Smen

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Samneh/smen
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Maghrebi smen (left) with msemmen (right)
TypeButter
Region or stateArab world
Associated cuisineArab cuisine
Main ingredientsButter
VariationsFermented, smoked
Food energy
(per serving)
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Similar dishesGhee
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Smen (from Template:Langx or Script error: No such module "Lang". also called sman, semn, semneh, or sminn) is a salted, fermented butter native to North African cuisine (Algerian,[1][2] Moroccan and Tunisian[3]),[4][5][6] as well as a traditional Yemeni dish.[7] In countries like Jordan and Lebanon, samneh is a type of butter similar to clarified butter, while north African smen is a type of fermented butter similar to ghee.[8][9][10][11]

Smen is an important ingredient in North African and Middle Eastern cuisine. It is produced using butter made from the milk of sheep, goats or a combination of the two. The butter is brought to its boiling point, then skimmed, then strained into a ceramic jar,[12] and salted before it curdles. Some add roasted fenugreek seeds to the boiling butter, after which it is strained from the fenugreek seeds. Thyme is often added to provide a yeast and enzyme starter. Other plants or fruits can be used. The result is then aged, often in sealed containers. It is then traditionally buried in the ground for temperature stability purposes, like cheese is left to mature in caves because they have cooler and more stable temperatures.[citation needed]

It is similar to ghee, clarified butter,[7][12][13] and niter kibbeh.[7][10] Middle Eastern samneh is typically cooked for longer than clarified butter to further remove water and solids and thus extend its shelf life.[14]

Etymology

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Look up سمن in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

The Arabic Template:Translit is likely derived from the Semitic root Script error: No such module "Lang"..[15][16] An 1890 Ottoman Turkish to English dictionary by British lexicographer James Redhouse described semn as "clarified butter" or "ghee".[17]

History

According to food historian Nawal Nasrallah, the practice of clarifying butter as a method of preservation dates back to ancient Mesopotamia[18]

Regional customs

Levant and Egypt

Leather bag used for making samneh baladi, Jordan
File:Egyptian margarine.jpg
Jar of Egyptian samneh, made from cow milk

Spice blends like hwajeh (Script error: No such module "Lang".) are a traditional component in Jordanian samneh, Melilotus is a major component in these blends.[9][19] In Jordan and Palestine, butter is often gently simmered with bulgur, which absorbs remaining milk residues, before being strained to produce samneh, also called samneh baladieh.[20][9][21]

In Egypt and Syria, samneh is traditionally prepared using a leather bag.[22][23]

Samneh baladieh is a core component of many sweets, like baklava and knafeh.[24][25]

Maghreb

Moroccan smen is traditionally aged after it is prepared and spiced, it undergoes fermentation as it ages until it achieves a "stinky" blue cheese-like scent.[4][26] A 2022 survey in northern Morocco found that smen is used as traditional medicine for a number of ailments, with this knowledge transmitted orally across generations.[4] A similar fermented butter is also made in Tunisia.[8] Matured smen is very similar in taste to blue cheese as it is a high-fat form of cheese. The older the smen, the stronger—and more valued—it becomes.[4]

The milks used are traditionally cow, goat, ewe, or a mixture.[27]

According to popular legend, Berber farmers in southern Morocco will sometimes bury a sealed vessel of smen on the day of a daughter's birth, aging it until it is unearthed and used to season the food served at that daughter's wedding.[28][29][4]

Yemen

In Yemen, the local custom was to take fresh butter and to add thereto hot water while the milk or whey was still mixed with the butter. This mixture is then taken up and put into a separate vessel where it is then brought to a boil. Immediately thereafter, they take either wheat flour or roasted and ground fenugreek seeds mixed with roasted wheat kernels, and cook them together on a low heat. Allowed to simmer. Afterwards, the butter is then strained until one is left with a clear batch of melted butter (smen).[30] The smen is then stored in a smoked earthenware container in a cool place.[citation needed]

Yemenis prepare a special version of semneh (Script error: No such module "Lang".) which is smoked with aromatic herbs inside of a gourd in order to impart deeper flavour and aid in preservation.[31][7] Yemeni samneh is used to make a dish called fatoot samneh.[14]

See also

References

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  1. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Boussekine, Rania (2022-06-09). Smen/Dhan, beurre fermenté traditionnel (Thesis thesis) (in français). Université Frères Mentouri - Constantine 1.
  2. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Fatima-Zohra, Bouayed. La cuisine algérienne. Temps Actuels.
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.E. B; Camps, G.; Morel, J.-P.; Hanoteau, G.; Letourneux, A.; Nouschi, A.; Fery, R.; Demoulin, F.; Chamla, M.-C.; Louis, A.; Ben Tanfous, A.; Ben Baaziz, S.; Soussi, L.; Champault, D.; Gast, M. (1986-09-01). "Alimentation". Encyclopédie berbère (in français). 4 (4): 472–529. doi:10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.2436. ISSN 1015-7344.
  4. ^ a b c d e Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Schmidt, Alex (9 October 2014). "Smen Is Morocco's Funky Fermented Butter That Lasts For Years". NPR. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Roden, Claudia (24 December 2008). The New Book of Middle Eastern Food. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. pp. 13, 46, 147, 305. ISBN 978-0-307-55856-5. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
  6. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries". Food and Agriculture Organization. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
  7. ^ a b c d Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Gill, Li (11 Dec 2023). "Semneh - Yemeni Clarified Butter - Recipe". Foodish - Anu Museum. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  8. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Smen - Arca del Gusto". Slow Food Foundation. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
  9. ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Samneh Baladieh Balqawieh - Arca del Gusto". Slow Food Foundation. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  10. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Butter and smen in the Arab world : Butter". WebExhibits. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Semenchuk, Nicole. "LibGuides: Clarifying Butter: Ahlan Wa Sahlan (Welcome): Middle Eastern Fats". Culinary Institute of America. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
  12. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."في رمضان.. هل تأكل السمن البلدي؟" [During Ramadan, should you eat samn?]. Al Jazeera (in العربية). 11 Jan 2022. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The Best Olive Oil in the World? This Village Thinks So". The New York Times. 19 Oct 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  14. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Marks, Gil (17 November 2010). Encyclopedia of Jewish Food. HMH. ISBN 978-0-544-18631-6. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."šamnu". www.assyrianlanguages.org. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Kogan, Leonid (19 May 2015). Genealogical Classification of Semitic: The Lexical Isoglosses. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 265. ISBN 978-1-61451-549-4. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  17. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Redhouse, James W. (1890). A turkish and english Lexicon shewing in english the significations of the turkish terms: Printed for the American Mission by A. H. Boyajian. Boyajian. p. 1078. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
  18. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Nasrallah, Nawal (2003). "Glossary". Delights from the Garden of Eden: A Cookbook and a History of the Iraqi Cuisine. 1stBooks. p. 550. ISBN 978-1-4033-4793-0. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  19. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."سعادة وغذاء ودواء.. ربيع البادية الأردنية يجود على أهلها بالخيرات" [Happiness, food, and medicine... the spring of the Jordanian desert bestows its bounty upon its people.]. Al Jazeera (in العربية). 31 Mar 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
  20. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."بالفيديو: السمن والجميد.. تمسك بالتراث ومصدر رزق لعائلات أردنية" [Samneh and Jameed: A preservation of heritage and a source of livelihood for Jordanian families]. Al Jazeera (in العربية). 17 Apr 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  21. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."السمن البلدي والزبدة لا زالت حاضرة بفلسطين ولكن بتزاحم بين منتجات الألبان" [Samneh and butter are still present in Palestine, but they face competition from other dairy products.]. alwatanvoice (in العربية). 19 July 2007. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  22. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."صناعة السمن الفلاحى حكاية عشق لأهل القرى بالمنيا.. وصفة تخليك تعمل زبدة بكفاءة.. وأم محمد: "الخضاضة" بتفصل اللبن عن السمن وساهمت فى تخفيف الأعباء الاقتصادية عن الأسر.. والناتج المتبقى يدخل فى تجهيز "الكشك"" [Making samneh is a love story for the people of the villages in Minya.. A recipe that makes you make butter efficiently.. And Umm Muhammad: “The churn” separates the milk from the ghee and has contributed to easing the economic burdens on families.. And the remaining product is used in preparing “kishk”]. Youm7 (in العربية). 23 December 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  23. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.""العكة"... صناعة تقليدية لا تزال نساء دير الزور تحافظن عليها" ["Al-Akka"... a traditional craft that the women of Deir ez-Zor still preserve.]. JINHAGENCY News (in العربية). Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  24. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."العائلة الفلسطينية التي أدخلت الكنافة النابلسية إلى دمشق!" [The Palestinian family that introduced Nablus knafeh to Damascus!]. Orient News (in العربية). 10 Apr 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2025.
  25. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."الحلويات السورية... إقبال كبير في تركيا رغم كل التحديات" [Syrian sweets... huge demand in Türkiye despite all the challenges]. The New Arab (in العربية). 19 Sep 2023. Retrieved 1 Dec 2025.
  26. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.El Lamti, Fatima; Mennane, Zakaria; Elmtili, Noureddine; Mrani Alaoui, Mohammed (November 2024). "Ethnomedicinal Knowledge and Traditional Methodology for the Preparation of Fermented Butter "Smen" Among the Rural People of Northern Morocco: A Field Study". Journal of Medicinal Food. 27 (11): 1133–1139. doi:10.1089/jmf.2024.0087. ISSN 1557-7600. PMID 39239716.
  27. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Rania, Boussekine; Farida, Bekhouche; Stella, Debaets; Anne, Thierry; Marie-Bernadette, Maillard; Hélène, Falentin; Audrey, Pawtowski; Malika, Barkat; Monika, Coton; Jérôme, Mounier (April 2022). "Deciphering the Microbiota and Volatile Profiles of Algerian Smen, a Traditional Fermented Butter". Microorganisms. 10 (4). doi:10.3390/microorgani (inactive 2 December 2025). ISSN 2076-2607. Retrieved 1 December 2025.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of December 2025 (link)
  28. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."This Funky Moroccan Butter Ferments Underground". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
  29. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Dangler, Emily (25 October 2014). "Morocco's Mysterious Butter, Smen". Culture Cheese Magazine. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
  30. ^ *Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Badiḥi, Yiḥya (2011). Yosef Ḥen (ed.). Ḥen Ṭov (in עברית). Bene Berak: Nosaḥ Teman. p. 206 (responsum no. 48–beth). OCLC 768305430.
  31. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Sussman, Adeena (16 May 2017). "The Yemenite Jewish Table". Hadassah Magazine. Retrieved 30 November 2025.

References

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