Jordanian · sauce/condiment

Jameed (Dried Fermented Sheep's Yoghurt)

Jameed (Dried Fermented Sheep's Yoghurt) reads funk & ferment 4.8, sourness 4.6 and salinity 3.6 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Jordanian sauce/condiment, about 440 hr 35 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Funk & Ferment 4.8 · Sourness 4.6 · Salinity 3.6 · Richness 2.7 · Umami 1.9 · Sweetness 1.8

What's in it (4)

Time & effort: about 440 hr 35 min (35 min active) · effort: medium

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 1.6 kcal, 0.1 g protein, 0 g fat, 0.3 g carbs

Dietary: Vegetarian · Contains dairy — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

  1. Sheep's milk is not interchangeable here. Its fat and protein are what let jameed dry into a stone that keeps for years without refrigeration, which is the entire point of the technique in a pastoral economy; cow's milk gives a softer, blander ball that cracks.
  2. Warm the milk to 45°C, whisk in the yoghurt starter, cover and keep warm for 8 hours until thickly set and clean-smelling.
  3. Churn or whisk the set yoghurt hard for 15 minutes with 500 ml of the cold water. The butter separates out in grains; lift it off and keep it for cooking. What is left is laban makhid, buttermilk, and that is what jameed is made from.
  4. Hang the buttermilk in a double layer of muslin over a bowl in a cool place and let it drain for 48 hours, until it has firmed to the texture of thick cream cheese and lost most of its whey.
  5. Work half the salt into the drained curd, put it back in the cloth and drain a further 24 hours. Repeat with the remaining salt and drain another 24 hours. The salt is preservative, not seasoning, and jameed is genuinely, aggressively salty — the mansaf sauce is diluted enormously from this point.
  6. Roll the salted curd into balls the size of a large orange, pressing hard to expel air pockets.
  7. Dry the balls on a cloth-covered rack in strong sun and moving air, turning them daily, for 10 to 14 days, until they are hard right through, pale ivory, and ring faintly when tapped. Bring them in at night so dew does not soften them.
  8. Store in a dry place. To use, break a ball into pieces, soak overnight in water, then blend and strain into the thin white liquid that mansaf is cooked in.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.