Saturday, October 30, 2010

To eat or not to eat...



Bismillah...

Salaam Blogger world.  I have been planning our trip to the States and the issue of halal food has been brought up with my husband.  He is concerned that some of our food will be mixed with something that has come in contact with pork.  Whether it be a frying pan, spoon...what ever it may be.  Any suggestions on how to deal with this?  The hotel we will be staying at has an omelet bar for example.  Would you think it be "ok" to ask them to wash the pan before they make ours?

See, I have been raised around pork my whole life.  I guess I am just not as "scared" of it as someone who has never been around it.  I know that eating it is haram but not to the extent of my husband who would prefer not to eat at all.

Hmmmm... this may be a tricky situation...

6 comments:

  1. salaam alaikum

    Do you know if they will be serving pork products with the breakfast bar? If so, they will probably use the same serving spoon they used with the pork with the vegetarian dishes. Asking them to wash the pan could work, however youd have to make sure before they serve the dishes they didnt use the same utensilts they used with the pork. At the end of the day you can only do your best to make sure they know you cannot eat pork or have anything that has come in contact with it (serving bowl, utensils etc). If they tell you nothing has touched it and you find them to be honest people it should be fine. If you dont trust what they tell you its best to find a different place to eat where you can monitor how they cook your food!

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  2. Salaams First Wife,
    You know, it's not as tricky as it seems... You just have to make a few adjustments and it will be fine, InshaAllah.

    1st: I would stay away from all breakfast items which are made on a 'grill'... the juices WILL run from one dish to the other and you don't want that! They also use the same spatulas.... need I say more? There are so many other choices for breakfast, especially in good hotels, fruits, muffins, bagels... The BEST CHOICE is "Waffles"!!! ..since you know they can only be made on a special contraption which no other food touches... and they are yummy!

    2: Hotels do wash their cutlery with hot water... so I would not worry about the spoon or fork you will be eating with. Now, if you venture out for PIZZA... DO NOT eat a slice but buy the whole pie and either have them WASH the pizza cutter before cutting your pie or ask them NOT to cut it and YOU do that with a knife you know it is clean.

    3: Visit the Masjid and ask around for Muslim owned establishments. If you'll be in a big city then it will be much easier. Nothing's lost by asking, and you'll be surprised to find 'little gems' in some of our small towns too!

    4: You make your intention, and you stay away from items which are CLEARLY Haraam... If someone offers you "Bread"... then do not hassle the poor man asking him if it contains pork related ingredients or not... IT'S BREAD!

    5: There's always the SUPERMARKET!!! read the ingredients, or look for the 'kosher symbols' on the packages to know for certain at least there is NO PORK in it... If you don't know what those symbols are let me know, or google it! I'm sure you'll be able to see them as they are quite a few of them.

    All in all, tell your husband to RELAX and ENJOY!!! Allah(swt) made countless varieties of food and you guys will not starve!!! SEAFOOD for example!!! ..goodness, you are making me hungry!! Hope this helps!! :D

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  3. Asalamu Alaikum sis. Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahmeen.

    I would stick to eating vegetarian & fruit and seafood. (breads as well).

    You can shop at supermarkets for all the products you need and if theres a halal butcher then buy from them only.

    I would avoid eating at places that serve Pork so maybe try dining out at Halal Arabic/Desi restraunts owned by Muslims and eating seafood

    Do all this and say Bismillah before you eat and you should be okay Insha'Allah.

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  4. UmmUmmar has basically summed up everything I was going to say lol.You will be fine. Also if you have an iphone and you are grocery shopping they have an halalscanner app you can scan things and it tells u if its halal or not. :-)

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  5. sorry this is a late comment, but i'm wondering, sounds like your husband has never been to the states if he is worried about pork products. did you guys meet in america? my husband went through culture shock just with pork & beans with my mom...lol. oh, it was funny. i'm still reading all your blogs here, bare with me..al-determine

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  6. al determine... Yes, it was my husbands first time to the States....He really enjoyed himself! Mashaalah... Nope, we didnt meet in the states. (Long story) :) Pork and beans?? haha funny!

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