Sun-dried meat preserved in spiced ghee, the traveller’s food of Somali caravans and herders. Beef or camel is cut in strips, dried, fried and stored under ghee so protein could be carried for months across country with no cold storage anywhere on the route.
It is raw meat sun-dried in open heat and then stored submerged in fat at ambient temperature — an anaerobic store, which is the classic botulism setting — and it works only if the drying and frying reach a dryness a damp kitchen cannot.
What goes into it
- beef or camel, cut in small strips
- salt
- cumin, cardamom and black pepper
- subag — clarified butter
How it is made
The meat is cut into small strips, salted and hung in the sun until hard, then fried in clarified butter with spices until every trace of moisture is gone. It is packed into a jar and covered completely with more ghee, which sets and seals it from air. Both stages matter: the drying removes the water, the fat keeps the air out.
How long it takes: days of drying, then stored under ghee for months
How it is eaten
Lifted from the jar and eaten with rice, canjeero or dates, a few pieces at a time.
History
Beef or camel cut in strips, sun-dried, fried and stored under ghee so caravans and herders could carry protein for months.
Frequently asked questions
What is Odkac?
Odkac is a charcuterie & cured from Somalia: sun-dried meat jerky preserved in spiced ghee, traveler’s food. Beef or camel cut in strips, sun-dried, fried and stored under ghee so caravans and herders could carry protein for months.
How is Odkac made?
The meat is cut into small strips, salted and hung in the sun until hard, then fried in clarified butter with spices until every trace of moisture is gone. It is packed into a jar and covered completely with more ghee, which sets and seals it from air. Both stages matter: the drying removes the water, the fat keeps the air out. It takes days of drying, then stored under ghee for months.
Can I make Odkac at home?
No, and the atlas gives no method for it. It is raw meat sun-dried in open heat and then stored submerged in fat at ambient temperature — an anaerobic store, which is the classic botulism setting — and it works only if the drying and frying reach a dryness a damp kitchen cannot.
What goes into Odkac?
Beef or camel, cut in small strips, salt, cumin, cardamom and black pepper, subag — clarified butter.
How is Odkac eaten?
Lifted from the jar and eaten with rice, canjeero or dates, a few pieces at a time.
