (overnight-soaked fenugreek seeds, blended with lemon and a little water into a snowy froth) is spooned on top. The pot is brought to the table boiling. Sahawiq adds heat.
