Saltah (سلتة)

Sana'a, Yemen — saltah is the emblematic dish of Yemeni highland cooking; the fenugreek froth technique is unique to Yemeni culinary tradition; declared UNESCO intangible cultural heritage

Yemen's national dish is a hot, bubbling stew with a dramatic tableside finishing element — a broth-based stew of meat, potatoes, and vegetables over which is stirred a fenugreek froth (hulba or hilbeh) immediately before serving, transforming the surface of the stew into a green, foamy layer. The hulba is made by soaking fenugreek seeds for 24 hours until they become gelatinous, then whipping the gel with ice water until it froths — similar in concept to beaten egg whites but with a distinctive bitter-fenugreek flavour. The stew itself (maraq) is a deeply flavoured lamb broth with sahawiq (Yemeni red chilli paste), and serves as the base; the hulba and zhug (green chilli paste) are applied at the table. Saltah is always eaten from a communal stone or clay bowl with fresh flatbread for dipping.

• The broth-plus-foam finishing technique parallels French sauce mousseuse and Italian espuma in fine dining; the communal-bowl-with-flatbread eating format echoes Moroccan tagine and Ethiopian injera-with-stew; fenugreek as the defining spice connects Yemen to Ethiopian berbere and Indian methi

Lunch — the main meal of the Yemeni day; eaten communally with flatbread torn and used to scoop; zhug and raw onion on the side; no utensils; the tableside hulba stirring is performed by the eldest or host