Eid el Adha (Greater Bairam): In English “the festival of sacrifice”, Eid el Adha commemorates the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Ismail as an act of obedience to God. However, God provided a ram in the obedient son’s place. This is why every year Moslems who can afford to do so sacrifice their best domestic animals (usually sheep, but also camels, cows and goats) as a symbol of Abraham’s sacrifice. The sacrificed animals, called “udhiya”, have to meet certain age and quality standards. Generally, these must be at least a year old. One third of the sacrifice is given away as charity, one third to acquaintances as gifts, and the last third is cooked in the household for a big festive lunch or dinner. Sheep being the most common sacrifice, mutton is always served along with the traditional Egyptian fatta. Because some people are put off by the smell of cooked lamb, however, they avoid buying the usual baladi or local sheep and get a barki (desert) one or a few years back even a Marino imported from Australia. Others will avoid sheep altogether and use veal instead.