Smen or Moroccan Preserved Butter per teaspoon
- Number of Servings: 96
Ingredients
1 pound unsalted butter (pasteurized or unpasteurized) 2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves 1-tablespoon sea salt
1. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Wrap the oregano in a small piece of cheesecloth.
2. Tie the sachet with cotton string, and set in the butter. Simmer until the butter separates into clear, golden liquid and milky sediment, 25 to 30 minutes.
3. Carefully pour off the golden liquid (clarified butter), and strain through a piece of clean, fine muslin. Discard the milky sediment and oregano sachet. Transfer to a hot sterilized glass jar.
4. Add the salt and mix until dissolved. Cover and let stand in a cool place until the mixture becomes pungent, 1 to 2 weeks. Drain any liquid from the jar and refrigerate the butter. Use within 6 months.
Smen (semneh, beurre ranci) is a traditional butter-based cooking oil made from sheep and goat milk. Preserved butter, with its deep, pungent aroma and distinctive flavor, enhances many of Morocco's savory dishes, especially couscous. It is an aged butter similar to Asian ghee, and is a prized flavoring ingredient in Moroccan dishes.
In Morocco, smen (or sman) is still a delicacy. Smen is made by kneading butter with various decoctions of herbs, cinnamon, and other spices; the mixture is then cooked, salted, and strained like ghee. It is poured into jugs, tightly closed, and buried in the ground for months, sometimes years. The precious stuff is saved for special feasts by storing it The smell is considered especially magnificent: a particularly aged pot of the family smen may be brought out of the cellars for honored guests to sniff. The smen represents the riches of the house. The necessity of "doctoring" a perishable substance in order to save it in hot weather is in this manner turned into a gastronomic triumph, and hedged about with tradition and prestige. Other versions of clarified butter, called samna by non-Moroccan Arabs are throughout the Middle East.
In Lebanon, samneh is butter that has been boiled until the fat in the pan is as transparent as a tear (dam'at el-eyn). It is then taken off the heat and left to settle before being carefully strained through a fine sieve into sealed containers where it will keep for a year or more. Ethiopia has a spiced version, nit'r k'ibe.
Serving Size: Makes about 2 cups or 32 tablespoons or 96 teaspoons
2. Tie the sachet with cotton string, and set in the butter. Simmer until the butter separates into clear, golden liquid and milky sediment, 25 to 30 minutes.
3. Carefully pour off the golden liquid (clarified butter), and strain through a piece of clean, fine muslin. Discard the milky sediment and oregano sachet. Transfer to a hot sterilized glass jar.
4. Add the salt and mix until dissolved. Cover and let stand in a cool place until the mixture becomes pungent, 1 to 2 weeks. Drain any liquid from the jar and refrigerate the butter. Use within 6 months.
Smen (semneh, beurre ranci) is a traditional butter-based cooking oil made from sheep and goat milk. Preserved butter, with its deep, pungent aroma and distinctive flavor, enhances many of Morocco's savory dishes, especially couscous. It is an aged butter similar to Asian ghee, and is a prized flavoring ingredient in Moroccan dishes.
In Morocco, smen (or sman) is still a delicacy. Smen is made by kneading butter with various decoctions of herbs, cinnamon, and other spices; the mixture is then cooked, salted, and strained like ghee. It is poured into jugs, tightly closed, and buried in the ground for months, sometimes years. The precious stuff is saved for special feasts by storing it The smell is considered especially magnificent: a particularly aged pot of the family smen may be brought out of the cellars for honored guests to sniff. The smen represents the riches of the house. The necessity of "doctoring" a perishable substance in order to save it in hot weather is in this manner turned into a gastronomic triumph, and hedged about with tradition and prestige. Other versions of clarified butter, called samna by non-Moroccan Arabs are throughout the Middle East.
In Lebanon, samneh is butter that has been boiled until the fat in the pan is as transparent as a tear (dam'at el-eyn). It is then taken off the heat and left to settle before being carefully strained through a fine sieve into sealed containers where it will keep for a year or more. Ethiopia has a spiced version, nit'r k'ibe.
Serving Size: Makes about 2 cups or 32 tablespoons or 96 teaspoons
Nutritional Info Amount Per Serving
- Calories: 34.0
- Total Fat: 3.8 g
- Cholesterol: 10.4 mg
- Sodium: 83.0 mg
- Total Carbs: 0.0 g
- Dietary Fiber: 0.0 g
- Protein: 0.0 g
Member Reviews