we recently celebrated two major holidays within the span of one week, enjoying family time and good food! the first was Leid Kabir (the big feast), which is a muslim holiday, commemorating the time when abraham was required by God to sacrifice his only son, isaac on the mountain. when the time came for the slaughter of his son, God instead sent a ram in his place, so that abraham was able to spare his son. muslims remember this event with a special celebration each year - it rotates on a lunar calendar, so it is not a fixed holiday like Christmas. It is also a large family celebration - if you are able to get home, even if only for a day, you travel. the transportation system goes crazy during Leid. anyway, each head of the household is required to buy a ram (although it is acceptable to buy a ewe, a yearling, or a goat), which is then sacrificed on the morning of Leid, after morning prayers. the sheep is quickly dissected and cleaned, and the frying commences. the rest of the day is spent eating sheep parts (the liver, heart, lungs, stomach, and intestines are usually enjoyed first), smelling burning hair (the head and feet are scorched in fire to make hair removal easier), and visiting neighbors to wish them a happy eid. and you will probably have to try the meat of every house you visit - so be prepared. the meat eating generally lasts 3-7 days, each family having their own traditions regarding what meal is eaten when (the stomach, the boiled and roasted meat, the head, kebabs with herbs, couscous - they are all special meals).
i must admit that i don’t really like the smell of the slaughter or the burning hair afterwards, but i really do love the organ meat. except for stomach. i can’t stomach stomach. but there is a special kebab they make called ‘bulfaf’ and it consists of small chunks of liver wrapped in fat. they cook it over coals until the fat is dripping, then you sprinkle cumin and salt on it, and enjoy! it is so tasty. this from someone who cuts any little fat off chicken breast and carefully trims steak to eat only meat. anyway, it was nice to spend the day chatting and preparing food with aziz’s family. it is interesting that even though the holiday is quite different from anything we celebrate in the US, it makes me very nostalgic for Thanksgiving and Christmas. everyone shares a communal excitement, there is the build-up with advertising and the anticipation of going to buy the ram - not unlike our build-up to Christmas - although the emphasis on materialism is not present. i think the real reason I enjoy eid so much is not necessarily the bulfaf (though that helps), but the emphasis on family, togetherness, and being thankful for the year’s blessings.
a few days after Leid Kabir, i made my moroccan family celebrate my eid - Thanksgiving! it is a holiday that is easily received in morocco, because even though the historical significance doesn’t matter to moroccans, they readily relate to the idea of a holiday about thankfulness. i had thought about skipping the holiday this year, because i am not in the states, and there aren’t that many other americans that would be able to celebrate with me here. but i would like to start establishing traditions in our family (even though it is just aziz and i) so that when we do start having children, it will be an organic transition to include them, and create our unique family traditions. so, i decided to hold a feast (if for no other reason than to practice my cooking skills) and bring a little bit of america to morocco for a day. i was blessed by a gracious package from mom full of american ingredients (pecans, coconut, brown sugar, etc), and i invited a number of friends and family to celebrate with me. the star of the day was of course the Turkey! i bought him from a family in my peace corps village, brought him alive all the way to ain leuh, and let him gobble around for a couple of days. then, the morning of Thanksgiving, the neighbor came and slaughtered him (it was very reminiscent of Leid Kabir) and aziz plucked and cleaned him! i had a friend (and co-worker) come from rabat to celebrate with us, and so she helped me prepare all the food and offer helpful hints (like how to save the turkey after we discovered it was not quite cooked 5 minutes before we wanted to serve it!) in addition to Mr. Tom, we had garlic mashed potatoes, roasted root vegetables, jello salad, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, gravy, and pecan and apple pie. originally i had invited aziz’s immediate family, and a few american friends, thinking - if i ruin something, it is only for a few people, and they are all very forgiving. however, naturally as this is morocco, we ended up having aziz’s immediate family plus 8 relatives from a nearby town, a couple of friends who randomly stopped by and stayed for the meal, and a few of aziz’s friends. it was so nice to have a large gathering for Thanksgiving, and we were so blessed by all the guests...over 20! and i explained a little bit about the holiday, and made everyone go around and say what they were thankful for.
anyway, i have posted pictures for comparison purposes - they look quite similar actually. all in all, two very enjoyable holidays, and really nice for me especially, as this time of year is one of the hardest for me - wanting to be home with family and friends. so, hope your holidays are filled with joy and that you are able to be with family and friends at this time.
