In Arabic literature and folklore, meat dishes have always been labelled the food of the rich and aristocratic, in contrast to the filling dishes of beans, lentils and wheat which are the diet of the lowly poor. Many stories and proverbs illustrate this distinction. Here is an old Egyptian tale of the Mamluk period by Ahmad ibn al Hajjar, in which the various foods are personified and their status is defined:
A Book about the Pleasant War Between Mutton and the Refreshments of the Market 1
King Mutton reigns over a large and powerful people, comprising mainly meats. He hears of the power of a rival, King Honey, who has been crowned by the poor, and who reigns over vegetables, fruits, sweets, fish, milk dishes, and particularly the refreshments of the market. King Mutton sends his ambassador, Mutton’s Tail (alya), to King Honey, demanding that he surrender his kingdom and pay tribute. King Honey refuses and calls his troops together, but the ambassador has taken advantage of his stay in the kingdom to debauch and corrupt the officers of rank, in particular, the Sugar, the Syrup, the Clarified Fat and others, to whom he has promised important positions at the court of his master. Thus, because of their treachery, the battle between the two armies is easily won by the troops of King Mutton, and even the reinforcements of fruits sent to help the broken army of King Honey are of no avail.
Most Middle Eastern meat recipes, both the medieval ones and more recent versions, simply state ‘meat’ – meat with lentils, meat with yoghourt, and so on – without specifying what kind of meat or any particular cut. This is because, in the past, only mutton and lamb were eaten, apart from an occasional gazelle, kid or camel. Cattle were seldom bred, except for a type of buffalo mainly used to work in the fields. Those brought from elsewhere had to travel a long way, across whole countries, to reach the Middle East, and by the time they got to their destination, their flesh was tough and inedible unless minced.
Today, however, beef and veal are gradually becoming more popular. Although mutton and lamb remain, from habit, the most widely used and favoured, beef and veal quite often replace them, the recipes themselves remaining unchanged.
It is common in the Middle East for people to buy a live sheep at the market, and to keep it for a few days in their kitchen before killing it. A tale of Goha illustrates this custom.
