An African Delicacy!

Today I bring you a delicacy of true African cuisine! A mutton dish better than the best rib, roasted on a bed of charcoal. A Baked Sheep Head.

Yes, you read it right! No word play here. A real sheep’s head. It contains a lot of meat and is relatively cheap. Most butchers around here can supply you with a well cleaned head. It is so easy to prepare; even a man can do it!

When you get home, inspect the head and remove any hair still on it. I use a cutthroat to ‘shave’ it. Then saw the head across the top into two halves, but leave lower jaw intact. I use a garden saw to do this. You could ask the butcher to do it as well.

Flap the two halves open and clean out the nose section (easy, if it is not already done), but leave the brains in place. Another delicacy on toast - or just as it is.

Push the two halves together and clamp with a skewer. I use three bended canvas needles for this.

Dampen the head and rub some course salt on it. I normally sprinkle some barbeque spice at this stage too.

Preheat the oven to 160º C and bake for 4 hours.

Enjoy. Mine is only going into the oven now. You can eat it hot or cold. I prefer it cold. It tastes like something between a roasted rib and a sheep neck.

Here in Africa, women are not allowed to eat the tongue; it makes them talk too much, they say.

Eating the brains has a side effect though.

I find that if I share it with some female company, they mill around me for days and follow me in a line where ever I go; bleating like … Oh shut up, Catfoot!


Enjoy your day too!