When the best chefs in the world are asked what they would like to eat, they will say: a meatball or a schnitzel or challah with Matbucha. Even though their cuisine is Michelin and they have all the rarest ingredients. They will say, now I want Grilled cheese sandwich. Because that's how we are. When you're tired and full of longing. You go back to being a kid who wants to go home.
Recently I feel the need to preserve the Yemeni Jewish cuisine that I grew up eating as a child. Put quantities and written words to them. There is a feeling that everything is slowly slipping away and taking on the look of McDonald's.
Zom (also called "'matit"' sometimes sounds 'meadid') is a dairy dish from Yemeni Jewish cuisine. It consists of cream, cheese and yogurt, with lots and lots of lemon, green sahug and garlic. It is customary to eat it when breaking Yom Kippur fast, but not just. The ratio between the ingredients varies and I came across many version to recipes of Zom. My feeling, that they just used what ever was available.
I made a few changes like adding nutmeg (feels called for) and added smoked Samana. I even considered adding mint for freshness but backed out. There's a limit to progressivity.
Zom soup and phatut
As you will immediately see, there is great freedom in the recipe. Everything can be converted into everything. Two things. You will decide if pieces of bread in the recipe are suitable for you (I recommend you try at least once) and two. You decide which proximity suits you. Zoom varies between the texture of soup and the texture of porridge. I personally like it very very thick on the border of the sauce in my mouth.
Materials
1 cup sour cream
1 cup of Buttermilk (can be converted to yogurt)
1 cup of goat's milk (can be converted to "Eshel")
1 cup of water
4 tablespoons of flour
2 crushed garlic cloves
A tablespoon of smoked Samana or refined butter (can be replaced with regular butter)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Pinch of nutmeg
Lemon juice from half a lemon (adds a lot)
Pieces of stale bread (preferably a few days old) (you decide how much pieces of bread you want in the soup)
to serve
Green sahug
Preparation
In a medium pot, put the sour cream, buttermilk, goat's milk and a glass of water. Mix well (preferably with a whisk) until the batter comes together. Bring to a gentle boil and reduce heat to low.
In a small bowl put flour with bit of water and mix well. Make sure there's no lumps and add a little of the Zom that is cooking in the pot (we compare temperatures), mix well and add the batter to the pot. Again, mix well until the batter is all uniform.
Add spices. Salt, pepper, nutmeg. Add cloves of garlic, lemon juice and gee (or butter). Keep mixing well.
Add the bread pieces (put as much as you like) and mix well.
Continue cooking for 15 minutes or until you reach the texture and thickness you desire. I like mine very thick.
Taste and improve flavors (carefully. It's very hot).
I like to give the Zom a finish in the oven that I preheated to 350, for about 20 minutes. Baking gives the Zom a crust, but you can skip this step.
For serving, you can add a little green schog (or not)
