Kubaneh ( he, כֻּבַּאנֶה) is a traditional

Yemenite Jewish Yemenite Jews or Yemeni Jews or Teimanim (from ''Yehudei Teman''; ar, اليهود اليمنيون) are those Jews who live, or once lived, in Yemen, and their descendants maintaining their customs. Between June 1949 and September 1950, the ...

bread that is popular in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Kubaneh is traditionally baked overnight to be served for

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

morning accompanied by

haminados Haminados, also known as chaminados, or braised eggs, is a traditional Sephardi Jewish dish, popular in Israel, and commonly served as an ingredient or accompaniment to a number of dishes. Haminados are an important element of Israeli cuisine, a ...

(eggs that are baked in their shells along with the bread), and

resek agvaniyot Resek agvaniyot, or resek (), is an Israeli condiment made of grated tomatoes that is traditionally served with malawach, jachnun, bourekas, kubaneh, and other dishes. It frequently paired with zhug, and is also commonly served as part of the ...

(grated tomato).

History

A Jewish community existed in Yemen for thousands of years, until the 20th century when

pogroms A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russian ...

, persecution and discrimination forced the Jewish population to flee Yemen en masse, and to seek refuge in

. Only a very small community of Jews remains in Yemen today. Yemenite Jews traditionally made their kubaneh from either

sorghum ''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many othe ...

flour or

cornmeal Cornmeal is a meal (coarse flour) or a cell membrane ground from dried corn. It is a common staple food, and is ground to coarse, medium, and fine consistencies, but not as fine as wheat flour can be.Herbst, Sharon, ''Food Lover's Companion'', ...

during the regular weekdays, but used wheat flour on Sabbath days and holidays. Some would add to the dough either sugar, honey or

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 dr ...

. Baking was done in a greased pot, tightly sealed, and left to cook overnight. The kubāneh was eaten the following day while it was still hot, and many of the diners have been known to ask for the ''qaʻeh'' – the hard and oily lower crust, known for its delicate taste. During the winter months, some were known to insert in the kubāneh the fatty-tail of sheep, or some other piece of meat, which was baked overnight along with the dough, and have thereby turned the kubāneh into an unforgettable delicacy; women after childbirth might be served such a kubāneh.

Overview

Kubaneh is baked by Yemenite Jews overnight and eaten for breakfast or

brunch Brunch is a meal eaten between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., sometimes accompanied by alcoholic drinks (typically champagne or a cocktail). The meal originated in the British hunt breakfast. The word ''brunch'' is a portmanteau of ''breakfast'' a ...

, and has become more broadly popular also. It is prepared baked at a low temperature in a tightly covered container. Ingredients include flour, sugar, salt, and butter (or margarine). Eggs in their shell can be cooked in the dish alongside the bread and served as an accompaniment. The bread is sometimes sprinkled with sugar, served with

grated tomatoes Resek agvaniyot, or resek (), is an Israeli cuisine, Israeli condiment made of grated tomatoes that is traditionally served with malawach, jachnun, bourekas, kubaneh, and other dishes. It frequently paired with zhug, and is also commonly served a ...

, or served with

zhug Zhug ( he, סְחוּג, s'ḥug), sahawiq (Yemeni Arabic: ) or bisbas (Somali language, Somali: ) is a hot sauce originating in Yemeni cuisine. In other countries of the Arabian Peninsula it is also called ma'booj ( ar, معبوج}). Etymolo ...

clarified butter Clarified butter is milk fat rendered from butter to separate the milk solids and water from the butterfat. Typically, it is produced by melting butter and allowing the components to separate by density. The water evaporates, some solids (i.e. w ...

, and hot pepper-garlic chutney. Kubaneh, Sabbath bread

In popular culture

Kubaneh was featured in the popular Israeli television series, The

Beauty and the Baker ''The Beauty and the Baker'' () is an Israeli romantic-comedy TV series that follows the love story between a simple baker and an international supermodel. It ranks as one of the highest-rated scripted series ever in Israel.

, as the lead character Amos Dahari, played by

Aviv Alush Avraham Aviv Alush ( he, אברהם אביב אלוש; born ) is an Israeli actor, musician, model, and television host. best known as Amos Dahari "The Baker" in the Israeli series ''Beauty and the Baker'', and as Jesus in the American film '' T ...

(who himself is of Yemenite and

Tunisian Jewish The history of the Jews in Tunisia extended nearly two thousand years and goes back to the Ancient Carthage, Punic era. The Jewish community in Tunisia is no doubt older and grew up following successive waves of immigration and proselytism ...

descent) is from a

family.

References

{{Cuisine of Israel Shabbat Israeli cuisine Mizrahi Jewish cuisine Jewish breads Shabbat food Yemeni cuisine Yemeni-Jewish culture in Israel

History

Overview

In popular culture

See also

References