kosher & halal

[Laurence Horn]

At 10:25 PM -0800 2/26/02, ANNE V. GILBERT wrote:
>Larry:
>
>>  Certainly are a lot of them around London (and other English cities),
>>  many more than kosher butchers.  Also a lot of signs in fast food
>>  places certifying that their food is halal.
>
>Never having been to London, unfortunately,  I wouldn't kow.

Then you must observe the Hindu dietary laws.   ;-)

>  But halal fast
>food(let alone the kosher variety)?????  That's a new one on me.
>Anne g

Both London and Manchester--and I imagine other large British
cities--have a goodly subset of Muslim inhabitants, most but not all
of them from Pakistan and India.  There are quite a number of little
store-front places serving wonderful pitas with lamb, chicken, and
vegetarian-style fillings and spicy sauces, where there's no
wait-staff and you sit at the counter or small tables (or get it as
take-out, or whatever the British word for that is) and the Halal
certification indicates that the food is acceptable for those who
observe the Islamic dietary laws (and equally tasty for the rest of
us).

larry

P.S.  Maybe the problem is that we're using "fast-food places"
differently--I'm not thinking McDonald's or Blimpie, but independent
places, run (I imagine) by the owners or their relatives, not by
franchisees.