Smen

Smen (also called sman, semneh, or sminn) is salted fermented butter, an important cooking ingredient most common in North African and Middle Eastern cuisines. It is produced using the butter made from the milk of sheep, goats or a combination of the two. The butter is brought to boiling point for about 15 minutes, then skimmed, strained into a ceramic jar called a khabia, and salted before it curdles. Thyme is often added to it 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, just like cheese is left to mature in underground caves because they have cooler and more stable temperatures.

It is similar to ghee and niter kibbeh, but has a characteristically strong, rancid, and cheesy taste and smell. Matured smen is very similar in taste to blue cheese because likewise it is a high-fat form of cheese. The older the smen, the stronger—and more valued—it becomes. Smen is traditionally used mainly in the preparation of couscous and trid, as well as of tagines and kdras, although it is becoming increasingly difficult to find due to its increasing replacement by peanut oil, a non-native culinary element introduced from Senegal and other West African countries.