Not yet a member Already a member ? Forgotten password ?
PETITCHEF
Add your blog-site | Add your recipes | Receive daily menu | Contact us

Alya (Sheep Tail Fat)


By Pomegranates and Zaatar (Visit website)





A staple of the Arab kitchen since 3000B.C. , alya also known as aliya or roghan-e donbeh in Farsi is the rendered fat from the tail of the Awassi sheep, an Asian breed of sheep that are commonly found in parts of Africa, the Middle East,Northern India,Mongolia, and Western China.Just like the camel, these sheep hold most of their energy reserves in their tail which can weigh upwards of up to 25+lbs. and are able to survive in hot, arid climates.

Alya is hardly used anymore except in rural areas because of the widespread availability of other more convenient cooking fats and oils but it was used extensively in Medieval Arab recipes.Most Medieval Arab cookbooks refer to it's method of employment as "melt tail" or "fry in tail".Nowadays,certain rural areas of Lebanon and Syria have been known to use it where it is a common ingredient in the Lebanese dish qawarma, pieces of meat that are fried in alya , then preserved for later consumption.




Rate this recipe : Not good   so so   Good   Very good   Excellent !!!  




Imprimer cette page

Send this recipe to a friend

ask a question about this article

share on Facebook


Related recipes

  • Recipe Sheep Lungs & Tripe (The Moroccan way)
    Sheep Lungs & Tripe (The Moroccan way)
    Today, I present you a typical Moroccan dish that we prepare on the occasion of El Eid, a recipe using lungs and tripe from sheep, with onion, garlic, parsley, coriander and spices.
  • Recipe Lobster Tail
    Lobster Tail
    I absolutely love lobster tail. The meat is so white and pure tasting. I would think even non seafood lovers would love lobster as it does not have a fishy taste what so ever. I prefer tails over whole lobsters because of the simplicity of it.[...]
  • Recipe Sophie's fresh sheep's ricotta & strawberries sandwich
    Sophie's fresh sheep's ricotta & strawberries sandwich
    Main Dish Very Easy
    5 Minute(s) 0 Minute(s)
    Ingredients :1 soft bagna, nearly all the way sliced open but not the whole way so that one end of the top still holds on the bottom a bit of minarine a few tabl...
  • Recipe Backyards, Concepts, Sheep Shearing and fun...
    Backyards, Concepts, Sheep Shearing and fun...
    A few weeks back I was a little disappointed that I could not attend the press event launching the book - Over the Rainbeau, a lovely coffee table book about Rainbeau Ridge farm written by Lisa Schwartz, Judith Hausman and Karen Sabath, but I[...]