ENTER A PRODUCT: Submission #67
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Submission Number: 67
Submission ID: 73
Submission UUID: c6646e5d-f69e-4a51-add8-ee12e7c3717e
Submission URI: /slowfood/form/segnala-un-prodotto-bk1
Created: Fri, 05/05/2023 - 10:56
Completed: Fri, 05/05/2023 - 10:58
Changed: Thu, 07/20/2023 - 10:11
Remote IP address: (unknown)
Submitted by: admin-form
Language: English
Is draft: No
Current page: Complete
Webform: ENTER A PRODUCT
General Info
Samneh Baladieh Balqawieh
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| Latticini e formaggi |
Geographic area: Governatorato di Balqa, Giordania
Latitude: 32.0366806
Longitude: 35.728848
Location: 32.036681,35.728848
Formatted Address: Governatorato di Balqa, Giordania
State/Province: Governatorato di Balqa
Country: Giordania
Country Code: JO
Latitude: 32.0366806
Longitude: 35.728848
Location: 32.036681,35.728848
Formatted Address: Governatorato di Balqa, Giordania
State/Province: Governatorato di Balqa
Country: Giordania
Country Code: JO
Product description
Samneh Baladieh Balqawieh is a traditional method of preservation involving the clarification of butter made from raw sheep’s milk, goat’s milk, or both, flavoured with a mixture of wild herbs gathered from pastures near the villages, called Hwajeh. The ghee is produced in spring, at the peak of herb flowering, when the milk is also richer and more intensely yellow, and is consumed throughout the following year.
The difference between Baladieh Balqawieh and the ghee produced in other countries is the addition of the Hwajeh blend, which is mainly composed of handagug (the white melitoto or Melilotus albus), which makes up about 70% of the blend, hulbah (fenugreek or Trigonella foenum-graecum), mallisah (luisa grass or Aloysia citriodora Ortega.), showmar (fennel or Foeniculum vulgare (L.) Mill.) and qaisoum (Achillea biebersteinii Afan). The locals spend days searching for the herbs, collecting them, drying them in the sun and then pulverising them to produce different mixtures according to various family traditions. The herb mixtures are wrapped in a cloth used to make cheese and added to the ghee during the clarification process.
The difference between Baladieh Balqawieh and the ghee produced in other countries is the addition of the Hwajeh blend, which is mainly composed of handagug (the white melitoto or Melilotus albus), which makes up about 70% of the blend, hulbah (fenugreek or Trigonella foenum-graecum), mallisah (luisa grass or Aloysia citriodora Ortega.), showmar (fennel or Foeniculum vulgare (L.) Mill.) and qaisoum (Achillea biebersteinii Afan). The locals spend days searching for the herbs, collecting them, drying them in the sun and then pulverising them to produce different mixtures according to various family traditions. The herb mixtures are wrapped in a cloth used to make cheese and added to the ghee during the clarification process.
Ghee is commonly used in the cuisine of the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and South-East Asia, as well as in traditional medicine and religious rituals; today, it has become popular worldwide as an additive and flavour enhancer in various dishes and also as butter for baked goods.
Samneh Balqawieh is the most widely used fat in the preparation of most traditional Jordanian dishes and desserts due to its flavour and high resistance to high temperatures. It is used to flavour rice, for cooking meat, in the preparation of desserts or simply as a condiment. It is indispensable in the preparation of mansaf, the main dish of Bedouin cuisine, made with rice, lamb meat cooked in jameed (a kind of dried and fermented yoghurt) and served with flat, very thin and round bread called shrak. It is also used to cook rashoof, made with lentils, jameed and jareeseh, or fateereh, made with jameed, chickpeas, olive oil and thin bread called khubz (pita). Samneh Baladieh is also mixed and stored with carob molasses in a goatskin container and as breakfast or dessert with traditional bread.
Samneh Balqawieh is the most widely used fat in the preparation of most traditional Jordanian dishes and desserts due to its flavour and high resistance to high temperatures. It is used to flavour rice, for cooking meat, in the preparation of desserts or simply as a condiment. It is indispensable in the preparation of mansaf, the main dish of Bedouin cuisine, made with rice, lamb meat cooked in jameed (a kind of dried and fermented yoghurt) and served with flat, very thin and round bread called shrak. It is also used to cook rashoof, made with lentils, jameed and jareeseh, or fateereh, made with jameed, chickpeas, olive oil and thin bread called khubz (pita). Samneh Baladieh is also mixed and stored with carob molasses in a goatskin container and as breakfast or dessert with traditional bread.
Traditionally, goat or sheep butter is clarified in copper pots with the addition of Hwajeh. Once melted, the milk separates from the fat, which is collected and slowly poured into a new pot, leaving the milk and Hwajeh aside. Then, the fat is boiled for ten minutes with a small amount of Jareesheh (ground wheat, i.e. bulgur) to help eliminate excess liquid: this process is called Tagsheed. The Samneh is ready when the Jareesheh is fully cooked, at which point it is left to rest for another ten minutes until the grain settles to the bottom of the pot. Finally, the product is poured into a goatskin bag, called an Akkeh, and stored for the rest of the year. Today, many processors use glass containers instead of leather containers for storage and sale. The ghee must be kept out of direct sunlight to avoid moisture build-up inside the jar and the subsequent deterioration of the product. Sealed containers do not need to be refrigerated, while opened containers can be stored for up to three months in the pantry, always away from direct sunlight, and up to a year in the refrigerator. The cold hardens the ghee, but if brought back to room temperature it will soften again. When prepared, Smaneh is greenish-yellow in colour and has a strong, earthy smell and taste characteristic of Hwajeh. Samneh Balqawieh has a higher density than those produced elsewhere due to a longer boiling time.
The earliest records of the production of Samneh Baladieh Balqawieh, or Balqa Ghee, date back to the 13th century B.C. and refer to the Mo’ab kingdom, which at the time occupied the western part of Jordan, near the present-day Dead Sea; here, communities of farmers and Bedouins used to produce Samneh and sell it in the markets of the main cities (research on Agriculture in Jordan and Palestine between 1864-1918). In particular, in the Al-Balqa area, the tradition of Samneh Baladieh is of great importance, so much so that the name of the area characterises that of the product (‘Samneh Balqawyeh’ means Balqa ghee).
n the past, Samneh Balqawieh was produced by women and was a staple food used for breakfast, lunch and dinner in almost every household. Even today, ghee is one of the main dairy products, considered the second most important staple food after wheat for the Jordanian population, and some villagers have their own flocks of sheep or goats, or both, so they process Balqa Ghee for personal consumption, to sell to relatives and neighbours, or to the central dairy market in Salt, the capital of Balqa. However, its production remains confined to the most remote villages and the artisanal recipe is in danger of being lost. The causes are linked to urbanisation and the presence on the market of a similar product made industrially and using the milk of animals that have not grazed freely on wild herbs. Moreover, the same wild herbs needed to flavour Samneh Balqawieh are becoming increasingly rare due to climate change, overgrazing and numerous fires, often arson.
Nowadays, some restaurants specialising in traditional Jordanian dishes use Samneh Balqawieh in their dishes to maintain the authenticity of the dish and source from small traditional producers.
Nowadays, some restaurants specialising in traditional Jordanian dishes use Samneh Balqawieh in their dishes to maintain the authenticity of the dish and source from small traditional producers.
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