Hamila, a 40-year-old entrepreneur and owner of a Moroccan packaged food business in London, vividly recalls the excitement of the holiday season. She fondly remembers bringing an entire sheep back to the apartment with her father, where the women would gather to clean the innards and trotters in the bathtub. She also recalls the specific order in which they would eat the meat - organs on the first day of Eid al-Adha, head and trotters on the second day, and finally making kebabs, tagines, or grills on the third day after the fresh meat had rested. Eid al-Adha, also known as the Festival of Sacrifice, is the second major Islamic holiday of the year and aligns with the Hajj pilgrimage. It honors the story of the prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail at Allah's command. In the end, God provided a ram for Ibrahim to sacrifice instead. Traditionally, people in the Islamic world have sacrificed a lamb, goat, cow, or camel at home and divided it among the needy, friends and relatives, and immediate family. However, home butchering of animals is now prohibited in many countries, including parts of the Arab world where a significant portion of the Muslim population reside. Meat continues to hold a central role in Eid al-Adha, also known as Eid al-Lahm or Festival of Meat among many Arabs. However, as traditional celebrations rooted in community begin to fade, particularly for Arab Muslims living abroad, people are finding new ways to observe this holiday that is known for its food. Areej Bazzari, a digital marketing director at Salesforce in San Francisco, reminisces about the breakfasts that were the highlight of Eid al-Adha in her upbringing in Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Her family's holiday spread included a variety of offal dishes, prepared in different ways such as braised with garlic, fried with onion and spices, or mixed with eggs. Bazzari fondly recalls the teamwork involved in preparing these dishes. Bazzari fondly remembers her family's Eid celebrations from when they lived in Saudi Arabia, where they would often quarrel over who got to sit in front of which plate of organ meat. Since moving to Sonoma County in 2000, they rarely prepare organ meat due to its limited availability. However, on special occasions when her father manages to find fresh heart or kidneys, they will include it with other cuts of meat to continue the tradition, albeit not with the same abundance as before. Bazzari appreciates how her Eid al-Adha celebrations have evolved over the years, drawing on childhood memories and incorporating new cultural traditions learned from friends in the U.S. Eid al-Adha is now a time of celebration for her, marked by a large gathering of family and friends, festive decorations, and a variety of dishes, including unique options like fattehs, shushbarak, and manaqeesh. However, the highlight of the day is always dessert, which is a taste of home for Bazzari. Her parents make a special effort to bring back traditional desserts from Saudi Arabia or Jordan every year, such as ka’ak and ma’amoul, which are essential items on the dessert table. This year, Hamila's dessert selection will include cookies filled with dates or nuts. Her signature dish for the upcoming holiday season will be mechoui, a slowly roasted leg of lamb that holds special meaning in her feast, both for its symbolism and its delicious taste. She plans to serve lighter side dishes such as salads and vegetables, as it is the middle of summer. This year, Eid al-Adha is tentatively scheduled for July 20, but the exact date depends on the sighting of a new moon due to the Islamic calendar being lunar-based. In the past, this holiday was celebrated in cooler weather, but now it moves through the seasons over time. In the last five years, the summer holidays have impacted food choices, leading to a departure from tradition. Hamila believes that traditions should evolve and adapt, emphasizing the importance of embracing celebrations and connecting with the spirit of the occasion. Sumaya Obaid, a chef and TV personality from the UAE, remembers a time in her childhood when neighbors of all backgrounds would come together to sacrifice sheep for Eid al-Adha, sharing and distributing the meat afterwards. "Now that laws have changed and people no longer slaughter animals at home, the sense of community that came from collaborating and sharing in butchering and cleaning has disappeared," she said. Despite this change, other aspects of Eid celebration, such as Machboos el-Eid, a spice-rubbed and roasted lamb dish, remain popular in the Emirates. Each family has its own saffron-laced spice mixture, with women taking pride in selecting fresh spices at the market to grind and prepare at home a few days before the celebration. Obaid describes her blend as "so unique." "But I will only give it to my daughter. It is one of the most secret things in the family." The main component of Eid al-Adha meals may be meat, but the underlying theme is generosity. Obaid expressed his hope to share his family's machboos meal one day. The recipe for Ka'ak el Eid includes ingredients for the dough and filling, with detailed instructions on preparation. Cover the mixture and let it sit at room temperature overnight or for several hours. This will give the semolina time to absorb the butter and oil. The next day or a few hours later, add nigella seeds, aniseed, fennel, baking powder, yeast, sugar, and salt to the semolina mixture. Mix gently with your hands, then add 1/2 cup of warm water and knead for no more than 2 minutes. The combination may still have a crumbly texture at this stage. Slowly incorporate the remaining 1/2 cup of water into the mixture in 1-tablespoon portions, and knead for approximately 1 minute after each addition. Be cautious not to over-knead. Continue this process until you can form a cohesive clump of dough with your fingers that holds together. It may not be necessary to use all of the water, or you may require additional water, a few tablespoons at a time, depending on factors like climate or the type of flour used. The goal is to achieve a dough that easily comes together into a clump and maintains its shape when rolled into a log. Cover the mixture and allow it to sit while you get the filling ready. To prepare the filling, line a medium baking sheet with either plastic wrap or parchment paper and grease it with oil. Pour some oil into a small bowl to use for greasing your hands as needed. Combine the date paste and cinnamon in a bowl and knead them together slightly with greased hands until evenly mixed. Grease your hands and divide the filling into approximately 35 portions, each the size of a golf ball. Roll each portion into a thin string about 4 to 5 inches long on a flat surface. Place the strings on a greased baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside until needed. The prepared strings can be left at room temperature for a few days without any problems. Step 6: To make the cookies, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and prepare a few baking sheets with parchment paper. Take a piece of dough about the size of a golf ball, ensuring the remaining dough stays covered to prevent drying out, and shape it into a 4-inch long sausage by rolling it between your hands or on a flat surface. Gently flatten the dough with your fingers and place a date string on top, trimming it as needed to fit the dough. Any excess dough can be used to lengthen shorter pieces or combined to create more filling strings. Encase the date filling in the dough and roll it on a flat surface into a slightly elongated, thin sausage shape, approximately 8 to 9 inches in length. Connect one end slightly overlapping the other end to form a circular shape. Use a slender object (like a chopstick) to press down completely through the overlapping ends to create two holes, ensuring they are securely attached and will not separate while baking. Put the dough and filling on the baking sheet and continue until all of it is used. Bake the cookies until they are a light golden brown, which should take about 15 to 18 minutes. Let them cool for at least 15 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Once they are completely cool, store them in an airtight container. Cookies can be stored for 2 to 3 weeks in an airtight container at room temperature, or up to 3 months in the freezer. If you can't find date paste, you can make your own by kneading soft Medjool dates with olive oil until they have a pastelike consistency. Avoid using a food processor as it will make the dates sticky and hard to remove. For Sajiyeh, you will need olive oil, beef, Lebanese seven-spice blend, salt, onion, red bell pepper, jalapeños (or green bell pepper), and bread or tortillas for serving. Total time for preparation is 40 minutes. Heat olive oil in a cast-iron pan over medium heat until it is shimmering and hot, but not smoking. Put the strips of meat, spice blend, and 1 teaspoon of salt in the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until all the water released from the meat evaporates and the meat begins to brown on all sides, which should take about 10 minutes. Once the meat is browned, add 1/2 cup of water, cover the pan, and cook until the water evaporates again and the oil becomes visible, which should take about 5 to 7 minutes. Repeat the procedure by adding an additional 1/2 cup of water, covering the pot, and cooking until the water evaporates and oil is released. Then, add the onion, pepper, jalapeños, and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cook without a cover, stirring regularly, until the onions are browned and the meat begins to soften, which should take about 4 minutes. Include an additional 1/2 cup of water and continue cooking uncovered, stirring occasionally, until some of the water evaporates and a thick sauce coats the meat and vegetables, approximately 3 minutes. Remove from heat and serve right away with bread for dipping into the meat and gravy. If desired, you can substitute the seven-spice blend with a mixture of 1/2 teaspoon each of ground allspice, ground cinnamon, and ground black pepper, along with 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin and a few grates of nutmeg. ©2021 The New York Times Company.