Green Options

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Among the decidedly ungreen luxuries I allow myself is a small collection of magazine subscriptions, one of which is Gourmet - the Conde Nast foodie rag that is, to be honest, hit or miss. But this month’s issue was a favorite of mine, mostly because of a moving account by two young chefs of a trip they took to Madani Halal butcher in New York in search of a goat to serve at their summer barbecue. The chefs - Ian Knauer and Alan Sytsma - picked out a grass-fed, free-range goat and watched as the butcher thanked the animal for its life and then killed it in what is considered the most painless way possible. The chefs reported back that watching their animal die added a level of responsibility to their cooking. Not only did they want to create a delicious meal for its own sake, they felt a need to honor the sacrifice of the animal’s life.

This type of thinking is an integral part of the current movement towards more ethical meat consumption that we often discuss on this blog. Consider below the similarities between Zibah - the Halal slaughter method - and members of the slow food movement. This similarity is not lost on Riaz, the owner of Madani, who told Gourmet that he believes Halal butchery can help many Americans to accept Islam through shared eating values.

According to the Halal Food Authority the following conditions must be met in order for meat to be considered passable:

I have to give a lot of respect to Jews that keep Kosher, because I know how difficult it can be to stick with a restricted diet. During Passover especially, that diet becomes so limited, that some of my Jewish friends recently asked me if I thought it was possible to stay vegan during Passover. At first I thought, “No leavened bread? No problem!” but then I realized that some keep rules far more strict than that.

I learned that Ashkenazi Jews also avoid a group of foods categorized as kitiniyot which includes rice, peas, lentils, beans, and corn. (Now I know what Meredith was referring to in her recent Passover foods post, when she mentioned becoming aware of so many corn additives!) So no legumes, eh? No soy products… no grains… Ok, that does in fact rule out a major chunk of my vegan diet.

But I wasn’t ready to back down from this challenge just yet…