Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

Our doctor is a Muslim lady, and we quite like her. Pakistani grew up in Saudi Arabia, took Medicine at Western in London and now practices in Chatham. She gets eggs from me, and has been out a couple times.

Having grown up in Canada, and knowing our tradition of festive meals of roast turkey and all the trimmings, we wanted to share with some newer Canadians that haven't tried it. But one of the stumbling blocks for that or a roast of beef or whatever is they only eat Halal. So what to do.?

We found a Halal turkey in London, or actually a friend did. Not frozen, about 16 lbs, $55. And tomorrow, we will welcome the good doctor and her husband and mother and two kids and another couple we know, and have them try a meal like my mother would have cooked for the family at Christmas or Thanksgiving. Wife has also made some Menonite style sour cream and raisin pies.

Looking forward to it, and will make further report on reception.

well thats just awesome man! good on you! if i remember correctly this means the turkey was blessed right? someone posted about that very successful quail farm where all the quail are blessed. I dont know a whole lot about other cultures but I think thats just awesome!

As far as I know: blessed at slaughter, not allowed to stand in their own blood (not an issue for most birds but it is an issue for beef), not fed certain things, the cooked meat not mixed with "unapproved" foods (i.e. not stuffed with sausage) etc. That the tools used to slaughter (knife, cutting table) is not used for unapproved animals (pork, ostrich, etc)
Observant Jews also have different serving dishes for different foods such alone dish for fish, one for beef.
Also that the milk (baby food or byproduct like cheese) served with the flesh of the animal: i.e. a cheeseburger.

Also an animal being slaughtered halal cannot be seen/is not allowed to see the other animals waiting for the knife. It must be done quickly and calmly, and bled out thoroughly while giving thanks.
Actually, halal and kosher have a LOT of similarities.
When I was a kid, our first place was a townhouse in Ottawa, and our next door neighbour was a young Muslim family, recently arrived for his work. They were determined to experience Canadian culture as much as possible, so as to help their young children fit in, and they spent their first Christmas with us to learn our 'traditions' and be able to replicate some of them for their own children. My mother being a pre-dominion Newfoundlander, and my father being from England, we may not have been the best at Canadian tradition, since we were making our own!

When I worked in the UK a large slaughterhouse was part of the business. It was OK as far as those operations go. They were brining in Halal business and the workers were quite upset because they'd "heard things". When it actually was being done there they reported back that they had no issues with it because they felt it was easier on the animals and done with respect.

The animals must also not be fed GMO's, or an animal may not be fed to their own kind: no ground feathers as feed, no ground bones fed back to cattle.

These ancient rules were drawn up before anyone understood the reality of food safety, bacteria, contamination, viruses, salmonella, worms and parasites, etc. Though they did not understand why, the rules did a lot to reduce the problems of food contamination and food borne illness. The muslims also had cleanliness rules before meals: that you must wash your hands and arms up to the elbow (toilet paper was invented by the Chinese in the 1400's and was only available for the wealthy until modern times). In an era before refrigeration and other methods of long term food storage: salting, drying, and smoking were the choices.
The muslims: both as a religion and the cultures within it permitted asking questions and scientific discovery (at a time when Europe was in "the dark ages": Galileo was sent to prison for suggesting the earth went around the sun and not the other way around; sent there by the Catholic leaders). We use "arabic" numbers in math ...ever wonder why?

The dinner went off rather well. (This house we have dinner around noon, supper is the evening meal.) We had two graces, one of the traditional Christian sort, and another by the good doctor (in English), very similar really, thanks for the food, thanks for friends, help us to be better people.

Most had seconds of nearly everything, we all ate too much, then added on the pie. The kids ran around chasing chickens and dogs and goats. The adults sat around and groaned about eating too much and visited and told the kids to put that down, don't climb on that, don't pull the dog's tail, don't hit your sister. Took the 7 yr old out and he sat on the mini horse, asked if it was a buffalo.

They had not eaten turkey before, said it was the same only different from a large chicken, and done whole, not in parts. Stuffing was new to them, but reminded one person of something their mother had made when they were little, but that dish was much spicier. The doctor was very interested in how to make gravy. I am the gravy maker, as my mother taught me that at about ten to get me our from under foot on those big days. The gravy was probably the recurring subject from our guests, how good it was on the mashed potatoes. They also wanted to know what all went into the mashed potatoes, as that is not their usual, but our usual plain, no spices or herbs, just butter and milk. Said the cranberries went rather well.

Then everyone said how good it was, and how they would like to stay, but had to get on their way, and we had chores to do. The doctor is on 24 hr call, and had been up since 3am but did not get a call while here. And we are to go to their place soon for some Indian style food one day soon.

Generally rated as a success is my assessment. A good time had by all, seasons greeting extended from both sides.

Glad everyone enjoyed!

Sounds great man . Yep as far as religions go I've heard from a Saudi up my way that our God & core beliefs are basically the same it's the path to get there that's different . Always nice to learn a bit more about others . Luck

I just have to jump in here to say that halal and kosher slaughter miss the stunning step in the slaughter procedure. In other words, the animals get killed by a knife only instead of a stunning method, which renders them unconscious, and then the kill step. Personally, I don't like that aspect and prefer to buy meat products that are not halal or kosher.