Hamila, a 40-year-old entrepreneur and owner of a Moroccan packaged food business in London, fondly recalls the excitement surrounding the holiday. She and her father used to bring an entire sheep back to the apartment, where the women would gather to clean the innards and trotters in the bathtub. "We even had a specific order for consuming the meat," she explained. The organs were eaten on the first day of Eid al-Adha, followed by the head and trotters on the second day. Only on the third day, after the fresh meat had rested, would they prepare kebabs, tagines, or grills. Eid al-Adha, also known as the Festival of Sacrifice, is one of the two major Islamic holidays and coincides with the Hajj pilgrimage. It honors the prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail as requested by Allah. According to the Quran, 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, relatives, and immediate family. However, home butchering of animals is now prohibited in many countries, including parts of the Arab world where a significant Muslim population resides. Meat remains a significant aspect of Eid al-Adha, also known as Eid al-Lahm or Festival of Meat, for many Arabs. However, as traditional celebrations begin to fade, particularly for Arab Muslims living outside their homeland, individuals are discovering new ways to honor a holiday that is known for its food. Areej Bazzari, a digital marketing director at Salesforce in San Francisco, reminisces about her childhood in Saudi Arabia and Jordan, where breakfast was the highlight of Eid al-Adha. Her family's holiday spread included a variety of offal dishes, such as braised with garlic, fried with onion and spices, or mixed with eggs. Bazzari fondly recalls the teamwork involved in preparing these meals. Bazzari recalls how her Palestinian family used to argue over who got to sit in front of which plate of organ meat during Eid celebrations in Saudi Arabia. Since moving to Sonoma County in 2000, they rarely have access to fresh organ meat, but her father will occasionally track some down to include in the meal. While the tradition continues, it is not as abundant as it once was. Bazzari appreciates how her Eid al-Adha celebrations have changed over the years, drawing on childhood memories and new cultural traditions learned from friends in the US. Eid al-Adha celebrations for her now typically involve a large gathering of extended family and friends, complete with Eid decorations and a variety of dishes, including nontraditional ones like fattehs, shushbarak, and manaqeesh. Dessert is always a special highlight, with flavors from her home country being a must-have. Her parents travel to Saudi Arabia or Jordan each year to bring back special desserts for Eid, such as ka’ak and ma’amoul, which are essential holiday cookies in the Arab world. This year, her dessert spread will include cookies filled with dates or nuts. However, the main highlight of her holiday meal will be mechoui, a slow-cooked leg of lamb that holds great significance in her feast, both for its symbolism and its taste. Alongside this dish, she plans to serve salads and vegetables to keep the meal light, considering it is summer. This year, Eid al-Adha is expected to fall on July 20, but the exact date is determined by the sighting of the new moon according to the Hijri lunar calendar, causing the holiday to shift through the seasons over time. In the past, Eid al-Adha was celebrated during cooler weather. In the last five years, the holiday has occurred during the summer, which has affected the food selections. Hamila values the changes from the usual customs. She believes that traditions must evolve and adapt. She emphasizes the importance of participating in the celebrations and connecting with the essence of the event. Sumaya Obaid, a chef and television personality in the UAE, remembers that during her childhood, neighbors of different backgrounds would come together to sacrifice sheep for Eid al-Adha, then clean and share the meat. "Now that laws have changed and people no longer slaughter animals at home, the sense of community through collaboration, sharing, butchering, and cleaning together has disappeared," she explained. Despite this, other aspects of Eid celebration, such as the traditional dish Machboos el-Eid, remain unchanged in the Emirates. The saffron-infused spice blend used for the roasted lamb dish varies among families, and women take pleasure in selecting fresh spices from the market to prepare at home before the celebration. Obaid expressed pride in her own unique spice blend, describing it as truly special." "I will only give this to my daughter because it is a family secret. The heart of Eid al-Adha meals is meat, but the spirit is generosity," explained Obaid. He then expressed his hope that one day they could share their family's machboos meal. The recipe for Ka'ak el Eid includes ingredients such as semolina flour, all-purpose flour, butter, nigella seeds, aniseed, fennel seeds, baking powder, yeast, sugar, salt, warm water, date paste, and cinnamon. The dough is prepared by combining the dry ingredients with butter and oil until it resembles wet sand. Cover and let sit at room temperature overnight (or for a few hours) to allow the semolina to absorb the butter and oil. The next day (or later), add nigella seeds, aniseed, fennel, baking powder, yeast, sugar, and salt to the semolina mixture. Gently combine with your hands, then add 1/2 cup warm water and knead gently for up to 2 minutes. The mixture may still be crumbly at this stage. Gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup water to the mixture in 1-tablespoon increments, kneading for about 1 minute after each addition. Be careful not to over-knead. The goal is for the dough to hold together when you take a clump in your fingers. You may not need all the water, or you may need more depending on factors like climate or flour. The desired outcome is for the dough to easily come together without falling apart when rolled into a log. Cover and allow to sit while you make the filling. To prepare the filling, line a medium baking sheet with either plastic wrap or parchment paper, then grease it with oil. Place some oil in a small bowl to use for greasing your hands as needed. In a bowl, combine the date paste and cinnamon, then knead slightly with greased hands until well 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 and cover with plastic wrap until ready to use. The filling can sit at room temperature for a couple of days without any problem. Step 6: To make the cookies, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and prepare a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper. Take a piece of dough the size of a golf ball, keeping the remaining dough covered to prevent it from drying out, and roll it into a sausage shape about 4 inches long using your palms or a flat surface. Use your fingers to gently flatten the dough, then 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 additional filling strings. To form the date-filled dough into a ring shape, roll it into a long, thin sausage shape about 8 to 9 inches in length. Overlap one end slightly over the other end to create a ring. Use a thin object like a chopstick to press down through the overlapped ends to secure them together and prevent them from separating while baking. Place the dough and filling on the baking sheet and continue until all dough and filling are used. Bake 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 to a wire rack to cool completely. Once fully cooled, store 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. To make date paste, you can either purchase it at a Middle Eastern grocery store or make it yourself by kneading soft Medjool dates with olive oil by hand. Avoid using a food processor as it will make the dates sticky and hard to remove. This recipe for Sajiyeh serves 2 to 4 and takes a total of 40 minutes to prepare. Ingredients include olive oil, beef, Lebanese seven-spice blend, salt, onion, red bell pepper, jalapeños or green bell pepper, and bread or tortillas for serving. Heat olive oil in a cast-iron pan over medium heat until it is shimmering and hot, but not smoking. Add the strips of meat, spice blend, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until all the released water evaporates and the meat begins to brown all over, approximately 10 minutes. Once the meat is browned, add 1/2 cup of water, cover the pan, and cook until the water evaporates again and oil becomes visible, about 5 to 7 minutes. Repeat these steps: Include an additional 1/2 cup of water, cover the mixture, and continue cooking until the water has evaporated and oil is released. Next, add the onion, pepper, jalapeños, and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cook without a lid, stirring regularly, until the onions are browned and the meat is beginning to soften, which should take about 4 minutes. Add an additional 1/2 cup of water and continue cooking uncovered, stirring occasionally, until some of the water has evaporated and a thick sauce coats the meat and vegetables, which should take about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and serve right away with bread to soak up the meat and gravy. You can substitute the seven-spice blend with a mixture of ground allspice, ground cinnamon, ground black pepper, ground cumin, and some nutmeg.