Fresh Meat! – Fez, Morocco

…Ouma insists I taste the brain, and the eyes, so I take a deep breath and…  it’s delicious.  Seems like anything Ouma’s mum cooks is good.  Now I’ve eaten brain I feel like a real adventurer.  Or maybe a zombie…

Ouma invites us to spend Eid Al Adha with her family in Fez.  We are stoked.   Eid Al Adha is the second most important holiday of the Islamic calendar, and is a very big deal in Morocco.  (Another BeWelcome.com win!)

We arrive at the apartment, and meet a pair of plump sheep on the stairs.   Ouma advises us not to get too friendly, because tomorrow they will become lunch and dinner.

( Top: the ritual slaughter. )

We meet Ouma’s family.  Mum, two aunts, a brother, several cousins, nieces, nephews, neighbors…   everyone is happy and excited, and the feeling is infectious.

The women are bustling around the house, putting the best covers on the cushions, scrubbing the floors, and Haranguing each other loudly.

The butcher arrives late and flustered around ten thirty in the morning.   Eid is a crazy time for the Moroccan butchers.  Every household in the country has acquired at least one goat or sheep, and on the morning of Eid, they are all slaughtered.   Many families do the butchering themselves, but middle class people usually employ butchers, who make hundreds of hasty house calls throughout the morning.

The family gather on the roof terrace, the sheep are brought out, and the carnage commences.   The butcher works swiftly and efficiently.   The animal is dropped on the ground, the throat cut with a razor sharp blade.   Once the animal is dead, the head is removed.  The butcher inflates the skin of the carcass by blowing into the flap of skin around the leg joint.   The skin and meat separate neatly, and the carcass is hung and skinned.  In an hour both animals are completely butchered.
The tripe, lungs, heart, kidneys, stomach – all are kept, and are cooked in different ways.  The head is barbecued whole,   and then split in half using a cleaver and hammer.

( Inflating the hide to make skinning easier. )

( Witnessing the process is important religiously. )

Nia and I help to carry the carcasses to the butchers shop where it is jointed.  When we get back, the meat goes into the kitchen and the cooking begins.
Ouma’s family are busy and animated all day.  The men light a small coal fire in the living room, and everyone sits around talking, and making kebabs with sliced liver, fat and heart.   The atmosphere in the apartment is soon thick with smoke and savoury smells.   Everyone’s eyes are streaming, and the smoke induced tears seem to be a trigger for emotional expressions of affection and happiness.
As the haze thickens and we sit munching on the tastiest lamb I have ever eaten, it is easy to imagine we are in a tent in the desert.

Friends and family come and go.   The women cook and argue all day, and late into the night.   I say “Salam Alaikum” so many times people actually start to understand what I am saying, despite my accent.
Everyone makes us feel welcome, and comfortable, and Ouma and her mum are perfect hosts.  ( I am astonished when Ouma tells me they have had something like 1500 BeWelcome couch surfing guests in the last 2 years!  Bravo! )

The climax of the party is the serving of the sheep heads.  I tuck in bravely.  Ouma insists I taste the brain, and the eyes, so I take a deep breath and…  it’s delicious.  Seems like anything Ouma’s mum cooks is good.  Now I’ve eaten brain I feel like a real adventurer.  Or maybe a zombie.  Hey, either is cool!

Many things about Eid Al Adha are exotic and unfamiliar, but one thing reminds me of Aussie Xmas a lot; sitting on the couch surrounded by laughing happy people, too full of good food to move.
We are so used to commercialised, secular festivals.  Eid in Morocco is exciting, real and sensual.  There are no frills, no glamour, but lots of intensity.
On a culinary note; as an Australian I consider myself a BBQ conosieur.  Moroccan lamb is a 10/10.

( Tripe, intestines, everything is cleaned and cooked. )

( This butcher and his offsider work fast! )

( Best BBQ lamb ever. )

( Our lovely host, Ouma – a major carnivore and the life of the party! )

( Taking the carcasses to the butcher shop to be jointed.  Hauling meat is thirsty work. )

( Ouma’s mum planning her menu. )

( Nia entertains Ouma’s cousin, Malak, while we wait outside the butcher shop. )

( The piece de resistance; BBQ sheep head.  Delicious. )

 

 
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