Jameed
Also: jamid, dried fermented yogurt, kishk-style dried yogurt
A hard, dried and fermented ball of salted goat or sheep yogurt that is reconstituted into a tangy, savory sauce — most famously the cooking broth of Jordan's national dish, Mansaf.
Identity criteria
- 1Made from fermented goat's or sheep's milk yogurt (laban), not cow's milk
- 2Heavily salted, then drained and sun-dried into hard, rock-like balls or rounds for preservation
- 3Preserved without refrigeration — a shelf-stable form of dairy
- 4Reconstituted in water and cooked into a tangy, savory white sauce/broth, not eaten dry
- 5Defined by its intense sour-salty fermented-dairy flavor
Components
Technique
- lactic fermentation
- souring the milk into yogurt gives jameed its characteristic tang and begins preservation
- salting and draining
- removes whey and inhibits spoilage so the dairy can be stored without cold
- sun-drying / dehydration
- hardens the curd into a non-perishable ball — the entire point of jameed as a Bedouin preservation method
- reconstitution
- dissolving the dried ball back into liquid turns it into the cooking medium for mansaf
Form & serving
- Served
- sold as hard dried balls/rounds; reconstituted into sauce before use
- Temperature
- stored at room temperature; served hot as cooked broth
- Portion
- used as an ingredient/condiment
- Pairs with
- mansaf · lamb · rice or shrak flatbread · saj bread
Character
Flavour
Texture
hard and rock-like when dried; smooth and slightly grainy white sauce when reconstituted
Eaten
A traditional pantry staple of Jordanian and Levantine homes, made in season when milk is plentiful and reserved especially for feast-day mansaf served to guests.
When
all-year
Variations & related
Regional variations
- Karak jameed · Al-Karak, Jordan
the most prized regional jameed, considered the benchmark
- Soft/wet jameed · Levant
a less-dried paste form used where long storage is not needed
Related dishes
- pairs-with Mansaf
jameed is the defining broth of mansaf, Jordan's national dish
- sibling Kashk (kishk)
another dried fermented-dairy preserve of the wider region
Substitutions
jameed → fresh thick yogurt with saltadmissible
approximates the tang for mansaf-style sauce but lacks the deep fermented funk and won't behave the same when cooked
jameed → cow's milkinadmissible
cow's milk lacks the fat profile and characteristic flavor of goat/sheep ferment; the result is not jameed
fermented dried yogurt → sour creaminadmissible
no fermentation depth or preservation character; breaks the identity
Common mistakes
- Using cow's milk yogurt, which gives the wrong fat and flavor
- Under-salting so it spoils during drying
- Letting reconstituted jameed boil hard and curdle when making the sauce
- Treating it as fresh yogurt rather than a preserved, intensely concentrated ingredient
Provenance
A Bedouin dairy-preservation technique of the Levant and Arabian frontier, allowing nomadic herders to keep milk usable for months; central to Jordanian Karak cuisine.
Claimed by: Jordan
References
- 1.Jordanian and Levantine culinary tradition
- 2.Bedouin food-preservation practice
Confidence: high