I'm currently in an extremely carnivorous (not vegetarian-friendly) city and I think it will be much harder to eat halal. Up until now, I've been able to avoid meat almost completely and would only eat meat if it was zabiha and a Muslim friend was specifically inviting me to a homemade meal. (I wouldn't go out of my way to eat meat). But now it seems like being vegetarian would mean eating salad all the time so I think I'm going to supplement my diet with seafood. I'm basically Hanafi so I'm still thinking about how shellfish is going to fit into all that.
Another consideration is if I go out to eat, even if I order the veggie burger or the grilled fish, I don't really know what else was cooked in the same wok or grill. In my previous location I knew how the food was being prepared so that was only an occasional passing thought, but now I'm eating out all the time so it is more of an ongoing concern. At the moment I'm thinking "what happens in the kitchen, stays in the kitchen" (or else I'll be left with eating salad all the time). Hopefully I'll be able to transition to a situation where I'm doing almost all my own cooking eventually.
3 comments:
I feel your pain. I used to be a vegetarian and stopped due to money constraints and simple dietary constraints. The whole grill thing is an interesting concern. I'd avoid the scavengers though. Be careful as many people end up with protein deficient diets.
Thanks... but yeah about the grills, in places where the grills are open to public view you can see that there is typically one big surface for cooking and there is minimal wiping or cleaning in between different items. So it is pretty clear that the vegetarian items will have *something* from the meat items. It might not be enough to taste but you are still eating it.
I had to basically just go no pork in China, best I could do. I got into Canada today and treated myself to some veggie samosas right off the bat. There are plenty of halal resturaunts in China (and vegetarian resturaunts operated by Buddhists) but I was often meeting and dining with people without such restirctions so.....
--Dave, http://parallelsidewalk.wordpress.com
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