Yemeni Dining

Now, Yemeni food, as you may have noticed, is not easy to find in the U.S., and I don't believe I've ever had it(!) before I was lucky enough to try it in Doha, Qatar. The Bandar Aden restaurant was tucked away on a side street of Al Waqif souq, a treasure to be found.

The traditional Yemeni meal is truly a dining experience: you sit on the floor; each dining party is provided with a private room carpeted with Oriental rugs and throw pillows on the floor, and you remove your shoes before entering the little room and sit on the ground, and they lay down a mat on the floor to place the food on, and you eat with your hands, using the bread to scoop up the food (similar to Ethiopian cuisine. Except the bread is soo much better ...)

The meal began with a bowl of warm broth for each diner, followed by a salad of fresh greens drizzled with a yogurt sauce topped with black sesame seeds, and then stewed meats and vegetables and a massive puff of bread, which practically exploded when they set it down with a flourish as the centerpiece to our dinner. The bread has almost a puffed pastry-like consistency, with crispy edges resembling phyllo and a soft, chewier center, topped with a golden-brown layer of cracking deliciousness dotted with sesame seeds.

The stews we chose, chicken ogda, fall-of-the-bone tender pulled chicken with eggplant, carrots, and peppers in an aromatic sauce, and lamb in a thick savory sauce, were packed with flavor. Accents of stewed tomato and fresh cilantro are reminiscent of Mexican food, strangely enough - who knew that in the Middle East one would find a pairing to a Central American culinary favorite? But then again, I've always likened elements of Thai cuisine to Italian in their use of fresh tomatoes, chilis, and basil (hence why my Italian friends seem to love Thai food so much,) so this is yet another example of regional cuisines transcending tastes worldwide.

Perhaps the most fantastic part about a Yemeni meal is that after one has literally licked their bowl clean and put away so much of the mouthwatering bread that they can barely stand, is that you can lean back on the assorted pillows and cushions around the rug and relax, talking leisurely and sipping tea. That is how it is truly done there, and who am I to not follow custom? In short, it was excellent.