Zebda

This is a fresh-tasting butter made in the spring. It is much appreciated in Morocco where it is made from fresh milk which has been allowed to curdle slightly by leaving it for 2–3 days in an open jug. The ‘turned’ milk is then poured into a churn called a khabia where it is churned until the golden butter begins to separate from the lben (buttermilk). The butter particles are patted into cheese-like rounds and left to cure in the cool buttermilk. Lben, the fresh buttermilk left over from making zebda is also much appreciated by southern Moroccans who serve it as an accompaniment to breakfast cakes or pancakes, or as a thirst-quenching drink flavoured with orange-flower water. It is also served at Moroccan banquets as an accompaniment to sweet couscous.