"Barboucha the shoulder"... an Amazigh meal in Algeria for the second day of Eid al-Adha
When you look into the details and secrets of Algerian cuisine, you discover that behind every dish or dish there are stories of a people since ancient times.
They are historical facts narrated by the story of every traditional food, not about customs and traditions, but about everything related to the popular and historical heritage of a country called Algeria.
Eid al-Adha is a great opportunity to dive into the world of authentic Algerian cuisine, and it is the religious and social occasion in which the “heaviest dishes”, the most delicious and delicious, are prepared, all from the meat of the sacrifice, whether sheep or cows.
Among the kitchens that tell interesting or strange stories about the traditional foods of Eid al-Adha, there is the Amazigh Algerian cuisine, which is rich in the most delicious dishes, but what distinguishes it is the “food preparation accounts” that are very similar to the “restaurant eating menu”, but in the homes of the Amazighs of Algeria is the phrase About a "daily menu" for Eid al-Adha dishes and dishes.
shoulder brooch
Among the most prominent dishes that are "compulsory" for the Amazigh people of "Chaoui" in eastern Algeria, there is the "lamb shoulder couscous", which is prepared for the second lunch on Eid al-Adha.
"Al-Ain " tried to search for the secrets of this traditional food among the residents of the "Al-Shawiya" region, and why is it being prepared specifically for the second day of Eid Al-Adha.
We did not find an accurate answer. Rather, most of those asked by Al-Ain News agree that it is an "old, inherited and obligatory custom" that brings together family members, especially since the "couscous" dish is considered the "master" of Algerian dishes, no matter how it is prepared.
In our search for the truth of this food, "Al-Ain " found some differences between the villages, cities, and even the Amazigh "Chaoui" families in Algeria regarding the type of couscous that is prepared on the second day of Eid al-Adha.
Some bring "couscous with the shoulder", others "couscous" with the back of the lamb, which in Algerian dialect is called "meslan", while other regions prefer the couscous with "lamb neck".
Upon further research, we discovered that the only difference lies in the “program or arrangement” of these three types of couscous from the second to the fourth day of Eid.
In contrast to the rest of the Algerian regions, the Amazigh "Chouia" in Algeria calls "couscous" with "Barboucha", as is the case in the state of Setif and most of the states of eastern Algeria.
In the midst of "Al-Ain News" asking questions to know the truth about this Amazigh custom, some of the region's elderly residents had "historically inspired answers."
They took us back to a long era that may be "tens of centuries" old, and they link the secret of cooking couscous with parts of the Eid sacrifice filled with bones to ancient customs and rituals.
Some of the people of Chaouia in Algeria revealed to "Al-Ain " that since ancient times, the Amazigh Chaouis were keen to attach great importance to everything related to the Eid sheep.
Among those customs and rituals were those that were specific to the elderly, which is "reading the conditions of the future, predicting the climate, and even natural or human disasters."
And all of this can only be achieved through "reading the shoulder bone", which in some Amazighs is called "Tagrout".
In the ancient Amazigh beliefs, that greatness has "specific signs" indicating "rain or snow", "dryness" or even "death".
https://al-ain.com/article/algeria-couscous-amazigh-eid-al-adha