Whole Sheep Recipe

Shallah and I Tie the Legs and Belly Cavity


INGREDIENTS
One 2-meter long pole sharpened at one end
One butchered sheep
Baking twine
Hot coals
3.5 - 4 Hours of roasting
12-15 friends
(One small 45-50 lbs. sheep easily serves 12)

We basically skewer the sheep. Tie it's backbone to the pole in a couple places. Then tie it's front and hind legs to the pole. We put in onions, garlic and a little salt inside it's internal organ cavity with the kidney and liver. Sew the cavity closed with the baking twine and then roast it over the hot coals. It takes awhile, but if you've ever cooked out on the open fire while camping, you'll have an idea of how good this tasted when we finished!

David and Ray waiting for the feast

David, Ray and Mohamed Giving Their "Seal of Approval"

Herd Guide

This sheep is a guide for the herd. They are not shaved like the other sheep so they are easily identifiable to the other sheep (I think). The guide is trained to stay near the sheperd and the other sheep follow the guide.

Finding and Choosing from the Herd

Mustafa Surveying the Herd

We drove North into the desert for about 45 minutes. I asked Shallah how were we going to find the herd? GPS? Satellite phone? Road and trail markers? He said we'd go to their last known location (two months old!) and go from there. They should be close.

We drove to the last known grazing area and I saw them way off in the distance. It was relatively easy finding them because you can see really, really far.

Sheperd's Home

Three of them live here. One each from Syria, Bangladesh and India. In the distance to the left you can see where they are training the "guide sheep".

Selecting the Meat for a Barbeque

These last couple weeks I've been so busy getting ready to go back to the U.S. to see my family and for vacation. Prior to leaving Saudi Arabia, a few of my my friends and I got together for a Saudi-style barbeque.

As you all know, the first thing you have to do if you're having a BBQ is to select the meat!

This is a photo of Anwar (he is from Syria) who helped us select a sheep from my friend Shallah's brother's sheep herd (say that fast three times!).

Modern Saudi Arabia

My Saudi friends tell me they wished that I posted some of the modern things from their country. I admit I am guilty of posting the scenes I expect to see from childhood stories and maybe the sights a westerner can see only here in the Middle East. Camels, sheep, sand dunes and sand storms, etc. For me it is still all new.

My friends are very proud of their modern buildings and modernity in general (as they well should be). Yet they also enjoy a picnic, overnight campout, or a stop for gahwa & tea in the desert just as much.

To me, the modern Saudi Arabia is exemplified by a sight I saw at a fuel station while traveling one day. I saw a car pull up and three young Saudis get out. The first was in traditional Saudi clothing, the second in traditional garment but with a baseball cap and the third in western clothing. All the young men seemed to be equally comfortable dressed in the clothing of both worlds.


My buddy Russ took this photo of the Mamlaka skyscraper at dusk. I took the night time photo on another trip. Every time I go to Riyadh I search for it in the distance as a sign of my journey's end. It lights up at night in varying colors of purple, blue, green, gold, orange and red.

Jeddah Traffic Circle Art

Back in my hometown we have a committee whose mission is to select art to display around the city. I don’t know if Jeddah has the same set-up, but one thing is for sure, in my opinion, Jeddah is way ahead in the selection process. Here are some examples that demonstrate humor and beauty for both night and day.

Jeddah is also known in Saudi Arabia for it's fountains. Next trip I'll try to get a few shots of them as they are equally impressive.

More Jeddah Traffic Circle Art

These are camels sectioned into three parts. I have seen a herd of horses done this way too. Maybe next trip I'll have better photos.

More Traffic Circle Art

This huge globe lights up at night and is made of individual blue, green, grey, and shades of brown tiles that glow.

Jeddah Traffic Circle Art

Script from the Quran "There is only one God and Muhammed is his prophet….. " shaped into a dhow.

Gahwa

This photo is of a traditional Arab coffee pot. If you look closely you can see the saffron spice in the pouring spout, which is the gahwa's last ingredient before it reaches your cup.

One of the differences between gahwa and American coffee is the gahwa coffee beans are green and then slightly roasted before grinding, whereas the American coffee is already roasted. Another difference is gawha has cardemon added for flavor.

The Drink Maker

Faisal made traditional arabic coffee (gahwa) and sweet tea all night long. Tradition for the coffee is to take take an odd number of cups. The cup is never filled entirely full, as that is considered an insult. Gahwa is usually served with dates or some other small sweet snack.

Four Hours to Cook - 30 Minutes to Eat

Shallah, Mustafa and me in the early stages of cooking our supper.

My friend Shallah invited me to a barbeque out in the desert to celebrate the graduation of a few of our friends from a local college. Of course, I accepted. Just after sundown, I went out into the desert to find the BBQ spot with one of my diving buddies, Mustafa, who is also an American. We found Shallah busily readying the coals for the cooking fire and setting up three foot high canvas windbreaks around the sitting and cooking fires. Next to the cooking fire was a tasty looking sheep skewered on a long wooden pole. It’s belly was sewn shut with sweet white onions and garlic inside. Shallah set the sheep cooking pole on wooden stands across the fire about 7:00 pm. While the sheep was cooking, more of our co-workers came in intervals throughout the evening to drink gahwa (Arab coffee) and shai (sweet tea) and talk about sports, politics, religion, and everything else under the moon. We ate under starlit skies, a perfect light breeze and a three-quarter moon about 11:00 pm. The sheep was excellent. Then after cleaning up we sat around the fire and talked further into the night. Some of the guys had a graduation to attend the next morning and we all had to work the next day so we didn’t stay out all night. Mustafa and I talked about if and how we could do a barbeque similar to tonight’s back home in the States. One thing is for certain; you cannot just pull off the side of the road a couple hundred yards and pick a spot out in some field back home. Otherwise, this would be a whole bunch of fun for an evening get-together.

Beauty Contestant

The white camels are considered more pleasing to the eye than the other colors. Isn't she a beaut? I took this photo early in the morning on the side of the road while on the way to Riyadh with Russ.

If You Feed Them, They Will Come

My little wild kitties are getting friendlier since their mother has started weening them. They have even resorted to testing their claws on my shoes while I am dishing out their food. Or maybe they are clawing and trying to tell me to hurry up.

Jeddah - What A Jewel

Having not been away from work (other than shopping trips to Riyadh) since early December, a "getaway" was in order. A few friends and I went for a quick weekend on Jeddah's beautiful reef. This is my second time diving there and the legendary Saudi people's hospitality is truly everything I had always read about.

Access to the Sheraton Hotel's dive site is included in the hotel rate and it is first class. The reef condition and visibility was excellent. The night diving was awesome. We were the only people there and when we finished we simply cleaned our gear and left it hanging for the next day's diving.

Camels in the Camel Crossing

It took a year but Russ and I were on our way to Riyadh and finally were able to take a photo of camels in the background of a camel crossing sign. We had sheep photos, we had goat photos, but only a camel in the background would do.

Colorful Chicken

I had a chicken recipe that sounded good but by the time I finished adding the "extra" stuff I like it ended up being much more colorful and much more flavorful than the original. I baked this in the oven and it tasted great.

Fahga (Truffles)

The Northeastern area of Saudi Arabia is the number #1 prime location for growing fahga. I went looking for it in the markets in Hafr Al-Batin and couldn't find any. So I called my friend Fahad Al-Sahli and he told me to quit looking and he would bring me some to work in the morning. I told him I was wanting a kilo so I could share with my friends and that I would pay him. True to his word, he brought a kilo the next morning and would not accept any money for it. According to the paper the going rate is 200-250 SAR ($50-$70 USD) per kilo.

I shared with some of the guys and I scoured the interent for recipes and kept coming up with fancy French methods. I talked to some friends and they gave me guidance from "cook it like a potato" to " cook it like a piece of meat". I ended up cooking it with pasta and a bit of garlic, with pasta and a spaghetti-type sauce and with a tomatoe, onion and pepper sauce. It gives the food a smoky-earthy flavor not at all like any mushroom I have tasted. All were equally good and I will try it again next year.

Can You See Me?

This is the first photo of SSK's kittens since soon after they were born. This one thought she was hidden well until the camera flash went off and she hissed and retreated further back into the bushes. Whether you like or don't like cats, you've got to admit their kittens are always entertaining.

Another funny note is these little runts can climb a stucco wall with no problem. After they get up there though, there is no place to go but down. One of the Laws of Physics (gravity), you know.

I guess I am one of those people who are easily amused at animals because I can remember laughing out loud watching pigs run as if on cue every time Rick or George honked the feed truck horn out at the Stephens' place. Picturing a mass of young pigs all snorting and running to who knows where is still hilarious to me now.

SSK Kittens

My immediate neighborhood is about 8/10ths of a mile all the way around with 55 houses or villas as they call them here, of which less than half are occupied. With that many hiding places for a cat to choose from I haven’t been actively trying to find Salty Saudi Kitty's kittens. I figure when they are old enough to eat solid food they’ll be around my back porch often enough. Nothing is more fun to watch than little puppies or kittens play so I admit I have been anticipating seeing them.

My co-worker, Russ, is coming back from vacation soon so I was doing a little bit of work on his car when SSK appeared. I searched around a little and she had hidden the kittens behind Russ’ house in a lantana bush. They’re real cute but are feisty enough to hiss and howl if you pick them up. I tried to handle them a bit, so they’ll get used to people, and paid for it with a couple scratches here and there.