Eid Al-Adha in Morocco
Hi everyone, I hope you are all doing well. Welcome back to my blog. I am Nourell, a mom and a housewife, and here I share my daily life, recipes from my kitchen, and reviews of products that I personally use.
Today, I want to talk about a very happy day of the year that we as Muslims wait for with a lot of excitement. It is Eid Al-Adha. This year, I started my preparations early as usual, and I am so happy to take you through how we celebrate this beautiful day in Morocco.
What is Eid Al-Adha?
First, let me introduce you to Eid Al-Adha. It is one of the most important holidays in Islam, and it is a time that brings a lot of peace, love, and calm to our hearts. We perform this special ritual to follow the sunnah and remember the obedience to Allah. It is a simple and beautiful holiday that fills every home with blessings and brings families closer together.
Preparing for Eid Al-Adha in Morocco
The preparations for Eid start days before the actual holiday, and there is always so much to do. The very first thing we do is buying the Eid sheep, which is the main part of the holiday. After that, I go shopping to buy all the necessary spices. Spices are the most critical item on my shopping list for Eid. Without these spices, the traditional Moroccan barbecue just does not taste right at all.
As a mom and a housewife, deep cleaning the house before Eid is one of the most important steps. Every Moroccan mom does this before the holiday arrives. We clean every corner so we can welcome our family, neighbors, and visitors into a clean, cozy, and welcoming home.
What we wear for Eid: Traditional Moroccan clothing
One of my favorite things about Eid is wearing our traditional clothes. On this day, we love to put on our best Moroccan outfits to celebrate and feel the joy of the holiday. For me, I always choose a beautiful Djellaba with simple and pretty embroidery. My husband and my son also look so handsome in their Moroccan Djellabas or Jabadors, and of course, they wear the classic Moroccan leather slippers, the "Balgha." Wearing these clothes makes us feel so proud of our culture, and honestly, it makes our family photos look so beautiful and special.
How we celebrate Eid with family
The most beautiful thing about the day of Eid is the family gathering. We all meet, greet each other, say our blessings, and celebrate together. We sit down to drink warm Moroccan mint tea along with authentic Moroccan sweets that have amazing flavors. We laugh, talk, and celebrate with so much joy. On this exact day, everyone is happy, and you can see the joy in the eyes of the little kids and the adults too.
The kids love to line up excitedly to get their Eid money, which we call "Eidia." It is a small or symbolic amount of money given to them as a gift, but it brings them so much happiness and makes the day special for them. These beautiful and warm vibes are what bring us together to celebrate. It is a true Muslim holiday everywhere. We share the love and wish a happy Eid to our big family, our close friends, and all our neighbors.
Traditional Moroccan Eid Food and Recipes
While the men and fathers start slaughtering the sheep, the women take over the kitchen duties to get ready for the fresh meat. We clean everything very well, including the sheep's stomach, which we call "Douara." You might find this surprising, but it is a truly delicious meal after it is cleaned perfectly, cut into small pieces, and cooked with parts of the lungs and intestines. It might sound a bit strange if you are not from our culture, but it is a big part of our Moroccan traditions.
Our very first meal of the day is the sheep's liver because cleaning the stomach takes a lot of time. That is why we prefer to cook the liver for lunch first. Everyone cooks it according to what they love. Some people prefer it cooked in a sauce, while others love it grilled on charcoal, which we call "Boulfaf." Boulfaf is made of pieces of liver wrapped in the sheep's fat, and it is seasoned only with salt and cumin. This specific meal is one of the most delicious things ever. It has an amazing taste, even if you do not usually like liver or do not enjoy its flavor. The charcoal grilling style makes it taste so good.
Also, we should not forget that liver contains a high percentage of iron. Because of this, it is great to eat it at least twice a week for anyone who suffers from low iron levels. I am saying this from my own personal experience too, as it really helps.
After finishing lunch, there is still some work waiting for us in the afternoon. This involves cutting the rest of the meat into different parts, and cooking the dinner. Dinner is the most important meal that brings the whole family together again around the table. The main dish for this dinner is usually the "Douara" or the sheep's stomach dish that we cleaned earlier.
What to eat the day after Eid
After we finish cutting all the meat, I prepare a special barbecue marinade for the chopped meat pieces so they absorb all the flavor. The breakfast for the day after Eid consists of grilled meat skewers, or what we call "Qutban" in the Moroccan dialect. This is the most delicious barbecue we make in the morning. We serve it with hot mint tea, fresh olive oil, and bread toasted on charcoal. Honestly, it feels like a meal from another world.
These are just some of the beautiful moments on the day of Eid that bring us together with joy, happiness, and sweet greetings. I am so excited for the day of Eid, and I can't wait to start the full preparations, the shopping, and making different kinds of Moroccan sweets with various shapes and tastes. I will definitely try to bring you closer to the Moroccan culture in my upcoming articles.
What about you? Tell me about how you celebrate in your country? While you are following Sparkledose, I am Nourell, sending you lots of love and doses of sparkle. I really love connecting with you in the comments, so please share your thoughts with me
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That sounds like a wonderful day! I love how you share your life and culture, it's so neat to get to see how other people live! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! I really love sharing a piece of my culture and daily life with everyone, and it honestly makes me so happy to connect with people from all over the world. Learning about other cultures is just as exciting for me! I truly hope my blog can become a cozy little space where moms from everywhere can connect, share their stories, and support each other.
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