Marking the end of the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, Eid al-Adha or the ‘Feast of Sacrifice’ is one of the most important feasts in the Islamic calendar. The three-day festival commemorates Ibrahim’s (Abraham) willingness to obey God by sacrificing his son – although he was later allowed to sacrifice a ram in his son’s place. In remembrance of this, a cow or ram is usually sacrificed as part of the religious celebrations with a portion of the meat being donated to the poor, sick or needy.
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- Each man of the house has to partake in the slaughter of one of the sheep. Here the eldest son leads his out.
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- The cutting of the throat
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- It may look gruesome (and it is) but there is no pain felt. The nerves to the brain are cut straight away and any movement by the sheep is purely muscular reflex
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- Cleaning up
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- The most gruesome bit – decapitation! By this point the sheep is obviously dead. There seemed to be very little emotion by the eldest brother here, however the younger brother (aged 31) really was not happy about it all. He led his own sheep out next but did not actually make the incision!
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- The ladies of the house cannot take part in the sacrifice of the ram. They do the cleaning up and the cooking after
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- Preparing the heart, lungs and kidneys wrapped in the stomach lining and rolled in herbs. Cooked very quickly on a little BBQ this was really delicious. It’s easy to forget sometimes where you meat comes from but when it has been slaughtered 20 minutes before in front of your eyes you find yourself having to enjoy it that little bit more
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- Rolling the various bits in stomach lining ready for cooking.
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- Making the Berber bread. Once rolled as is been done here, it is then cooked in a mud oven outside in the garden.
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- Partaking in the feast.