Are you into the Head and Stuff?!

It might sound bizarre to some but if you think you are offended or repulsed, you don't have to read. Lamb is the most common meat in the majority of western and central Asian cuisines. It is made to stew, kabab (not kebab!), rice pilaf, it's organs are made to tasty dishes and even it's head is eaten! Lamb usually have more fat than beef but has less cholesterol, as much as I know and I hope I'm not sharing the wrong information or misinformation here!

It had been 20 years since I had sheep head. Mom visited me for the first time in 2004 and at the time I lived in a sketchy neighbourhood of Calgary which The Microbe who co-owned Shamsane Bakery, at the time I don't know how he had gotten the head but Mom made it and we enjoyed.

I found the same product, just this past month in a FreshCo. This is not a place that you want to be: Crowded, people bump to you and don't care, some there's been days since they had showered, shabby cloths and plastic cheap slippers, you name it. It's like what The Mumbling Guy said once: You don't feel you're in Canada anymore! That's how they have lived and that's how they will live the rest of their lives. But the place, at times, has good merchandise that you might not be able to get them in many other stores in the city, unless a similar store, including the sheep head. It's sold for anything between $9 and $10 and it's very filling. In fact it's not recommended just to have a head for one person, unless they have worked out really hard before the meal or have a plan to do so within an hour or so because it has so much fat and that's delicious fat which once you start eating, you can't stop. These are the parts of a sheep head that you can enjoy:

1) Eyes: You'd have to gauge them out!

2) Brain: Be careful. It's pure fat but it's very delicious. If you followed what I said above, you'd be fine. 

3) Tongue: You'd have to remove the thin skin first

4) Chicks: Simply delicious chunks of meat.

6) Ears. They're small but still edible, crunchy and delicious.  

7) Throat: Be careful with small pieces of bone which still might be there. 
The key is having a big pressure cooker like the one I do. Just put the head in with a little bit of water, salt, Black Pepper, Turmeric and a few pieces of Onion just to cut the strong smell of the sheep meat. I only keep it in there for about 2 hours but exceeding that to 2 and a half is okay. Then you're going to have to give it about an hour or so to cool then. Then you enjoy that with Flat Whole Wheat Bread, raw Red Onion, raw aromatic Vegetables and Pickles of different kind. This is the Iranian way of enjoying a sheep head and a small bowl of Yogurt, not a full of sugar simulated yogurt that is commercially made and sold in supermarkets, plain yogurt with no added sugar and shit, would be a great side.
(Photo: This head is fully cooked and is let to be cooled down. I have eaten parts of eat. It usually doesn't look empty like this!)