Orthodox Kosher/halaal + insane foodie?

[boomboompow]

Hi there, 

I'm so happy to have found this place. 

My husband and I adhere to eating kosher/halaal, and that makes it incredibly hard for us to eat out pretty much anywhere. This is a relatively new transition in our lives as well, so the struggle is real. 

While it's a decision we're going to continue to adhere to, I wondered if anyone else has found themselves in a similar situation? How do you handle indulging your foodie tendencies? Is the answer to this to become an amazing home cook? 

We're pretty..down in the dumps lately, lol.

Thank you

[Katie Meadow]

I hope you live near Zabar's. That at least would provide some solace. Seriously, restricting a diet, whether related to religion, solidarity with living creatures or the vast variety of health reasons that necessitate individual food plans is always hard at first. Only in the case of Kosher there are in fact Kosher restaurants and bakeries (depending upon where you live). Even those who chose to cut way back on salt discover that many of their favorite restaurants are serving food so salty they can't eat it.

 

At one point I was forced to eat a low-acid, low-cholesterol diet. Then I had to add wheat to the list of no-no's. Talk about  depressing. Italian food was out. Viet and Japanese were in. The only thing I could eat in a BLT was the lettuce. Be glad you can eat bread and tomatoes! Life has changed and my diet is way more inclusive now. But becoming an amazing home cook, as you suggest, or at least a good creative one, can get you a very long way. I'm astonished at how adaptable our taste buds are, and how many things we may not have considered eating before that can be exciting and exotic.

 

At my lowest point on the low-acid diet I came down for breakfast and saw my husband's pyramid of grapefruits and I bust out crying. So I get it, believe me, but I was pretty surprised to find how well I managed. And you won't believe how much money you will save by not eating out a lot. Cheers! And welcome to eG, where whining and dining are considered a pairing.

[Anna N]

"And welcome to eG, where whining and dining are considered a pairing."

 

Damn! if I didn't already have enough in my signature line I'd be begging permission to use this one 

[Alex]

Great post, bbp.

Questions:

-Where do you live? (I'm guessing somewhere in the current or former English-speaking world other than the US, or that you're an expat thereof. Ask me why later.)

-How would you assess your home cooking skills at the moment?

-What "level" of kosher are you when you eat out? (I don't know if there's a popular-language equivalent for halaal.) For example, do you keep Glatt Kosher outside the home, e.g., not even fish or dairy if a restaurant isn't certified? I'm guessing -- and I may well be wrong -- that's the case here, that you're not of the "fish is OK anywhere" or "Chinese restaurant food is automatically Kosher" persuasion.

[BeeZee]

My husband and I have good friends who keep kosher. When they dine out, they either eat fish or vegetarian. They live in Philadelphia, so there are many options available...but they have also managed to travel Internationally without too much trouble (advance research and planning needed).

However, if you are very Orthodox and won't eat out unless you can see evidence of Rabbinical supervision...you are going to be much more limited in your options.

Edited November 27, 2016 by BeeZee
Additional comment (log)

[cakewalk]

What do you mean when you say you adhere to eating "kosher/halaal"? These are two very different things. Is one of you Jewish, the other Muslim, and you each want to adhere to your religion's laws? (And why?) From what I know, and I may be wrong, halaal generally refers to meat and the way it is slaughtered. I don't think there is a requirement of religious oversight in the preparation of foods other than meat. Do you know if that is right? Kashrut, depending on the level to which you adhere, is very different. There are Jews who will eat nothing unless it is certified kosher, there are those who will eat food only with specific certifications, there are those who will not eat non-kosher meat but will eat fish and vegetables out, etc. Location can play a tremendous role in deciding what (and where) you will/won't eat. Where are you located?

[LindaBrown1]

Well, last month I had attended my friend's wedding, at The Addison. Where their menu was kosher. I had ate kosher, which was very much delicious.  Their Kosher Boca Raton catering team had served a higher quality of kosher food.
Nowadays, in our modern world of processed foods,  it is difficult to know what ingredients are in your food but, for Kosher food preparation it requires some steps that ensures that the food is prepared in accordance with Jewish law of Kosher.

 

[Cronker]

In Australia, it's more than mostly all halal nowadays, just because it's easier for the vendors to sell their products to everyone.  The sceptic in me doubts that all the certificates handed out really examined closely the true adherence to the policy, but no one seems to care much.