View source for Asida

{{Short description|Arabic pudding}}
{{for|the beetle genus|Asida (beetle)}}
{{see also|Assidat Zgougou}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox food
| image              = عصيدة-قطيفية.jpg
| image_size         = 250px
| caption            = 
| alternate_name     = 
| country            = 
| region             = [[Abbasid Caliphate]]
| creator            = 
| course             = 
| type               = [[Pudding]]
| served             = 
| main_ingredient    = [[wheat flour]], [[butter]] or [[honey]]
| variations         = 
| calories           = 
| other              = 
}}

'''Asida''' ([[Arabic language|Arabic]] "عصيدة", [[Maghrebi Arabic|Maghrebi]] "Ġsydë" [[International Phonetic Alphabet|[ˈʕæs(ˁ)iːdə]]]) is a common dish in the [[Arab world]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nzeribe |first=Nympha |title=Aseeda |url=https://afrifoodnetwork.com/recipes/aseeda/|access-date=31 January 2023 |website=afrifoodnetwork.com/|date=14 July 2022}}</ref> It is a lump of dough, obtained by stirring wheat flour into boiling water, sometimes with added butter or honey. Similar in texture to [[fufu]], it is eaten mainly in [[Middle East]] and [[Africa|African]] countries. It is considered one of the most popular desserts and traditional dishes in many Arab countries.

Asida is particularly popular in [[Sudan]], [[Morocco]], [[Libya]], [[Algeria]], [[Tunisia]], [[Yemen]], [[Ethiopia]], [[Eritrea]], and the rest of the [[Middle East]]. Often served during religious holidays such as [[Mawlid]] and [[Eid ul-Fitr|Eid]], it is also served during other traditional ceremonies, for example accompanying the birth of child, such as the ''‘[[Akika|aqīqah]]'', the cutting of the hair of a newborn seven days after birth.<ref name=CAW/>

A simple, yet rich dish, often eaten without other complementary dishes, it is traditionally served at breakfast and is also given to women in labor.<ref name=CAW>[http://www.cliffordawright.com/caw/food/entries/display.php/topic_id/23/id/98/ Famous Everyday Dishes from the Medieval Arab World]</ref>

==Etymology==
The word ''asida'' is an [[Arabic]] word that is derived from the root عصد (''asada''), meaning 'twist it'.<ref>Definition of [https://www.almaany.com/ar/dict/ar-ar/عصيدة/ {{lang|ar|عصيدة}}] (in Arabic). ''www.almaany.com''.</ref>

==History==
One of the earliest documented recipes for asida is found in a tenth century Arabic cookbook by [[Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq]] called  ''Kitab al-Ṭabīḫ'' ({{langx|ar|كتاب الطبيخ}}, ''The Book of Dishes'').<ref>{{cite book |last1=Al‑Warrāq's |first1=Ibn Sayyār |last2=Nasrallah |first2=Nawal |title=annals of the caliphs' kitchens: ibn sayyār al-warrāq's tenth-century baghdadi cookbook authors |date=2007 |publisher=Brill |page=97 |isbn=9789047423058 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sQCwCQAAQBAJ&q=Asida+dessert&pg=PA97 |access-date=29 August 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Al‑Warrāq |first1=Ibn Sayyār |last2=Nasrallah |first2=Nawal |title=annals of the caliphs' kitchens: ibn sayyār al-warrāq's tenth-century baghdadi cookbook |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dUC-e-l3XM8C |website=books |date=26 November 2007 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-9004158672 |access-date=29 August 2018}}</ref> It was described as a thick pudding of dates cooked with clarified butter (''samn'').<ref>{{cite book |last1=Al‑Warrāq's |first1=Ibn Sayyār |last2=Nasrallah |first2=Nawal |title=annals of the caliphs' kitchens: ibn sayyār al-warrāq's tenth-century baghdadi cookbook authors |date=2007 |publisher=Brill |page=97,98 |isbn=9789047423058 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sQCwCQAAQBAJ&q=Asida+dessert&pg=PA97 |access-date=29 August 2018}}</ref> A recipe for asida was also mentioned in an anonymous [[Al-Andalus|Hispano-Muslim]] cookbook dating to the 13th century. In the 13th and 14th centuries, in the mountainous region of the [[Rif]] along the Mediterranean coast of Morocco, a flour made from lightly grilled [[barley]] was used in place of wheat flour. A recipe for asida that adds [[argan]] seed oil was documented by [[Leo Africanus]] (c. 1465–1550), the Arab explorer known as Hasan al-Wazan in the Arab world.<ref name="CAW" /> According to the French scholar [[Maxime Rodinson]], asida were typical foods among the [[Bedouin]] of pre-Islamic and, probably, later times.<ref name="CAW"/>

==Variations==
=== Morocco ===
In the old city of [[Fez, Morocco|Fez]], vendors sell squares of cold semolina pudding sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, usually consumed by children after school.

=== Libya ===
The [[Libyan]] variation of asida is served with a sweet syrup, usually date or carob syrup ([[Rub (syrup)|rub]]), but also with honey, as well as melted butter around the asida itself.

=== Tunisia ===
The [[Cuisine of Tunisia|Tunisia]]n version of this dish is served with either a mixture of honey and butter or a hot chili pepper paste  ([[harissa]]). The latter is more common later in the day and the former earlier. Asida is also commonly consumed with carob syrup or date syrup in southern parts of [[Tunisia]].

=== Yemen ===
Aseedah or aseed ({{langx|ar|عصيدة}}) is one of the staple dishes in [[Yemen]] and is usually served for lunch, dinner, or breakfast. Its ingredients include wholemeal wheat, boiling water, and salt as needed.

A pot of water is placed on high heat until boiling. Slowly, handfuls of wholemeal wheat are added and then mixed quickly with a large wooden spoon to avoid forming lumps. The process is repeated until the mixture is thick. Traditionally the cook lowers the pot to the floor where they hold the pot with their feet and stir vigorously. Finally, the hot, steaming dough is shaped using bare oiled hands and usually placed in a wide, wooden bowl.

Sometimes a depression is made in the middle of the shaped aseedah into which a hot chili tomato paste can be added or helba, a [[fenugreek]] mixture made with parsley and garlic. Lamb or a chicken [[stock (food)|stock]] is then poured around the aseedah. It is then served hot.

Aseedah can also be made using white, bleached wheat. Honey can be used instead of stock and chili/helba. It is a meal, using only boiled water, flour, and some salt. Typically it is smothered in beef soup or chicken or even lamb.{{citation needed|date=March 2010}}

It is usually served hot and eaten with hands or spoons. Aseed is eaten particularly at lunchtime and during [[Ramadan]].

=== Ethiopia ===
{{main|Genfo}}
The Ethiopian version of this dish is called [[genfo]] in Amharic. It is served with Ethiopian ghee (called [[niter kibbeh]]), [[berbere]] (an Ethiopian spice mix), yogurt, or even milk. This dish is served for breakfast.

==See also==
{{Portal|Food}}
* [[List of Middle Eastern dishes]]
* [[Arab cuisine]]
* [[Berber cuisine]]
* [[Indonesian cuisine]]
* [[List of puddings]]
* [[Kue asida]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{commonscat|Asida (food)}}
* {{citation |title=Eastern desert ware: traces of the inhabitants of the eastern desert in Egypt and Sudan during the 4th-6th centuries CE |last=Barnard |first=Hans |date=2008-07-04 |publisher=Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University |hdl=1887/12929}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Puddings}}
{{Kue}}
{{Cuisine of Tunisia}}
{{Cuisine of Algeria}}
{{Indonesian cuisine}}
{{African cuisine}}

[[Category:Wheat dishes]]
[[Category:Puddings]]
[[Category:Arab cuisine]]
[[Category:Emirati cuisine]]
[[Category:Indonesian cuisine]]
[[Category:Libyan cuisine]]
[[Category:Saudi Arabian cuisine]]
[[Category:Sudanese cuisine]]
[[Category:Tunisian cuisine]]
[[Category:Yemeni cuisine]]
[[Category:Middle Eastern cuisine]]