If you do not have or can't get the Jameed, you can use a mixture of Greek yogurt and buttermilk or just Greek yogurt to make the sauce. Prior to the 1970s, mansaf was cooked in a large copper cauldron that was placed over a fire in the courtyards of one's home. The cauldron was so large that people had no choice but to cook the dish outdoors. Once the ingredients were fully cooked, they would be placed on a large copper platter and carried indoors. [24] The meat, traditionally lamb, is cooked in a yogurt sauce. This utterly unforgettable sauce is called Jameed. Jameed is a critical ingredient in making Mansaf. Jameed is a fermented milk product made from sheep or goat milk. It has a very distinctive taste and smell. In Jordan, Jameed is fermented, salted and strained and then rolled into balls. The balls are dried and hardened. This is how Jordanians would preserve the milk without refrigeration, until they wanted to use it.

It is a popular dish eaten throughout the Levant. It is considered the national dish of Jordan, and can also be found in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Syria. [2] The name of the dish comes from the term "large tray" or "large dish". [3] The dish evolved greatly between the 1940s and late 1980s, undergoing changes in the recipe as well as in the preparation process. Though mansaf is frequently referred to as Jordan's "national dish", Palestinian Professor of Modern Arab Politics and Intellectual History at Columbia University Joseph Massad states that mansaf is not a truly "traditional" dish, but is rather a more recent dish which was developed during the Hashemite-Mandatory era of the early 20th century, and then promulgated as a national dish following independence. Massad notes that the current form of mansaf differs from the independence-era and Mandate-era recipes but is portrayed by the state as a dish that is both national and a Bedouin tradition, [5] despite it also historically being a dish of the peasants and Bedouins of the neighboring regions of southern Palestine and Syria. [13] [14] Regions and variants A variant of mansaf topped with parsley

Joseph Massad (1998). Identifying the nation: the juridical and military bases of Jordanian national identity. Columbia University. p.233 . Retrieved 23 July 2012.

Abu Bader said he learned the traditional process of making jameed from his grandfather and has been making it for over half a century. His children have now mastered the process as well, he said. He said the first involves straining the buttermilk through a fine mesh cloth without heating it, and the second involves heating buttermilk before straining. Some people like to cook the meat halfway through then finish it off in the Jameed, others prefer to cook it in the Jameed from the start. I find it is easier to cook the lamb then let it boil in the Jameed sauce later.Jameed is reconstituted by soaking in water after crushing and is consumed mainly as a sauce in the preparation of Mansaf, a traditional Jordanian dish composed of lamb meat cooked in Jameed sauce served on top of rice (wheat previously). it is also used in other Jordanian dishes such as Kousa Makhshi (Stuffed zucchini cooked in yogurt), Kubbeh Labanieh (Kibbeh cooked in yogurt), Rashouf (lentils, wheat, and wild plants cooked in yogurt), Mshawata/Fowaira (Shraak bread cooked with yogurt). Short grain rice is the tradition to use in this Jordanian dish, but if you do not have it, use any rice you have. Sonia Uvezian (2001). Recipes and remembrances from an Eastern Mediterranean kitchen: a culinary journey through Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. Siamanto Press. ISBN 978-0-9709716-8-5 . Retrieved 23 July 2012. The best mansafs are reputedly found in the towns of al-Salt and al-Karak. Dursteler, Eric R. (2014). "Bad Bread and the "Outrageous Drunkenness of the Turks": Food and Identity in the Accounts of Early Modern European Travelers to the Ottoman Empire". Journal of World History. 25 (2–3): 203–228. doi: 10.1353/jwh.2014.0023. ISSN 1527-8050. S2CID 143929097. I let jameed dry for less time than is traditional because one reason it is left out to dry so long is to make it durable at room temperature for long periods of time. Since these balls will be stored in the freezer, it’s not necessary to dry them to that stage.

After the 1970s, many changes occurred to the original recipe and preparation of mansaf. The bread was replaced with rice, and the platter used for the mansaf changed from traditional copper to a florally decorated enamelware or aluminum platter. [21] These changes happened due to advancements in technology, which made it possible for mansaf to be cooked indoors, in smaller amounts for smaller groups of people like families. [25] See also Jameed usually comes in dry hard balls made from ewe or goat's milk, but the one we have here in the US is the liquid starter. Jameed based on sheep and goats milk can be found in small shops, some people make it and sell it to the dairy shops and direct to customers. in the area women produce it for households’ own consumption and sell to their neighbours and relatives. The modern dairy factories use fresh and powdered milk 92.7% of the milk comes from dairy cows. In Jordan there are 80 modern dairy factories which are located mostly in the regions of milk production and surrounding the big cities. These factories process fresh milk from dairy farms in addition to the powdered milk into yogurt, concentrated yoghurt (Labaneh or Laban Jamed), cream, Baladi cheese, Jameed , flavoured-yogurt, ice cream, pasteurized milk and butter.

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Ad Dustour (in Arabic). 2009-04-28. Archived from the original on 2016-10-07 . Retrieved 2016-04-19.