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6. and

often used ,(دهن االلية) sheep-tail , sometimes referred to as duhn al-alya (ألية) alya rendered. To render it, it is chopped into small pieces and then cooked in a pot with some until it melts. The remaining sediment is discarded. When used with cookies, it is sometimes enhanced (yukhlaʿ) with aromatics like mastic, cinnamon, musk, and camphor, as in Kanz recipe DK, appendix 4, p. 81. used loosely to designate rendered sheep- alya; otherwise it is oil (دهن) duhn extracted from plants and other than (zayt). . Bazr by itself (دهن بزر الكتان) and duhn bazr al-kattān (دهن بزر) duhn bazr designates seeds in general. However, it is also recognized as an abbreviated refer- linseed. In Kanz recipes 240, 246, and 247, it is used (بزر كتّان) ence to bazr kattān to rub the prepared fish with before further cooking it, as it was believed to remove the fishy smells. ., used to fry sparrows, as in Kanz recipe 143 (دهن دجاج) duhn dajāj ,oil of sweet . It is a delicate oil used in dishes for the sick (دهن لوز) duhn lawz refined porridges, and desserts. It is also used as the base for making aromatic oils. Because of its moderately cold and moist properties, it is usually recommended for headaches. It can also weaken women’s appetite, for those who want to lose weight (al-Anṭākī, Tadhkira 314). , used in Kanz recipes for making cookies, condensed puddings, fine (سمن) samn dishes of rice with milk (aruzz bi-laban), and omelets (ʿujaj). It is usually obtained by cooking until all the liquid evaporates and nothing remains but pure fat and sediment in the bottom of the pot, which are discarded. See the last recipe of Kanz chapter 10, for an interesting way of obtaining ghee directly from milk. Besides its culinary uses, samn is believed to have medicinal benefits, such as soothing dry- ness of throat and mouth, and purging brain and chest. It is also recommended as a facial cream (al-Anṭākī, Tadhkira 218).

ghee from cow’s milk, said to be the best. Gee from milk (سمن بقري) samn baqarī of sheep is second best. .pure ghee (سمن خالص) samn khāliṣ

.solid animal fat, (شحم) shaḥm , used as an all-purpose fat, for example, for (شيراج) shīrāj (شيرج) shayraj frying and baking cookies.

enhanced sesame oil, which is made by heating (شيرج مخلوع) shayraj makhlūʿ the oil with small amounts of spices, such as a cinnamon stick, mastic, black

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���8 | doi ��.��63/9789004349919_032 504 Glossary

pepper, and cumin; the spices are all used whole so that they can be removed from the oil. Olive oil is enhanced similarly, see for instance Kanz recipe 140. .fresh sesame oil (شيرج طري) shayraj ṭarī

Figure 55 Olive tree, al-ʿUmarī, Masālik al-abṣār, fol. 171v, detail (BnF, Department of manu- scripts, Arab 2771).

olive oil. The word derives from zaytūn (olives). Oils extracted from other (زيت) zayt plants are more accurately called adhān (sg. duhn), such as duhn al-lawz ( oil). This rule, however, is not always followed. See zayt ḥārr, below. As described by al-Anṭākī, Tadhkira 200, on varieties of olive oil:

1) The olives are harvested as they first start to change color (not fully ripe), they are pounded, mixed with hot water, and then rubbed and pressed until the oil floats up to the surface and is collected.1 This, he says is called

1 As described in Hassan and Hill, Islamic Technology 224, this oil is commercially produced: The olive pulp left from the first cold pressing is soaked in hot water and pressed again to