Awarma and the Fat-Tailed Sheep of the Middle East
By Shannon MacColl
“Fat gives things flavor.” -- Julia Child
The technique of storing food in fat to preserve it is centuries old and known across continents as it was virtually impossible to keep precious meat safe to eat prior to refrigeration without it.
Awarma, a Lebanese dish, where lamb meat is confited (stored and cured in fat) in lamb fat is perhaps the embodiment of this technique. Though dishes such as duck confit may be the more well-known version of this technique, awarma remains a nostalgic breakfast dish for many.
The unique aspect of awarma is not the fat itself, but where the fat traditionally comes from, which is where the fat-tailed sheep wanders in. If one has never seen a fat-tailed sheep before, it may look like a caricature of what Western cultures are traditionally used to seeing in a sheep. Yet, the fat-tailed sheep have been recorded since at least the 5th Century BCE by Herodotus, references exist of them in the Bible and to this day makeup approximately 25% of the sheep population (mainly found in the Middle East and North Africa.) Yet, most individuals have never heard or seen them before (so much so that travelers could not confirm how the sheep moved around with their 10 or 20-pound tails until the 20th Century) despite being an integral part of Middle Eastern cooking for thousands of years.
Today, the fat from the fat-tailed sheep is still preferred when making awarma, though it is not as easily accessible outside of the Middle East in today’s world. It remains a dish known for its unctuousness and its ability to provide a luxurious eating experience, created mostly by the buttery flavor of the fat-tailed sheep fat, despite its humble origins. So the next time you find yourself enjoying a plate of awarma and eggs with a hot cup of qahwah, remember the fat-tailed sheep with their tails in carts, roaming the deserts of the Middle East.
Want to make awarma yourself? Check out this traditional recipe from a butcher in Beirut.