Zhug ( he, סְחוּג, s'ḥug), sahawiq (
Yemeni Arabic
Yemeni Arabic is a cluster of varieties of Arabic spoken in Yemen, southwestern Saudi Arabia and the Horn of Africa. It is generally considered a very conservative dialect cluster, having many classical features not found across most of the Ara ...
: ) or bisbas (
Somali: ) is a
hot sauce
Hot sauce is a type of condiment, seasoning, or salsa made from chili peppers and other ingredients. Many commercial varieties of mass-produced hot sauce exist.
History
Humans have used chili peppers and other hot spices for thousands of ye ...
originating in
Yemeni cuisine
Yemeni cuisine is distinct from the wider Middle Eastern cuisines, but with a degree of regional variation. Although some foreign influences are evident in some regions of the country (with Ottoman influences showing in Sanaa, while Indian infl ...
. In other countries of the
Arabian Peninsula it is also called ma'booj ( ar, معبوج}).
Etymology
The word ''sahawiq'' comes from the Arabic root (
s-ḥ-q) which means to pestle or to crush.
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 o ...
''. ''Wazif'' (traditional Yemeni dried baby sardines) is sometimes added to the ''sahawiqs ingredients and it is known as ''sahawiq wazif'' ( ar, سحاوق وزف, link=no).
In Israel, one can find ("red zhug"), ("green zhug") and ("brown zhug"), which has added
tomato
The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...
es. Red zhug is made with red peppers while green zhug is made with green peppers, or jalapeños. Zhug may be referred to by the generic term ( he, חריף, link=no; lit. "hot/spicy"). Also known as zhoug, it is a popular condiment at Israeli
falafel
Falafel (; ar, فلافل, ) is a deep-fried ball or patty-shaped fritter in Middle Eastern cuisine (especially in Levantine and Egyptian cuisines) made from ground chickpeas, broad beans, or both. Nowadays, falafel is often served ...
and
shawarma
Shawarma (; ar, شاورما) is a popular Middle Eastern dish that originated in the Ottoman Empire, consisting of meat cut into thin slices, stacked in a cone-like shape, and roasted on a slowly-turning vertical rotisserie or spit. Tradition ...
stands, and served with
hummus.
Preparation
Zhug is made from fresh red or green
hot peppers seasoned with
coriander,
garlic, salt,
black cumin
Black cumin can refer to the seeds of either of two quite different plants, both of which are used as spices:
* '' Elwendia persica'', black cumin is considered similar to caraway, but they are two distinctly different plants. The seeds differ d ...
(optional) and various
spice
A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spice ...
s, then mixed with olive oil. Some also add
caraway seed
Caraway, also known as meridian fennel and Persian cumin (''Carum carvi''), is a biennial plant in the family Apiaceae, native to western Asia, Europe, and North Africa.
Etymology
The etymology of "caraway" is unclear. Caraway has been ...
,
cardamom
Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia. They are r ...
, and
black pepper
Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in dia ...
.
Traditional Yemeni cooks prepare sahawiq using two stones: a large stone called ''marha (''مرهى'') used as a work surface and a smaller one called ''wdi'' (''ودي'') for crushing the ingredients. Alternative options are a
mortar and pestle
Mortar and pestle is a set of two simple tools used from the Stone Age to the present day to prepare ingredients or substances by crushing and grinding them into a fine paste or powder in the kitchen, laboratory, and pharmacy. The ''mortar'' ( ...
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
See also
*
Ajika
Ajika or adjika (, ) is a Georgian- Abkhazian hot, spicy, but subtly flavored dip, often used to flavor food. In 2018, the technology of ajika was inscribed on the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Georgia list.
The name derives from the Abkhaz ...
, a hot dip in
Caucasian cuisine
The cuisine of the Caucasus refers to the cuisine of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and North Caucasus.
Traditional dishes Plates
Some popular cheeses from the Caucasus include:
* Ashvlagwan ''(Ашвлагуан)'' — Abkhaz smoked cheese, si ...
*
Harissa
Harissa ( ar, هريسة ''harīsa'', from Maghrebi Arabic) is a hot chili pepper paste, native to the Maghreb. The main ingredients are roasted red peppers, Baklouti peppers (), spices and herbs such as garlic paste, caraway seeds, coriander ...
, a hot chili pepper paste in
Maghreb cuisine
Maghreb cuisine is the cooking of the Maghreb region, the northwesternmost part of Africa along the Mediterranean Sea, consisting of the countries of Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia.
Well-known dishes from the region include ''c ...
*
Muhammara
''Muhammara'' ( ar, محمرة "reddened") or mhammara is a spicy dip made of walnuts, red bell peppers, pomegranate molasses, and breadcrumbs. It is associated with Aleppo, but can also be found in Turkey, especially in southeastern regions, wh ...
or ''acuka'', a hot pepper dip in
Levantine cuisine
Levantine cuisine is the traditional cuisine of the Levant.
Perhaps the most distinctive aspect of Levantine cuisine is ''meze'' including '' tabbouleh'', ''hummus'' and ''baba ghanoush''.
Levantine dishes
* Arabic coffee (قهوة عر ...
*
Pesto
Pesto () is a sauce that traditionally consists of crushed garlic, European pine nuts, coarse salt, basil leaves, and hard cheese such as Parmigiano-Reggiano (also known as Parmesan cheese) or Pecorino Sardo (cheese made from sheep's milk), a ...
, a sauce made with crushed herbs and garlic in
Italian cuisine
Italian cuisine (, ) is a Mediterranean cuisine David 1988, Introduction, pp.101–103 consisting of the ingredients, recipes and cooking techniques developed across the Italian Peninsula and later spread around the world together with wave ...
*
Arab cuisine
Arab cuisine ( ar, المطبخ العربي) is the cuisine of the Arabs, defined as the various regional cuisines spanning the Arab world, from the Maghreb to the Fertile Crescent and the Arabian Peninsula. These cuisines are centuries old an ...
*
Cuisine of the Mizrahi Jews
Mizrahi Jewish cuisine is an assortment of cooking traditions that developed among the Jews of the Middle East, North Africa, Asia, and Arab countries. Mizrahi Jews have also been known as Oriental Jews (''Mizrahi'' is Hebrew: Eastern or Orienta ...
*
List of dips
*
List of sauces
References
{{Condiments
Arabic words and phrases
Arab cuisine
Chili paste
Hot sauces
Israeli cuisine
Middle Eastern cuisine
Mizrahi Jewish cuisine
Yemeni cuisine
South Asian cuisine