Hawaij
The Quirky Foodster Team
Ingredients
- Two genuinely distinct sub-traditions exist under this one name: a savory soup/stew version (black pepper, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cardamom) and a sweet coffee-spicing version (cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, occasionally nutmeg) — a significant internal naming duality worth flagging clearly
Method
- Toast the whole spices for the savory version; the coffee version's spices are typically ground without toasting and added directly to coffee grounds before brewing.
- Toast for the savory soup version; skip toasting for the coffee version.
Origin: Yemen, and by extension Yemenite Jewish culinary tradition carried to Israel.
Use: Savory hawaij is added to soups and stews; sweet/coffee hawaij is mixed directly into ground coffee before brewing, a distinctively Yemenite coffee tradition.
Classic Dishes: Yemenite soup (savory hawaij); Yemenite spiced coffee (sweet hawaij).
Storage: Keeps 2-3 months sealed and dark, either version.
Variations: ‘Hawaij’ names two genuinely distinct blends with essentially no ingredient overlap — a savory soup/stew version and a sweet coffee-spicing version — distinguished only by intended use.
Substitutions: For the savory version: a simplified cumin-coriander-turmeric mix. For the sweet version: standard pumpkin-pie-spice-style blend as a rough approximation.
- Two genuinely distinct sub-traditions exist under this one name: a savory soup/stew version (black pepper, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cardamom) and a sweet coffee-spicing version (cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, occasionally nutmeg) — a significant internal naming duality worth flagging clearly
Please log in to leave a comment.