We are so lucky to be based here in Dubai and to have easy access to such 'exotic' things as camel ghee! Ghee is a different type of butter and camel milk is quite unique... which leads to an even more complex flavour profile!
Camel milk is fascinating. It naturally has less saturated fat and more unsaturated fat that cows' milk and significantly more calcium, which makes it an ideal milk for those wanting to diversify their dairy preferences. It also has less sugar than cows' milk and its fat distribution is different enough that, instead of needing to be relatively cold when churned into butter, camel milk needs to be at 24ºC or 25ºC in order for the fat globules to coalesce.
We've not found camel BUTTER but we are lucky enough to have a camel dairy here in the UAE that produces a wide range of camel milk products and they even make ghee! Ghee is clarified butter, so they must be making butter and then further processing it into ghee. We shall investigate but for the mean time, let's review some camel ghee!
Camelicious Camel Ghee with Arabic Herbs Appreciation
Butter Break Down
Appreciation Date: 22/10/2021
Country of Origin: United Arab Emirates
Point of Procurement: Union Coop
Purchase State: Fresh
Milk: Camel; Pasteurised
Salt Content: None declared
Milk Fat Content: Almost 100%
Ingredients: Camel milk; Arabic herbs
Declared Possible Allergens: Camel Milk
Company Website: http://www.camelicious.ae/
Butter Evaluation
In which we discuss Camelicious' Camel Ghee with Arabic Herbs.
Camel ghee is really fascinating. The texture of ghee in general is quite solid and can be either waxy or crumbly and camel ghee is particularly solid and crumbly, even at room temperature. When kept in the fridge, you will need a knife to chip away at it.
Interestingly, the colour of this ghee comes from the Arabic Herbs (and presumably, turmeric) as we've since located plain Camelicious camel ghee and it's pure white, like buffalo milk. We see camels eating all sorts of forage and tree leaves here so they are getting plenty of beta carotene but, again like buffalo, don't pass it on to their milk.
The aroma of this ghee is also different - camel milk is much less sweet and fatty than cows' milk and has an almost pungent ring to it. Compounded into ghee, these aromas come to the fore. Camel ghee, especially with Arabic Herbs has a rich, meaty, somewhat waxy aroma to begin with and is best used with savoury foods. We figured that Ghee Rice is the perfect tasting vehicle for ghee so that's exactly what we did!
Again, the texture of this ghee is extremely hard and the pan had to be quite hot before it began to melt properly. Once it did, and the rice began to fry, it browned much more than the other cow ghee rices we were making at the same time. We're not quite sure what caused that but if you're after flavour and colour, camel ghee is the way to go!
This camel ghee coated the rice evenly with a nice shine and upon tasting, maintained meaty, almost musky, rich flavours. This is definitely a ghee to use with strong spices or rich meats.
It had a clingy mouth feel which was great at making sure the different flavours from the dish lingered on the palate, but some may find that it coats the mouth a little too much. But this is why we're here! We can tell you about it, describe it, and you can choose to use it as you see fit! Nom nom!
Final Rundown
Camel ghee is an interesting, unusual ingredient that packs a big, meaty punch when used with the right dish. It's for those who enjoy strong flavours and bold textures, or for those who are looking for a big change! For best results, use with big Arabic or Indian spices and have lots of pickles available too.
Colour: Bright turmeric yellow
Aroma: Meaty; unctuous; almost pungent
Taste: Very meaty. Not sweet. Bold.
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