Kubaneh

Kubaneh is a rich, buttery yeasted bread baked overnight at a very low temperature until it turns deep golden-brown all the way through. It's a Yemenite Jewish Sabbath bread, and its slow, unattended overnight bake is built around the same religious rule that shapes cholent — no fire can be lit or adjusted once the Sabbath begins, so the bread has to go into the oven before sundown Friday and come out fully baked by Saturday morning.

What it really is

A yeasted dough, worked with a generous amount of butter or margarine folded through in layers, gets rolled and coiled into a pot or tin before going into an oven set to a very low, steady temperature. It bakes there, completely undisturbed, for eight hours or more overnight — far longer and slower than an ordinary bread bake — emerging the next morning with a deep, even golden-brown colour on the outside and a soft, rich, almost custardy interior underneath.

The overnight timing is the point, producing a texture no faster bake replicates. The extraordinarily long, low bake is what gives kubaneh its distinctive soft, dense crumb and deep colour — a bread baked hot and fast, even with the same dough, comes out as a different thing entirely.

How it's served

• Warm, torn by hand, for Saturday morning breakfast.
• With grated fresh tomato, a hard-boiled egg, and schug, the fiery Yemenite chilli paste.
• As part of a full Sabbath breakfast spread, rarely served alone.

How to write it on the menu

• Flag the wheat.
• It's naturally vegetarian.
• Say what it's traditionally served with, since the tomato-egg-schug combination is a genuine, expected pairing.

The ingredients, allergens and dietary notes listed here describe a typical recipe. They are not a binding declaration for any particular restaurant: recipes, portion sizes and the products used can differ.