Fatoot samneh facts for kids
Fatoot samneh, as traditionally served by Yemenite Jews, topped with honey.
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| Type | Fried pita and scrambled egg dish |
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| Place of origin | Yemen |
| Serving temperature | Breakfast, or dinner |
| Main ingredients | Pita or other flatbread, clarified butter (samneh), or butter, or schmaltz, beaten egg, kosher salt, honey |
Fatoot samneh (Hebrew: פטאוט סמנה) is a delicious dish that comes from Yemen. It's made by frying pieces of flatbread, like pita or saluf, in a special kind of butter called clarified butter. After the bread is crispy, beaten eggs are added and cooked with it. This dish is usually eaten for breakfast or dinner. Yemenite Jews brought this traditional recipe with them when they moved to Israel. It's a bit like other dishes such as matzah brei (a Jewish dish) or migas (a Mexican-American dish), but fatoot samneh always uses pita bread.
How Fatoot Samneh Began
Fatoot samneh started as a clever way for the Yemenite Jews to use up stale pita bread. Back then, many families were not very rich. They needed to make every bit of food count. Bread, like pita, was very important. So was samneh, which is clarified butter.
Families were often large, and the women had to cook many meals from what little they had. Using stale bread meant nothing went to waste. Over time, fatoot samneh became a popular and traditional dish. It was a smart way to use old pita bread. It also became a favorite meal for breakfast or dinner.
What's in Fatoot Samneh?
Fatoot samneh uses pieces of pita bread or other flatbreads. These might include saluf, laffa, or malawach. Often, the bread is leftover or a bit stale. It is torn or cut into small pieces. These pieces are then fried until they are crispy. A good amount of samneh (clarified butter) is used for frying. Sometimes, regular butter or chicken schmaltz (chicken fat) is used instead.
After the bread is fried, beaten or scrambled eggs are mixed in. The whole mixture is cooked together. This is similar to how matzah brei or migas are made. In Israel, fatoot samneh is often topped with honey to make it a sweet dish. But you can also find savory versions. Some people add labneh (a type of yogurt), tahini, shkug (a spicy sauce), or grated tomatoes.
Making Fatoot Samneh
Making fatoot samneh is quite simple. First, you take stale flatbread and tear it into small pieces. These pieces are then fried in a hot pan. You use a good amount of clarified butter, regular butter, or schmaltz. If you want a dairy version, use butter. If you want a meat-friendly version, use schmaltz. You fry the pita pieces until they are golden and crispy.
Next, you beat several eggs with a little kosher salt. You add these eggs to the fried pita mixture in the pan. You stir everything continuously, just like making scrambled eggs. You keep stirring until the eggs are cooked and have soaked into the pita pieces. Once the fatoot samneh is fully cooked, it's ready to serve. You can top it with honey, date syrup (silan), or other favorite toppings and seasonings.
