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. 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

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

Etymology

Varieties

Preparation

See also

References