Eid al-Fitr is the end of fasting in the holy month of Ramadan and one of the two main Muslim holidays. According to tradition, a large table is set on this day with lamb dishes as the main course. Muslims in different countries and regions prepare their national dish from lamb: in Azerbaijan, shakh-pilav, in Uzbekistan – pilaf and manti, in Tatarstan – belish meat pie, in Dagestan – khinkal.
The celebration lasts up to three days, so they cook a lot to treat all relatives and friends, and when buying products for the festive table, they behave with special trepidation, especially when it comes to choosing lamb.
Brand chef Bakhtiyar Aliyev at the Caspian restaurant recommends determining the quality of lamb by its color: the meat should be pink, and the fat should be creamy, but not yellow. In his opinion, the bones should be thin, and the meat itself should not have a strong odor. “If we talk about lamb for barbecue, it is better to take a young child with a carcass weighing no more than 13-14 kg,” he advises.
According to the chef, a saddle and a loin are best suited for barbecue, and the parts of the carcass involved in physical activity are good for stewing or boiling. “These are drumsticks, neck, breast, scapula,” explains Bakhtiyar Aliyev.
He recommends cooking from lamb shah pilaf cooked in dough. For this you will need basmati rice, saffron tincture, melted butter, white raisins, prunes, dried apricots, cherry plum “abukhara”, chestnuts, onions, lamb, vegetable oil, salt. For pilaf dough – sour cream, water, flour, salt.
Hazar Restaurant Press Service
Pour rice with water and leave for an hour. Clean the lamb and slice it into medium sized slices. Onion cut into half rings. Melt the butter in a saucepan and fry the chestnuts in it, followed by the dried apricots, prunes and raisins. Plums do not need to be fried. Add a little melted butter and vegetable oil to the pan and fry the meat until golden brown. Then add the onion and fry it until it turns color.
Next, pour a small amount of water into the pan, bring it to a boil and remove from the heat. Add the saffron and salt, let it brew and strain.
Knead the dough and let it rest. Boil rice in boiling water (you can add salt, vegetable oil and lemon juice to the water). Boil up to 80% so that the rice is crumbly. Rinse the cooked rice in cold water and put it in a colander and pour the infused saffron over it.
Choose a deep bowl, grease it with butter and cover with the prepared dough mixed with sour cream, water, flour and salt. Spread the filling in layers: first rice, then roasted chestnuts and dried fruits with meat and onions. Cover the filling with dough sheets (on top of each other), cover with a lid and put in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 40 minutes. Then remove the lid and leave it for another 15 minutes.
Nadezhda Lyubimova, brand chief of Williams At Oliver’s chain of right things for the kitchen, also recommends choosing the meat of young animals when choosing meat. According to him, it is possible to determine the age of a sheep by the color of the oil.
“In older animals it will be yellow and in young animals the fat will be white,” he says.
According to Lyubimova, lamb “loves” sour pickles with the addition of vinegar, lemon juice or onions, as well as olive oil.
“Of spices, allspice, thyme, garlic, sage, saffron, mustard, cardamom, turmeric and cinnamon are best suited for lamb. An important rule of thumb when cooking is not to grind the meat for too long, otherwise it will turn out dry and tough,” she says.
Williams at Oliver press office
For socialbites.ca, Nadezhda Lyubimova chose the recipe for a rack of lamb with herbs. For cooking you will need a rack of lamb, garlic, olive oil, fresh thyme and rosemary, Himalayan salt, black pepper.
In a blender bowl, blend the garlic, thyme, rosemary, salt and olive oil until smooth. Rub the grill of lamb with salt and pepper and place on a baking sheet.
Put the herb paste on it and let the meat rest for an hour at room temperature. Bake in a preheated oven at 220 degrees for 25 minutes. Then remove the meat, cover with foil and leave for another 15 minutes. When serving, cut into individual steaks.
According to Artur Gedgafov, brand chef of the Vysota 5642 restaurant on Bolshaya Yakimanka, when choosing meat, you should proceed from what you intend to cook it: shoulder and neck are good for stewing, baking or boiling, brisket is excellent for cooking. rich soups. For barbecue cooking, the chef recommends buying loin, ham or loin.
“Kurdyuk is probably the tastiest part of the carcass! It is suitable for boiling and frying, and is also an additional flavor enrichment for ground lamb, salting or smoking.”
Gedgafov admits that buying lamb for himself is a complete ritual. “When I go to the market, I usually go a few laps before I buy something, and I finally get the first piece that catches my eye. And I never miss it,” says the chef.
Press service of the restaurant Height 5642
She shared a lamb rib recipe with socialbites.ca: all you need to prepare the dish is ram or lamb ribs, salt and pepper. Clean the ribs and cut into portions. Salt, pepper and let it rest for 2-3 hours. Then fry until golden brown on all sides and serve with your favorite fresh vegetables.
By the way, lamb ribs are popular in Italy. “A very popular dish in Rome is scotaritto, these are braised lamb ribs. Scotaritto means “flaming fingers” in Italian. Because the ribs are eaten immediately after they are removed from the fire, ”says Mirko Dzago, chef of Onest and Aist restaurants. According to him, in his homeland, lamb is cooked more often than lamb: homemade pasta with lamb and stews of stewed shoulder blades with tomatoes, lemon zest and pecorino sauce are popular.
“Another dish I cook is herbed lamb – tarragon, parsley, basil, thyme, and mint. I cook the lamb in a saddle and serve it with celery puree and mustard seed sauce.”
The chef adds that in Italy lamb dishes are always cooked at Easter. And for guests of Moscow restaurants, Mirko Dzago buys Dagestan meat, trying to choose the lamb shoulder weighing no more than a kilogram.
Gayane’s Restaurant Press Service
According to Gayane’s brand chef, Gayane Breiova, one of the most popular lamb dishes in Armenia is stewed meat.
“My grandmother used to cook boiled meat on special occasions. He himself went to the market to choose products for food. I took a young lamb – fatty pieces of pale pink color with streaks on the bone. I bought fresh tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, onions and aromatic herbs. In the summer he would cook in a cauldron in the garden. “Sometimes I added a draft Armenian beer during the cooking process,” he said.
To prepare stewed lamb from Gayane Breiova, you will need lamb, onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, potatoes, light beer, a glass of broth, coriander, dill and purple basil.
Boil the lamb until tender. In a separate deep pan, place the layers of chopped onion rings, peeled coarsely chopped tomatoes, chopped peppers, coarsely chopped potatoes and meat in order. Pour a glass of beer and a glass of broth and simmer until the potatoes are tender. Add chopped greens at the end.
Source: Gazeta
Barbara Dickson is a seasoned writer for “Social Bites”. She keeps readers informed on the latest news and trends, providing in-depth coverage and analysis on a variety of topics.