As a traveler, one of the most important features that one should have is to have an open mind. I am all for this, but there are some boundaries that I just cannot cross as a Muslim especially with regards to my diet. However, Asia seems to have other plans for me.
As a Muslim, I often get asked what it means for food to be Halaal. So let's get to the bottom of it. Firstly, the word doesn't necessarily refer to food, but rather to ideas of the Islamic faith. For something to be Halaal, is for it to be permissible or lawful in Islam. Secondly, with regards to food, a bit of explanation is needed and I have to say that most South African's and central Asians have a pretty good to brilliant understanding of this, in my experience at least. East Asians (Koreans, Japanese, Coronese(Chinese) (I should stop doing this!)) tend to suffer a bit in this department and you'll soon read why.
For meat to be Halaal, it must be slaughtered in a specified way: The animal may not be stunned before slaughter nor may it see another animal being slaughtered. It should be slaughtered with a single swipe through the carotid artery, jugular vein and windpipe and allowed to bleed out after being prayed for. That being said, a pig can never be Halaal even if slaughtered in this manner. In addition, if non-halaal food comes into contact with Halaal food, the Halaal food is no longer Halaal. We say it is Haraam (Forbidden, not permissible, contaminated - you get the idea.)
Sounds pretty simple and to be honest, it is! So why then has the following happened:
My time in Korea was absolutely amazing, from the Cherry blossoms to the never sleeping city of Seoul, the adventure kept growing...Just like my hunger! Korean's absolutely love meat, pork in particular and fried chicken as well. Both of these I could not have...(Why couldn't they find Muslim man to slaughter the damn chickens) I could tell you about the number of times I ordered vegetable soup and it came in pork stock or how Korean's don't consider ham to be meat (the Korean word for stupid is babo) but instead I will tell you about the cheese pizza I once ordered.
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| The Koreans don't mess around with chicken |
It was during the month of Ramadaan in which Muslims do the mandatory fast from sunrise to sunset. It was time to break fast, so a couple of Muslims friends of mine and I went to a nearby pizza place. We ordered one seafood pizza and another margarita. I still remember asking the cashier if the pizza had any meat on and he said no. Why then was I surprised when that cheese pizza had 15 of the pinkest slices of filthy pig (pigs aren't really filthy, I was upset) ham on it? What's more, a single medium pizza in Korea is about R130 and frugal Indian here was not about to lose. I proceeded back to cashier and asked why there was ham on the pizza after he had told us there was no meat and his reply was, "Ham no meat." After telling him that I couldn't eat it, he said OK and took the pizza back. He then took a pair tweezers and removed each peace of ham from that pizza with such precision as though he was diffusing a bomb! I decided to cut my losses and eventually said thank you and took the pizza, which I later gave to a homeless man not far away.
In hindsight, I think that I was meant to get that ham pizza. Ramadaan is also the month of charity - because I received a ham pizza that day, some homeless man had a meal...
One of the perks of being a teacher in Korea is that you get a well balanced lunch at school everyday. On the very first day, I had informed the cook that I cannot eat any meat apart from fish and eggs. So not to inconvenience the kitchen staff, on days when there were meat options, I would just eat rice and have fruit. There was one day when I was given 5 rice balls beautifully wrapped in seaweed. They seemed to have a dark purpley brown colour to them, so I assumed it was brown and red rice that was used. I was about 4 down when I asked the local teacher next to me how these were made. She replied, "Oh, is very easy! We take a rice, we add a blud (blood...yes blood), a pigs blud. Then we boil until rice good. Then we put in seaweed."
I started a new paragraph here to indicate the pause I took just as I did in Korea as the 4th bloody rice ball was in my mouth as she was telling me it's makeup. I spat it out and told that I could not have it and her reply was,"Don worry, is not meat. Is blud, you can have!" I decided to leave it there and give the 5th ball to Onyu, a third grade student of mine....(lose is lose) (I have to admit, sadly, bloody rice ball was tasty!)
On day 4 of my 14 day lockdown here in China, I ordered supper as I am not allowed to leave my room. I have to order through a lady downstairs as all the ordering apps are all in Mandarin which I cannot understand. I had previously ordered the same meal, fried eggs and tomato, as I did today ,except that today, I wanted it with rice instead of noodles. I paid the lady R45 for my meal and within 30minutes, my meal arrived. It was stir fried rice with a lovely fat pork sausage running through the middle...ie not what I had ordered. I messaged the lady:
Me: I think someone else's food has come to my room by mistake.
Lady: No, it's yours.
Me: This is has meat in it and I have previously told you that I can't eat meat.
Lady: You ordered that last time
Me: I didn't. I had tomato and fried egg with noodles. This meal has a sausage.
Lady: The sausage was a gift.
Me: There are no tomatoes here.
Lady: Take sausage out and eat it!
Me: I can't. It's contaminated.
Lady: No no. No virus in food!
Me: (hehehehe)Can I please have another meal or a refund, I can't eat meat?
Lady: Sausage is not meat. Take the sausage out and eat it! I made mistake. Order from someone else next time.
Me: I can't eat from animal flesh. Please can I have a refund or and egg at least (I was hungry at this point)
Lady: (Blue ticks)
Asia: 3
Naadir: 0
Remember that open mind thing I wrote about in the first paragraph? Well, this is one such case where it definitely applies. As angry I was, there was no point at taking it out on her. Whilst China has over 10 million Muslims, it has 1.39Billion people, and practices a very rigid way of life with no religious freedoms and teachings. To be specific, there was a 0.7% chance that she could have ever seen a Muslim let alone engaged with one. I realized at that point how fortunate I was to be a South African: to have had the opportunity to meet an learn about so many different types of people, their culture and heritage and moreover to celebrate our diversity instead of treat it like it is some kind of evil.
To be an open minded traveler is more than just to accept. "It is to release with every exhalation the barriers, boundaries, expectations and attachments you carry with you. It is to praise life with every inhalation, to welcome new thoughts and ideas. It is to leave nothing on your path but grace. To listen to the birds, the waves and the insects. To smell what the breeze brings you. To see every colour, every angle of light, every beetle. To taste and touch what is presented to you with mindfulness to what you are tasting and touching. To allow the natural environment to speak to you and for you to listen as you go in peace." - Camino
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