Karakul (American)

The Karakul comes from Central Asia and takes its name from the village of Kara Kul, Black Lake, in the Bokhara region between Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. Artifacts suggest sheep have been kept there since 1400 BCE, which makes it one of the oldest breeds anywhere.

It is a broad-tailed sheep. Fat is deposited at the base of the tail and along the first three to five vertebrae, and that fat differs in texture and flavor from the rest of the animal and is prized in Central Asian cooking. The carcass itself is very lean.

Historically the breed supplied meat, fat, wool, milk and pelts. Milk mattered most in the desert, where protein was hard to come by. The lamb pelts, sold as Persian lamb or astrakhan, were a major source of income.

They are distinctive to look at: a long narrow head, often Roman-nosed, with a slight dip between the eyes, and a long neck carried semi-erect on a long narrow body. The ears vary a great deal, from a long U shape to a small V, and some animals have none at all.

The teeth are strong and long-lasting, which counts for something in a breed expected to graze hard country into old age.