Sheep head on a stick, anyone?

16:00 17 November 2008

I can now say, with complete sincerity, that I have roasted a sheep head impaled on a stick over a fire. Somehow I doubt the majority of my readership can say the same and while it was undoubtedly an interesting experience, don’t consider yourselves too unlucky. I returned home today after spending a night in Karakol to attend an alleged AIDS education session at a club there. While I thought it was a good idea, getting young people to come to a club at night and then educating them about AIDS and other sexual health issues seemed like it would attract more people than a daytime seminar held at the local Red Crescent. However, despite the planners (some of my friends here) and their good intentions, it seemed like a normal night at a club with the difference being free condoms handed out- I have to admit that I was a little disappointed.

Regardless, I arrived home the next day in time to witness the butchering of one of our sheep. We are having a guest come in a few days so it was being slaughtered in preparation for her arrival. It was the third animal but first sheep I have watched being butchered in this country and I still find it quite a fascinating lesson in anatomy- regardless of the fact of its goriness. The traditional Kyrgyz method of cooking a sheep revolves around the highest national dish- besh barmak which I believe I have written about before but it is a multi-step process to prepare the entire sheep- and they really does prepare the entire sheep, hardly anything goes to waste. The majority of the sheep meat is boiled to make bullion but the hooves and head are preserved to be roasted- this is where I came in.

My youngest host sister- a 19 year old who usually is in Bishkek attending university but speaks pretty good English- was visiting for the weekend and the task of building a fire and roasting these choice parts was given to us. The fire part was easy, and then I sharpened a large stick upon which to impale the head. That was quite the interesting process, it took quite a few violent jabs at the severed head to get it properly mounted on the stick The hooves were stuck onto the prongs of a large pitchfork and then the roasting began.

Despite having given the sheep head a haircut post-mortem, there was still a fair amount of fur on it, this promptly burned and left the stench of burning hair/flesh firmly entrenched in my clothes. Wonderful. It was still fun to hang out with Aijan and speak English around the house, a rare luxury for me and I think I gained a deeper appreciation for Kyrgyz culture by participating in the process.

Later in the afternoon, I again got to help Aijan with the unenviable task of cleaning the digestive organs of the sheep. Not surprisingly, and I pardon my vulgarity, it smelled like shit and has left my hands stinking for what my sister has assured me will be no more than three days. I definitely don’t regret it though, on the whole it was an interesting to participate in the process and while it is not a skill I believe I will ever utilize in the states, I can now say that I know how to prepare at leas the choicest parts of the Kyrgyz fat-tailed sheep.