A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. This is a poignant post, about loves lost, hearts broken, desires unfulfilled.
OK maybe that a wee bit dramatic. I'm talking about a great cheeseburger! :-) You know the kind that's tender and char-grilled and so delicious you drool just thinking of it? For me mayo and sweet onions are requisite, all else can be haggled over or even left off.
I looooove cheeseburgers and I no longer get to indulge. Why, UofA, why you may ask. No it's not my fluid waistline or a problem with my cholesterol, it's the halal beef. Why can't it taste as lovely as a nice package of Angus 85/20 from Krogers always did? Why can't it have that lovely juicy, beefy taste? And what happened to the texture, the melt-in-you-mouth tenderness I need?
Ah the halal burger just isn't the same. To me, no halal beef is. I eat it, and some cuts prepared some ways I can accept. But ground beef just isn't one of them. Growing up, ground beef was a staple at our table. It was not so expensive so it found its way onto our plates at least 3 times a week. Now my life is all beige and white, with various poultry and fish products filling the void.
Pork? I don't miss you! You are nasty and greasy and the smell of you cooking does now truly turn my stomach. Hijab-free days, with the wind in my hair, you are missed but I do not yearn for you anymore. The guiltfree pleasure of music blaring on my car stereo while the windows are down and the sun warms my skin... you too have been replaced and barely missed.
But beef, oh beef, you shall not soon be forgotten.
Okey dokey, just realized unless some of my readers
Cheeseurger, I'll see YOU in Jannah insha'allah!!!!!!!!
6 comments:
ha ha ha ha ha. MashaAllah. I completely understand! I was visiting my family in the midwest recently and of course they were grilling out and gobbling up hot dogs and cheeseburgers and yumminess and I confess I was a tad bit jealous. ok, a lot. ha ha. And, although I never ever crave a nice pork chop (which during my childhood was on our dinner plates once a week at least) I do find myself getting a little choked up emotionally when I smell bacon. ha ha.
And don't feel silly. I read a quote recently from....I can't remember who that went something like "The most sincere love is the love for food" or something of the like. ha ha. Think about it! Most of us would drive/walk way too far when we get a craving. (Ok...pregnant lady speaking)
And since my family lives in the middle of nowhere and our house surrounded by cornfields, my hubby let me take off hijab and let the wind blow in my hair. it was glorious. and the driving with the windows down and music and sunsets and the smell of dirt.....that, I will always always miss.
and p.s. on the subject of silly posts, I once wrote a tribute to my right leg because it carried me through life when my left was/is broken and now bears the nasty dry skin on it's heal to prove it.
I totally know what you mean. At school I only eat halal and kosher meat (at my parent's house I can't, but I try to avoid it as much as possible), and the taste just isn't the same in some of the meats. If it's available, maybe you could find kosher ground beef; I find kosher meat to be very high quality with a lot of flavor.
Thanks for the comments guys. I love them. :-)
Ma salaama!
Assalamu Aleykum,
Is it so hard to find halal beef in the US?In France we can buy halal meat in most of the supermarkets. We also have halal butchers in most of the cities where the muslim community lives.I'm also a beef lover btw!
Yes, if you are granted Paradise you will get 72 CHEESEBURGERS ha ha ha ha ha! I kinda miss Macca's burgers, and i think halal beef is more drier than non-halal because the blood has been drained from the animal, making it less 'juicy'.
Not a healthy choice, but because the non-halal meat is drained of blood it isn't succulent. Try marinating it over night in olive oil and some seasonings. You'll get some of the flavour you are craving (uh, without the blood). Or come to Salalah Oman where apparently the steak is great.
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