CASABLANCA, MOROCCO PT.2

Hello from Casablanca once again,

This week we were lucky enough to experience and observe the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. Commemorating how Abraham did not sacrifice his son, and rather sacrificed the ram that God provided, the festivities revolve primarily around prayer and also sacrificing an animal. Across the street from our apartment, people were actually keeping sheep in a garage, so we witnessed a lot of transactions and transportation taking place last weekend. We observed the butcher on the corner sharpening butchers axes in preparation.

In some predominantly Muslim countries, the holiday began on Sunday, and some places - including Morocco - started the holiday on Monday. Essentially, every family that is able to afford an entire animal (sometimes it is a goat or cow, but typically a sheep) will have the animal butchered in their home on the first day. The following days are dedicated to eating a variety of traditional, family dishes. We left our apartment for a walk around noon on Monday and saw a lot of exhausted butchers taking a break.

At that point in the day, I think most of their work was done. Here in Casablanca, there were fires arranged on various corners throughout the city. These fires were used for cooking and charring the sheep heads. It was definitely smoky. I think there were other pieces of the animal that people were bringing to char. It seemed like residents would just go to the nearest fire pit area and put what they needed to on the coals.

There was also a guy we kept seeing who was collecting the pelts around our neighborhood. The following day we went to the grocery store, to find a line at the butcher there about 7 people deep with their animal carcasses in shopping carts, waiting for additional carving.

A lot of people take the whole week, a lot of stores are closed, and the city is a little emptier. People often give parts of their animal to those in need. Nothing is left to waste, and every part of the animal is used. There are other holidays coming up next week, Revolution Day and the King of Morocco's birthday, so a lot of people are on vacation and a handful of things are still closed.

We dined at F. Kabbaj last week, a restaurant well-known for its foie gras and duck. Everything was delicious, and I would go back again for the creamiest, most buttery, extremely delicious risotto with duck.