NO PORK TO SOME PEOPLE

We Malaysian Muslims are the most fussy when it comes to halal food. When overseas, we all will search high and low for halal food.

To us halal food is everything. We wouldn't mind paying extra money or driving a few kilometres just to find it.

What actually is halal food? Physically, it should not have pork in it, the cooking utensil should not be shared with pork or pork products, no alcohol products (be it cooking wine, red wine, white wine, etc)and if it is beef, chicken, mutton, chevron, venison or any meat that is halal to consume, the animal must be slaughtered in the halal way.

This can be confusing to Westerners. They say there is no pork, yet we still say it is not halal.

I remember once when I was in the Philippines many many years ago. I ordered a delicious-looking soup. Before ordering I asked the chef: "No pork?" The chef answered : "No pork."

So I ordered. Just before I sipped the soup, my eyes caught sight of another man with the same soup and enjoying his pork soup.

I immediately stopped what I was almost doing and went straight to the chef. "You said no pork."

"Yes, no pork in your bowl of soup. I've just removed the pork."

You see, he got it wrong in the definition of no pork.

Then there was this grilled fish that I ordered in the same food joint. Being curious, I wandered into the kitchen. In the earthen oven there they were pork, chicken, fish and other sea food items grilled over one another. Imagine pork satay grilling nicely over my grilled fish!