This cuisine is prepared outdoors with special materials and tools. Alzerb the Arabic equivalent of packing, it is away of packing food in a whole dug in the ground (size of a barrel) then lined with bricks for this purpose, this whole works as a pressure pot with the difference of using charcoal inside it underneath the food. It is worth noting that this kind of cooking keeps the entire flavor.
The lamb meat and chicken are marinated with salt and spices, and then laid over the charcoal in the whole, big pieces first. The whole is then closed tightly with mud and left for almost two hours.
Another kind of zerb is done with an entire small lamb stuffed with frekeh (green wheat smoked and then dried), bell pepper, scallions, onions, potatoes, rosemary, garlic, tomatoes, mixed spices, cinnamon and some water. The lamb is laid on a big wire rack above soaked rise in the whole that is closed tightly also.
