Meat

Awassi

B tier

Awassi is the iconic fat-tailed sheep of the Middle East, with a white body, brown head, and a large fat depot in the tail that historically stored energy for arid pastoral life. Flocks from Syria, Iraq, Turkey, and neighbouring regions supply milk, wool, and meat central to Levantine and Gulf cuisines. Awassi lamb and young mutton carry a distinctive richness—the tail fat is rendered for traditional cooking, while shoulder and leg suit slow spits, mandi, and stew pots. Meat can be more assertive than European milk lamb; when well handled it is prized for mansaf, kebabs, and festive whole-animal roasts.