worse to us than any preparation of pig would be to a Moor. Prominent
among such is the ancient butter which forms the basis of much
of their spicings, butter made from milk, which has been
preserved--usually buried a year or two--till it has acquired the
taste, and somewhat the appearance, of ripe Gorgonzola. Those who
commence by trying a very slight flavour of this will find the fancy
grow upon them, and there is no smell so absolutely appetizing as the
faintest whiff of anything being cooked in this butter, called "smin."

Another point, much misunderstood, which enables them to cook the
toughest old rooster or plough-ox joint till it can be eaten readily
with the fingers, is the stewing in oil or butter. When the oil itself
is pure and fresh, it imparts no more taste to anything cooked in it
than does the fresh butter used by the rich. Articles plunged into
either at their high boiling point are immediately browned and
enclosed in a kind of case, with a result which can be achieved in
no other manner than by rolling in paste or clay, and cooking amid
embers. Moorish pastry thus cooked in oil is excellent, flaky and
light.




XIII

THE NATIVE "MERCHANT"

"A turban without a beard shows lack of modesty."

_Moorish Proverb._