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two friends, forty takes, one adventure across continents
April 22nd by adrianna
Hello May,
It’s taken some time for me to get my notes from Yemen out — life got busy, and internet connections got slower and slower as I moved through the Middle East. Well, here it is. As you know, I spent a lovely week in Yemen and fell in love with the country.
It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. Travelling to Yemen alone was nerve-wrecking. There was a dearth of available information on what it was like, what to expect, there was little to no travel information available at all other than “stay away from Yemen! It’s not safe!” Well. I think it’s already known that short of Afghanistan, Iraq, the Swat Valley and Somalia, I will happily ignore any travel advisory.
I’m glad I did. I had the brilliant opportunity to live in a traditional house with a local family in the Old City of Sana’a, in itself a World Heritage site. It’s just like in the postcards: brownstone buildings, painted beautifully and inset with stained glass. My local host, a woman named Hiyat, is a brilliant cook. I wish I could have taken photos or videos of her, especially while cooking (since she fed me so well), but here in Yemen it is largely considered a shame for a woman to be in a photograph or video, unveiled.
Anyway, I was particularly taken by a dish called salta. It’s a Yemeni chicken stew with fenugreek as the next most important ingredient (other than.. chicken?) and it is quite unreal. You typically eat it with bread (don’t get me started on bread here.. fresh Yemeni breads are divine), folding it to form a scoop, and using it as a spoon, scoop up a salsa-like-chilli mix. Swirl with salta, and you have the meal that Yemenis eat just about every lunch time.
I persuaded Hiyat to do a cooking demo for me. Again, as I couldn’t take photos or videos of her, you’ll have to be content with a ‘hands-only’ cooking show. There will be more instructions, and maybe even a recipe, later once I get the Arabic translated, but for now… salta is wonderful. Next time I come to see you in London I will be keeping my eyes out for any Yemeni stores (I’m told there are several) so I can buy fenugreek paste (’hulba’) and a ‘madr’ (the special bowl used) and attempt to make it for you! Be very very afraid!
Here’s a recipe, in the meantime.
Next week’s video will also be about Yemeni food, but focusing on something more… narcotic, chewable and plant-like. :)
Thanks
Ziad, who I highly recommend as your travel agent in Yemen
Music
Kobayashi — “Shasta”
Traditional Yemeni music, title forthcoming
Posted in asia, chicken, cooking, cookingshow, cuisine, food, houba, local, middleeast, pots, salta, soup, stew, traditional, video, yemen, yemeni.