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10 | Algeria irritated skin. Gently heated olive oil is rubbed di- rectly onto the skin to treat problem areas. Folk remedies also include herbal infusions. For exam- ple, in the Kabylie, water infused with fresh mint is believed to be a digestive aid with antispasmodic and antinausea properties. Proper digestion is con- sidered very important certain foods are eaten or avoided to prevent upset stomach. Islamic culture places great emphasis on main- taining good health through proper personal hy- giene and dietary habits. Ablution (ritual cleansing) is performed before each of the fi ve daily prayers of Islam, and food is eaten with the right hand only the left hand is reserved for matters of personal hy- giene. Foods are either haram (prohibited) or halal (permitted). Haram foods include alcohol and other intoxicants pork and products derived from pork such as gelatin and blood, including meat that has not been completely drained of blood. Animals must be slaughtered according to zabiha, the prescribed Islamic methods for ritual slaugh- ter, to be considered halal. All plant-based foods are halal. Susan Ji-Young Park Further Reading Çelik, Zeynep, Julia Clancy-Smith, and Frances Terpak. Walls of Algiers: Narratives of the City through Text and Images. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2009. Gitlitz, David M., and Linda Kay Davidson. A Drizzle of Honey: The Lives and Recipes of Spain’s Secret Jews . New York: Saint Martin’s Press, 1999. Rodinson, Maxime, A. J. Arberry, and Charles Perry. Medieval Arab Cookery. Devon, UK: Prospect Books, 2001. Stora, Benjamin. Algeria, 1830–2000: A Short His- tory. Translated by Jane Marie Todd. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2001. Wright, Cliff ord. A Mediterranean Feast: The Story of the Birth of the Celebrated Cuisines of the Mediterranean from the Merchants of Ven- ice to the Barbary Corsairs. New York: William Morrow, 1999. Zaouali, Lilia. Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic World: A Concise History with 174 Recipes. Translated by M. B. DeBevoise. Berkeley: Uni- versity of California Press, 2007.