KISHK AL KHAMEER
Unfortunately the picture is rather small but enough to make out the little balls of fermented bulgur. I tried out the first batch a month ago, using bulgur and kefir. I placed them in a pot which I put on the radiator. The mix had to be stirred once a day and I kept it going for 8 days or so. The second time I used yogurt instead of kefir but then there was a quasi-alcoholic thing going on, so I think that kefir and buttermilk are a better and safer bet.
The experiment worked out fine in the end. I dried the fermented mix in the over and rolled into balls, trying to re-create the flavor of the KISHK AL KHAMEER I had tried in Torino a year ago. Below some info from the Lebanese Slowfood Presidium:
Definitions and Traditions
Kishk is a food product made from fermented milk and crushed wheat (burghul). Davidson (1999) distinguishes between 2 types of kishk that were first documented in the 13th century. They are:
* Kishk al khameer or fermented kishk, which is burghul fermented in water and later dried in the sun and ground into powder. This kishk originated in Hawran in southern Syria, where it was the staple food of poor farmers;
* Kishk al laban or yoghurt kishk, which made by fermenting burghul in yoghurt. It is believed to have been developed as a later variation of water-fermented kishk. This richer-tasting, more costly product was favored by the wealthier classes.
Kishk al khameer production has virtually disappeared from Lebanon, although anecdotal evidence indicates that the very poor who cannot afford to purchase milk may still make it for their personal use. There is no information in the available literature besides that of Davidson (1999).
Kishk al khameer is also sometimes known as kishk al fouqara. This should not be confused with a dessert known by the same name in Egypt and Syria, which is made of milk, sugar, starch, almonds and other nuts (Al-Ghazi, 2001).
| Ingredients, Characteristics and Techniques Kishk al khameer is produced in two forms: 1. The fresh or “green” form, which is usually shaped into small (3 cm) balls and preserved immersed in olive oil. The product has an ivory color with a slight orange tint; 2. The dry form, which is a light yellow powder produced from sun-dried green kishk. The procedure for making kishk al khameer is the following: At this point, it is considered fresh or “green” kishk and can be treated in 1 of 2 different ways: Muna al Durr and the kishk al khameer of Majdelzoon |
small village surrounded with agricultural fields and oak woodlands. It appears to have been inhabited for at least 2 millennia, as it houses several cave dwellings dating back to Phoenician times. The name is believed to be a combination of the Aramaic word “magdla” meaning “the high security post” and of the Syriac word “zuna” meaning region.
It is in these surroundings that Muna al Durr, also known as `Umm `Ali (the mother of `Ali), lives. Muna inherited the kishk al khameer-making knowledge from her grandmother, but she had not considered its commercial potential until she met Nelly Chemali. They partnered in the creation of Earth and Co, a company specializing in natural foods, and started producing kishk al khameer for vegans who wanted to a non-dairy product with a fermented taste similar to that of some local cheeses. They brought their kishk to Souk el Tayeb, Beirut’s farmer’s market, where it came to the attention of Slow Food. In 2006, kishk al khameer became a Slow Food presidium (an endangered food that is being commercially produced).
Kishk al khameer is sold both nationally and internationally, and demand in the Gulf countries is high. The total quantity produced per year is around 500 kg. It is packaged and sold in 600 gram jars. Compiled by Rami Zurayk. Editors: Imad Toufeili (technical), Deborah
Chay (English). Researchers: Sami Abdul Rahman.
