HALAL Food

[Peace.... 281]

i always ask ... "what is 'american food'?" chicken/roast beef, gravy, carrots, mashed potatoes, green beans, and homemade rolls...? or fast food, since america seems to be the king of it?

lol you're from the south, so would that be deep fried catfish, deep fried okra, hushpuppies and greens?

LOL, actually catfish sounds pretty darn good at the moment, you might have just given me my dinner plans. Ya know, its funny here in America it's not really all that different the foods we eat, it's just prepared different in Morocco but mostly with same ingredients but different spices. Gonna have some fun in the kitchen trying out some new ideas for sure when it comes to Middle Eastern Food. wish me luck

[Peace.... 281]

I know it is off topic but I have to say....Jenn, your son is too cute

Nab...."i always ask ... "what is 'american food'?" chicken/roast beef, gravy, carrots, mashed potatoes, green beans, and homemade rolls...? or fast food, since america seems to be the king of it?

lol you're from the south, so would that be deep fried catfish, deep fried okra, hushpuppies and greens?"

Deep South is ALL the items you mentioned if you cook at home and Fast foods if you are on the go alot....Deep South may use a lot more PORK items and BBQ , but I am not 100% sure if we use it most...but yes to fish and chicken and beef and don't forget cornbread and Pinto beans and fried potatoes and potatoe salad, sqaush, etc.

LOL Lisa, M'hammed is gonna gain his part of 20 pounds his first year too. He is gonna love your cooking so much. Mohammed and I cooked some fried chicken and mashed potatoes, etc. when I was in Morocco and he just loved it. But gosh, I can't eat like that everyday here, or I will be the one needing the gym not him. I grill mostly everything i eat now, and Mohammed is excited to taste grilled food. Gonna teach him how to cook while I work LOL so it can be ready to serve when I get home after a long day, hopefully he will not burn down the house trying to do so.

[Mithra 1,185]

Serious question - do they not grill food in Morocco?

About gaining weight - they'll only gain weight if they up their eating and get real lazy. I thought my husband may gain some weight coming here due to not working at first and eating more processed, fattening foods but he didn't. Of course, I don't fry a lot of foods (I love it but I can't handle it). Actually when he cooks he adds way more fat than I do. Funny how some cooks can sneak tons of fat into seemingly "healthy" meals like stir fried veg and chicken breast.

[Peace.... 281]

Serious question - do they not grill food in Morocco?

About gaining weight - they'll only gain weight if they up their eating and get real lazy. I thought my husband may gain some weight coming here due to not working at first and eating more processed, fattening foods but he didn't. Of course, I don't fry a lot of foods (I love it but I can't handle it). Actually when he cooks he adds way more fat than I do. Funny how some cooks can sneak tons of fat into seemingly "healthy" meals like stir fried veg and chicken breast.

As far as grilling their foods, we never did at their home. We had grilled meats at local places to eat, but there is a difference when it comes to grilling in America. I like to use hickory chips, etc. for flavoring my meats when I smoke them on the grill. I myself love tajine which is a local dish in morocco, it simmered for hours when prepared so the meat is tender, kinda like our pot roast here in America. I have tried to master the couscous (the way moroccans do it) and not from the box as we have it here, it takes at least an hour/half to do so. Yeah, that stir fry chicken and veggies can be rather fattening unless you order it for like someone who is diabetic which is offered these days on the menu.

[nab 74]

LOL, actually catfish sounds pretty darn good at the moment, you might have just given me my dinner plans. Ya know, its funny here in America it's not really all that different the foods we eat, it's just prepared different in Morocco but mostly with same ingredients but different spices. Gonna have some fun in the kitchen trying out some new ideas for sure when it comes to Middle Eastern Food. wish me luck

and sometimes prepared same with only a different name! pakistan and dominican republic, some foods are same too, some have same ingredients with different name (i.e. burger = mince meat for the chapli kebab). depending on the country the spices vary: (for me) more spicy in pakistan, more mild in domrep. pakistan it's common to use coriander (seed part of plant) in dominican republic to use cilantro (the leaf part of same plant)... i prefer cilantro.

when we first met i had made cow tail the night before and looked up a picture of a fresh cut piece because he said he didnt know what that was, then he was like oh yuck! he showed to his mother who laughed and said they also just had that the night before they buy from out of the home almost all time so he doesnt see his food in uncooked form and at that time i did not know that, i assumed his mother also did the cooking in home. so anyway, after that he was open-minded to 'american food'.

i think my husband will be much more healthy when he is with me because they (as in 'his parents', not pakistanis) eat everything fried with lots of potatoes, rice, and bread (in same meal!) and consume very few (if any) veggies. as a borderline healthnut at times i'm horrified

[Peace.... 281]

and sometimes prepared same with only a different name! pakistan and dominican republic, some foods are same too, some have same ingredients with different name (i.e. burger = mince meat for the chapli kebab). depending on the country the spices vary: (for me) more spicy in pakistan, more mild in domrep. pakistan it's common to use coriander (seed part of plant) in dominican republic to use cilantro (the leaf part of same plant)... i prefer cilantro.

when we first met i had made cow tail the night before and looked up a picture of a fresh cut piece because he said he didnt know what that was, then he was like oh yuck! he showed to his mother who laughed and said they also just had that the night before they buy from out of the home almost all time so he doesnt see his food in uncooked form and at that time i did not know that, i assumed his mother also did the cooking in home. so anyway, after that he was open-minded to 'american food'.

i think my husband will be much more healthy when he is with me because they (as in 'his parents', not pakistanis) eat everything fried with lots of potatoes, rice, and bread (in same meal!) and consume very few (if any) veggies. as a borderline healthnut at times i'm horrified

Yeah, that whole bread thing is wild. They too eat bread with every meal. I mean, I know we American's love bread as well, but I am not one to eat it with every meal. I guess, I will bake fresh bread often but hmmm everyday just might be impossible as it takes to long to do so. When I went to Morocco, I remember being so full after lunch and dinner consuming just half a piece of the flat bread they use with all the meat and veggies. Gosh, the odd thing is, each visit to Morocco, i would come back between 5-8 pounds less (go figure huh).

COW TAIL, you mean like real cow tail LOL? How does one prepare that dish, if I may ask. I am always wondering about different ways of cooking.

[nab 74]

Yeah, that whole bread thing is wild. They too eat bread with every meal. I mean, I know we American's love bread as well, but I am not one to eat it with every meal. I guess, I will bake fresh bread often but hmmm everyday just might be impossible as it takes to long to do so. When I went to Morocco, I remember being so full after lunch and dinner consuming just half a piece of the flat bread they use with all the meat and veggies. Gosh, the odd thing is, each visit to Morocco, i would come back between 5-8 pounds less (go figure huh).

COW TAIL, you mean like real cow tail LOL? How does one prepare that dish, if I may ask. I am always wondering about different ways of cooking.

on the bread thing, i bake a lot of bread (my son eats a lot!) but for me it just seems weird to eat potatoes, rice AND bread all in same meal with meat and no veggies. it's no wonder some nights my husband just falls over asleep mid-sentence 20min after eating... major carb overload!

on the ox-tail stew i dont have recipe written cause most recipes i just eye everything but this one is closest to what i make: http://www.appeal-democrat.com/articles/dish-87088-stew-oxtail.html

i dont use poblano, instead couple handfuls chopped red pepper (sweet) and handful green; use olives and homemade adobo (store bought is expensive here) instead bay leaf , and no beef broth but plenty of water and cook it down for much longer than an hour.

most of my meat sauces include carrots, peppers, onions, celery, cilantro, garlic, olives, adobo, and if beef - extra oregano... depending on meat type and my mood - tomato; this tenderizers tough/cheap cuts of meats, put it in toward end of cooking.

cooked down while you're doing other things and served over plain rice, meat in sauces make an easy dinner and also a great way to hide veggies if you have a picky eater coming into the family. as for children, teach them veggies are good and yummy things and dont allow others to say 'yuck' around them so you dont have to resort to hiding veggies

if you dont have someone native to help make your hubby's fav recipes do searches online then compare recipes and you can see which ones have odd/unusual ingredients compared to other recipes and toss those and do experiments with the ones left. i usually do a recipe as it says then if i like it adjust the ingredients the second time to perfect it for our tastes. if you have a few of his favs down pat i dont think he will mind trying some of your favs as well.

interestingly my fav is also my husband's fav (of different name) so we are blessed LOL!

[Jenn! 918]

I know it is off topic but I have to say....Jenn, your son is too cute

Thank you!

yr refusal to infantilize yr husband and making him put his money where his mouth is a rare treat in these here parts.

Oh stop, you're making me blush.

[ErikaAndHamit 73]

Your son is really cute....

As for the Halal food thing: my hubby at the airport in Chicago was afraid to eat chocolate or anything for that matter. I was like um, hello there isn't pork in a caramel apple (he wanted to try it)! Eventually he lightened up and then he found the Halal markets and still tries to shop there for meats whenever possible. It's very expensive-like 50-70 dollars every 2 weeks! Oh well, I just hope there isn't any preservatives, antibiotics or hormones in them like regular store meats as that makes it worth it for me.

Bread! Ha ha when we went to Chili's to eat back in the early days, my hubby ordered a cheeseburger with extra bread! Now, he isn't like that anymore and eats bread only sometimes with meals, but not like before!

[amysaid 9]

My husband and I are both Muslim, and before he came to the US, we went to al-Azhar in Cairo and saw a sheikh there who brought up the issue of halal meats. He told us that in a country like the US where halal meats are not easy to come by, that there was no harm or fault in eating non-halal slaughtered meats. He said halal meat tends to be far more expensive than regular meat, and that vendors jack up the price more than it needs to be to make a buck, and that that act in itself made the meat haram. So we just buy our meat from the grocery store. Of course, we still don't eat pork, drink alcohol, or partake in any other haram foods.

Edited November 17, 2010 by amysaid

[sandinista! 1,816]

who knew, with everything else that's going on in the world, that there's a sheikh at al azhar monitoring zabiha and non-zabiha meat prices in the us. were figures from san francisco, omaha, and orlando compared side by side to come to that conclusion i wonder? on average, we don't spend that much more than other people i know who don't eat zabiha. our free-range zabiha turkey this year cost pretty much the same as the free-range turkey my mom bought, lb for lb. and i can understand the overhead costs involved in a niche business like zabiha are going to be greater than yr average factory farm stocked safeway. i'm no mba, but i always thought dealing in lower volumes usually means greater expenses. and the costs involved are not always self-evident or understood by those on the consumer side of things. i've found nothing but fair, equitable pricing when it comes to buying meat, and i've been buying it for years. the only extra expense we really encounter is when we go to restaurants, where we usually order fish, and the fish we like is usually priced higher than meat entrees. but if we couldn't afford fish, then we'll get something vegetarian, or rethink our choice of going to this restaurant if we can't afford what we can eat there. especially when there's a really awesome vegetarian taco cart that's uber-cheap and just a short drive away.

[msheesha 548]

I would agree. We have a great halal butcher here in Philly (it's on 23rd btwn South & Lombard, for anyone from the area who's interested.)

The prices are good, less than say a Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and even the food co-op to which I belong.

And, the quality is great; all organic - no hormones, antibiotics, etc.

I typically don't eat red meat but have bought my mom steak from this butcher and she raved about how good it was.

Also, went there when a non-Muslim friend was with me and she picked up some chicken. She also loved the price and the quality and shops there now herself.

So, in my case I've found the quality great and the prices better at this halal butcher here in Philly.

On the other side, I've tried another butcher closer to home (the one above is 20 minutes away with no traffic). I didn't like the quality or the level of cleanliness at the place itself. I don't remember the prices though; if they were super high, I would have remembered them.

I would say look around and find a halal butcher that you like. THere are also other options like ordering online and having the meat shipped to you. I've heard of others doing this but haven't tried it myself.

[Mithra 1,185]

I agree with the two above posters regarding price of halal vs. "regular" meat purchased from a grocery or butcher. There is a Bangladeshi butcher about 30-40 mins away that does fresh kill, zabiha chickens. For a whole chicken, fully cleaned and cut up it's like $5-$7. So it's maybe a $1 or $2 more total than a whole chicken purchased at our local grocery only better quality and taste so it's totally worth the extra cost. The other halal butchers/groceries in that area are maybe $0.50 a lb more than the local grocery, if that. Sometimes they run specials where the cost is either the same or less than the local grocery. The meat is fresher and the quality is so much better. If we get out to that area we buy at those shops for sure. Cost is definitely not a factor for us as much as convenience is.

[nab 74]

I would agree. We have a great halal butcher here in Philly (it's on 23rd btwn South & Lombard, for anyone from the area who's interested.)

The prices are good, less than say a Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and even the food co-op to which I belong.

And, the quality is great; all organic - no hormones, antibiotics, etc.

I typically don't eat red meat but have bought my mom steak from this butcher and she raved about how good it was.

Also, went there when a non-Muslim friend was with me and she picked up some chicken. She also loved the price and the quality and shops there now herself.

So, in my case I've found the quality great and the prices better at this halal butcher here in Philly.

On the other side, I've tried another butcher closer to home (the one above is 20 minutes away with no traffic). I didn't like the quality or the level of cleanliness at the place itself. I don't remember the prices though; if they were super high, I would have remembered them.

I would say look around and find a halal butcher that you like. THere are also other options like ordering online and having the meat shipped to you. I've heard of others doing this but haven't tried it myself.

word of mouth and getting them more business can also bring prices down so kudos to you for bringing business to a halal butcher! you've not only done a good thing for the butcher, but also for everyone you have shared his info with and for the people who have benefited from the lower prices because of teh greater volume of business.

[msheesha 548]

Ah, shucks! Thanks