The Catholic World, Vol. 04, October, 1866 to March, 1867Various
Religion
The Catholic World, Vol. 04, October, 1866 to March, 1867
Various
Catholic Church -- Periodicals
"At last, tired of watching the band, I lay down and fell asleep. I
slept for some hours, during which a poor sheep was dragged into the
enclosure, killed, cut up, cooked in the pot, and eaten. I must have
slept until near sunset, for when I awoke another sheep was being
brought forward and I watched the process of killing and cutting up
the poor beast. The sheep was taken in hand by two men, Generoso and
Antonio generally acting as the butchers of the band. One doubled
the fore legs of the sheep across the head; the other held the head
back, inserting a knife into the throat and cutting the windpipe and
jugular vein. It was then thrown down and left to expire. When dead,
a slit was made in one of the hind legs near the feet, and an iron
ramrod taken and past down the leg to the body of the animal; it was
then withdrawn and the mouth of one of the men placed to the slit in
the leg, and the animal was inflated as much as possible and then
skinned. When the skin was separated from the legs and sides, the
carcass was taken and suspended on a peg on a tree, through the
tendon of the hind leg; the skin was then drawn off the back
(sometimes the head was the end, but this rarely). The skin was now
spread out on the ground to receive the meet, etc., when cut off the
body; the inside was taken out, the entrails being drawn out
carefully and cleaned; these were wound around the inside fat by two
or three who were fond of this luxury--Sentonio, and Andrea the
executioner, generally performing this operation. These delicacies,
as they were considered, being made about four inches long and about
one inch in diameter, are fried in fat or roasted on spits. It was
some time before I would bring myself to eat these, but curiosity
first, and hunger afterward, often caused me to eat my share, for I
soon learned it was unwise to refuse anything.
"While these two men were preparing the inside, the other two were
cutting up the carcass. The breast was first cut off, and then the
shoulders; the sheep was then cut in half with the axe, and then the
bones were laid on a stump and cut through, so that it all could be
cut in small pieces. One man would hold the meat, while another
would take hold of a piece with his left hand and cut with his
right. As it was cut up, the pieces would be put into a large cotton
handkerchief, which was spread out on the ground; the liver and
lungs were cut up in the same way; the fat was then put in the
_caldaja_, and, when this was melted, the kidneys and heart (if the
latter had not been appropriated by some one) were put in, cooked,
and eaten, every one helping himself by dipping his fingers in the
pot. The pieces of liver were considered the prizes. All the rest of
the sheep was then put in the pot at once, and after a short time
the pot was taken off the fire and jerked, so as to bring the under
pieces to the top.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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