Aid el Idha or Aid el Kebir (the Grand Festival) is literally the feast commemorating Abraham’s (Ismael) sacrifice of his son, substituted miraculously and at the last moment by a sheep. This festival is also popularly called “Aid el Kebir” or the Grand Festival. The ritual is always the same. Every year more than ½ million sheep are sacrificed in only one day, a fact constituting somewhat of a cataclysm for the sheep population.

In former times just like today, people must save up for a long time to afford the sacrificial sheep, lamb, or ram. For those who can afford a ram, it has to be one with horns, if possible. The horned ram is known as “the sheep of prestige.” Some wealthy people will even buy two sheep: a lamb for the mechoui (see “Gastronomy”), and a ram for the sacrifice itself. Selecting the right animal for l’Aid is a true trial. Everyone does his best to purchase the most beautiful sheep he can find at the lowest possible price. The only restriction is that the animal must be at least six months old.

People prefer if possible to call on acquaintances in the countryside (“rif”) for help, thus avoiding the souk where intermediaries (“gachara”) might mendaciously tell customers that the sheep come directly from Siliana or Ouslatia where they ate nothing but thyme and rosemary in the depth of forests. Farms sell sheep by weight for 4,500 – 5,500 TD the kilogram. Often however, even these animals are the result of intensive “sheep mills” and have little or no taste for the discerning palate. In short, any method to acquire a sheep is used. To be without should be avoided at all costs so that adults and children alike are not disappointed.

Even if the festival itself, private summer lessons for children, “l’aid esseghir,” “mouled,” and the beginning of the school year all come together and often constitute a source of painful financial sacrifice for a family, buying the sacrificial sheep is something that must be done no matter what. Some people go into debt, and today one can even buy a sheep on long-term credit with up to 36 months to pay it off!

The best sheep are those raised in the heights of Oueslatia, “Jbel oueslat,” with “liya arbi” (fat on the sheep’s tail). Those raised in the west, “gharbi,” with no “liya arbi” are to be avoided. The price for one of these good sheep is between 180 – 480 TD. The tail grease, used by our grandmothers in lieu of olive oil and even sometimes as fuel to keep houses warm at night, is now out of fashion because of its high cholesterol content.

Starting a week before the festival, children parade their animals through the streets, showing them off with puerile pride. Old knives are taken to be sharpened, and hay is bought to feed the sheep, except for the eve of the slaughter when it’s recommended to give the animal only water to drink. The day of l’Aid, after the prayer, everything is ready for the sacrifice. Those who haven’t thought of making an appointment with the local butcher must scare up someone on the street willing to do the deed for 10-15 TD.

In times past, the sacrifice had to be performed by a pious man who cut the animal’s carotid while its head was pointing towards Mecca. Today with the growing demand for butchers, self-made men perform the act quickly, often without even a muttered “bismellah” (in the name of God). After dissecting the sheep’s carcass on a “kardha” (wooden cutting board), the butcher uses a crude axe to chop off a few pieces of meat, preferably from the ribs section (chops) which will be used for the mechoui (see “Gastronomy”). Customers succeed one another quickly on the day of sacrifice. A leg of lamb is supposed to be given to the poor as a token of charity (“sadaka”). Relationships between neighbors are strong, and families have been known to present an entire sheep to those less fortunate than themselves.

The next step is a flurry of cooking that takes over the entire household. First the “canoun” (small clay or metal furnace) must be lit and fed with charcoal, using the “saliha” (small empty tomato puree can with holes at both ends, used as a funnel to fan the embers). “Bkhour” (incense made of “ouchak” or Myrrh), “dad” (Atractylis Gummifera, as well as “jaoui” (aromatic incense from the trunk of the Japanese Snowball or Styrax tree) should be added, the latter to protect against the evil eye.

Culinary habits have not changed over the ages. Lamb chops are cut for the mechoui, as well as small pieces of the liver. Not all the liver is used for the mechoui since larger portions are reserved for the making of “osban,” a type of sausage composed of organ meats. The kidneys are also considered choice pieces. “Mechouia,” a salad of grilled tomatoes and bell peppers, harissa diluted in olive oil (“sahli”), and Kairouanese bread – tender and chewy all at once – are served on a “mida” (a low circular table) to the hungry hordes.

Little girls imitate their mothers and make “zoghida” (small dishes of food) using small-scale kitchen utensils.

After the customary preparation of “klaya,” everyone in the household helps clean the skin of the sheep because its wool will be used for the famous Kairouanese carpets known as “alloucha” as well as for the bedcovers known as “abana” (see “Kariouan Carpets”). Today professionals go from house to house to gather the skins which they sell to local tanners for top dinar.

The following day “bel osbane,” couscous with sausages, is served, as well as “hargma” (made from the hooves (“keraine”) and the head (“melthouth berras”) of the sheep. I nearly forgot to mention the preparation of strong-smelling “kaddid” (a sort of sheep jerky) which will allow the family to eat meat for yet another few weeks, bringing them to ‘ras el am el hegri,” the New Year of the Hegerie. The afternoon is set aside for visits with family and friends.

Thus traditions are perpetuated throughout the years, except that clothing has of course changed. In olden days the “jebba” was worn, as well as the “chechia,” and the “burnous.”

Festivities can last an entire week, and during that time the town’s butchers are on enforced holiday with no work to do. It is during this part of the festival that the pilgrimage to Mecca (“haj”) is most frequently undertaken.

At this time research is being conducted at the Ecole Superieure d’Agriculture at Kef (Kef A&M University) to determine if ovine meat is rich in omega 3 acids (polyunsaturated fatty acids) which would mean it could have heart-friendly characteristics, and therefore perhaps be called “cholesterol-free meat.”

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if something as unlikely as cholesterol-free meat could be discovered in our homeland, adding it to the already celebrated virtues of the olive oil so generously produced in Tunisia!

Next we shall look at the positive aspects of dromedary meat.

In the meanwhile, to all “Aidkom Mabrouk!” A Happy feast of the l’Aid!

Mohamed Rebai
info@kairouan.org