I think that’s how it’s spelled. It’s the really stinky butter that is used for cooking. In any case, my MIL uses it for many dishes and I realize that it’s smen that gives that delicious flavor that I like in her cooking. I was telling one of my Moroccan friends about this. Then she told me that it’s not good for the health. Can someone tell me what’s the problem with it? Thank you.
angie
Hello ,
Yeah its Smen, it really make what we cook delicious, and for your question i dont think its not healthy, because its just butter (real butter not vegetable one) its made from cow milk then we add some salt to this butter (and if you want you can add some other flavors like thyme) and you make it in a pot and leave it until it become Smen(you have to see someone preparing Smen ;)). Of course if you made it by yourself it would be better than if buy it 
Meriem, you’re faster :). I asked mom to be able to answer this ^_^. (Did you cheat too, Meriem? :D)
Isn’t what you just described called Smen l7arr? That’s not to be eaten with bread. The normal smen I know, is the one that you serve with bread like you serve jam, butter, olive/argane oil, honey, etc. It’s made differently: You make butter melt, and add to it thyme, and a handful of “smîd” (what’s this in English?), and very little salt.
lol Asmaa, no I didnt cheat 
my mom prepare Smen sometimes (but only Smen l7arr, mom told me that there is another way to prepare Smen to eat it with bread but she didnt know how but now thanks to you I will tell here :p) , and yeah I am talking about Smen l7arr because Angie said that she saw her MIL using it for cooking .
Smeed = Semolina 
Yeah, I know Angie was referring to Sman l7arr used for cooking. It’s not that much used by Berbers by the way. So I wanted to share the preparation tips of the other one too ;).
I forgot to add that when you’re getting the butter to melt, you add a little water for the butter not to get “burned”, so it’s just the water evaporating, and the butter melting. At the end, you can eat the semolina, I love it, especially with the thyme’s flavor, yummy!
Thank you ladies!
That’s what I thought when she told me. She’s from Oujda, maybe over there smen is different? I don’t know. But as you say, it’s real butter and lately health professionals are saying that using real butter is better over margarine, as long as it’s not over used. I guess.
Thanks.
Angie
You are more than welcome Angie
Yes Asmaa, so until now there are 2 kind of Smen : Smen and Smen l7arr (by the way I dont know if in Oujda they have thier own Smen :() ,mom told me that Smen(the one you described) is the Berber Smen and as you said Berber dont use Smen l7arr as much.
Thanks for the tip I really dont mind to try it and feel your “yummy”, by the way were you eating Smen with bread while posting ??:lol:
LOL no, I wasn’t! It’s been a while actually since I last ate smen. It’s called “oody” in Berber, such a cooly-cooly name -lol-.
And to get back to Angie’s question, I do not see what’s bad for health in smen. But maybe the fact of leaving butter (that’s normally kept in the fridge) out there with salt isn’t that healthy, I can’t tell anyways.
Isn’t the smell of smen l7arr just aweful? The other day mom brought some smen l7arr for something and put it in the fridge, so I just had to be away from it…You could just smell it once you step in the kitchen.
The Smen your mother brought was very very 7ar (the more it stay the more it become bitter), the one my mom prepare is not like this(Because we dont get the “real” butter all the time, so the Smen she prepare is eaten very quickly), otherwise no one gonna stay at home loooool
“Oody” that sound nice !! by the way, do you have SpeakBerber forum?:roll: that will help me a lot because I am trying to learn Berber
Many friends actually said that it would be a good idea if I start a Berber Vocabulary Blog like the Darija one(s) I already have, so in sha Allah I’ll get to that at some point. By the way, what makes you interested in Berber? :). In Agadir, people who live here and are not Berber (we mostly are Berber over here), are more and more interested in learning the language. In some job interviews, they even require that you speak Berber, it’s a must in this city for commercial negotiations and deals.
Salam SM.
Well I am interested in all languages, if I catch a chinese native speaker I will ask him to teach me chinese , it’s a passion that needs to be “refined” but I am interested more in languages that I hear a lot (for exemple Berber, I have Berber class mates and I like to hear them speaking to each other, I like Turkish too, I hear it in some songs, and really I feel pitty because I don’t understand )…
Sometimes I just feel happy because I can speak Arabic, I can’t imagine myself without it
Hey SM !!! we made Oody myaaaaam delicious :okay:
Yay :D. So you’ll always think of me whenever you make/eat the nice smen :D.
I am glad you like it! (Like if it was MY smen :D)
Bss777777a w rra7a!
Allah ye3tik sa7a
Ana dima mfakrak 3ndi wa7d sa7bti smitha behalk
Iwa 3ndaki shi nhar tghalti w t3iyyti liha f zznqa: wwwwwaaaaaaaa ssimbllli mrrokiyyan :lol:.
:mdr::mdr:
Tanjarab chi mara ngolha liha o ncofha chno ghada dir, bel7a9 ana 3arfaha ghada tb9a ghir tchouf o ghada tgoulia “chno hadi li goltiha :D” hhhhhhhh
Yeah its Smen, it absolutely accomplish what we baker delicious, and for your catechism i dont anticipate its not healthy, because its just adulate (real adulate not vegetable one) its fabricated from cow milk again we add some alkali to this adulate (and if you wish you can add some added flavors like thyme) and you accomplish it in a pot and leave it until it become Smen(you accept to see anyone advancing Smen