Every yr, the query of the right way to deal with the meat of sacrificed animals, be it from a cow, sheep or goat, for Qurban Bayram, aka Eid al-Adha or the Feast of Sacrifice, involves the forefront as soon as once more. And yearly, we see folks making the identical errors over and over once more, from outright ruining the freshly minimize meat to creating it dangerous for human well being. People with gastrointestinal issues specifically may even should be extra affected person in the event that they don’t wish to spend the vacation on the bathroom or in mattress. Here are some factors to bear in mind when getting ready and cooking your meat:
Let. It. Rest.
As tempting as it’s to immediately throw your meat onto a grill or a barbeque or marinate them in their very own fats there to be braised, there’s something main that many overlook: rigor mortis. You might need heard of (or examine) this time period in a police drama or a murder-mystery novel after they discover a corpse. It mainly implies that the meat toughens or stiffens (rigor) after dying (mortis). This stiffness could be good for chopping up the items you wish to preserve within the freezer however it’s not the neatest concept to eat it in that state. Aside from making your abdomen harm, the style is not going to be fairly proper.
So how lengthy must you wait?
Preferably it’s best to wait 24 hours to eat the meat, however there are, of course, many components that go into this estimate, such because the animal itself and the temperature exterior. But as it’s customary to eat the sacrificial meat on the times of Eid, a minimal of 12 hours needs to be allotted. For the impatient who may not suppose that is essential, I simply wish to level to the truth that butcher outlets let their meat relaxation for at the very least 24 hours in a cool and ethereal place earlier than doing something with it. They are the professionals, so we needs to be heeding their recommendation.
How ought to I retailer it?
The animal has been sacrificed and everybody has gotten their minimize. Now what? I keep in mind years in the past that my aunt stuffed the meat into plastic luggage and allow them to wait in a comparatively heat place. The subsequent day she complained that the meat had gone unhealthy, not surprisingly. With no contemporary air contained in the bag, condensation begins to builds up across the meat and this moisture, coupled with warmth, creates the proper breeding floor for micro organism.
Firstly, the meat wants to chill down by itself and ideally in an ethereal setting. So placing your meat right into a bowl or on a tray and spreading it as skinny as attainable to permit it to chill off is important. Once it has gotten to room temperature, it’s best to preserve the meat in a chilly place – a fridge, of course, is the best choice. Depending on the way you wish to use your meat, you’ll be able to minimize and prepare the items, put them in freezer-safe luggage or containers and put them away. One necessary factor to notice right here is that it’s best to keep away from utilizing one thing too skinny to wrap the meat when inserting it within the freezer. If the masking or bag is just too skinny or isn’t of the appropriate materials, you’ll be left with freezer burn, which is able to present up on the meat as grayish spots. It is definitely fit for human consumption, however if you happen to have no idea the place the grayness got here from, you may find yourself throwing it away. The solely drawback with these grey patches is that they’ll dry out the meat and not provide a nice eating expertise.
Once the meat is out of the freezer and has thawed, you can’t put it again into the freezer once more, so be sure you solely take out what you want. It can be noteworthy that if the meat has remnants of mud or soil on it, relying on the place it was minimize, you’ll want to minimize these components away and keep away from washing it. The washing of meat is problematic in itself because the micro organism nestled within the filth can get into the meat and contaminate it. Again, micro organism love heat and moistness, so keep away from washing it and save your self from illness.
How ought to I prepare dinner it?
Once the meat has rested for ample time, be at liberty to arrange it in the best way you want (braise it, roast it, boil it) however remember that you wish to keep away from cross-contamination whereas utilizing a chopping board. The board you utilize for the meat shouldn’t be the identical one you utilize to chop up your greens – which it’s best to undoubtedly be included in your Bayram menu, in some way.
When you wish to barbeque the meat, you’ll want to watch out and not place it too near the precise hearth. Let it prepare dinner, not flip to charcoal by burning. Eating burnt meat can be cancerous, and let’s be trustworthy: Who needs to eat powerful, dry chunks of meat anyway?
Don’t overlook the bones
Every Eid, I all the time sit up for my aunt’s “kelle paça” soup, a conventional Turkish dish with tons of spices, made with the top (kelle) and different bones of the animal. There is not any must get fancy right here – the easier the higher. Once all of the meat has been processed, minimize the bones all the way down to a measurement sufficiently small to suit right into a pot and boil them for a bit. Once the broth is finished boiling, flip the range off and let the pot cool. Pour the bone broth into smaller freezer-safe containers, and there you could have your self one of probably the most potent and vitamin-rich broths that may be saved for later and added to any variety of dish.
