I've originally asked another more broad version of this question in a Jewish sub and was recommended to ask this here. So I've rephrased the question to be more specific (as much as I can) and can give some context too, if it helps:

Some context and clarity - If the mods need me to be even more specific I can try to be, but I am not asking about a specific year or a specific area of the middle east, because there is no year, specific country or event in that timeframe that is of particular relevance to my question, and I hope this is still narrowed down enough to allow for insightful replies.

Why am I asking this? I've dug back through some records and even some old cookbooks or herbal medicine references I could find, and it seemed that in many cultures (not Jewish) around the world, animal fats like lard and tallow were staples, in cooking and many other uses (like candles, medicinal salves, and beyond). It makes sense to me, as pressing seeds or nuts into oil using special stone tools must have been quite more involved and therefore likely less efficient and more expensive than it is today.

However, animal fats were more accessible to all, required no special tools to curate and preserved quite well if prepared properly.

Two of the most commonly used types of animal fats were tallow (made of suet, kidney fat) and lard (pig fat) and both are not kosher in Jewish law.

So this led me to wonder - what did Jews in the middle east (aka Mizrahi/sephardic Jews) commonly use, especially in terms of animal fats, if any?

Thanks!