This was part of my Digos City Tour, while exiting the capitol area going back to the city center...
Next, I saw a restaurant that intrigued me. My Pinoy Traveler brain wouldn't rest until I see it up-close! In fact, better to enter and experience it, right? So, I invited my driver that we have lunch here. We did!
It's a Pinoy restaurant, turo-turo style, although they have an 'a la carte' menu. Wala lang pork. Lami oi!
Haaay hehehe! I can live without pork but not without Coke! Ayun, mountain dew na lang :(
By the way, if you may recall, my driver said "halal ito sir" - which I wanted to correct (even debate) but I opted not to. Eh baka ilaglag ako sa tulay pag natalo ko sya sa debate! I just silently said "no it's not"!
Let me share something about "halal" that I learned during my trips. Thanks to friends, colleagues and acquaintances I've met, traveled or dined-with, especially those in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. They have collectively educated me about the true meaning of 'halal', 'halal food' or 'halal restaurant'!
Anyone who knows better, please feel free to correct me - for the sake of our fellow travelers!
Halal literally means "allowed" or "permissible" [lawful in Islamic Law], the opposite of which is Haram which means "not allowed" or "impermissible" [unlawful in Islamic Law]. Both words Halal and Haram apply to everything, not just food. It can refer to vices (bisyo), even attitudes/behaviours (pag-uugali).
But let's focus on food and restaurant menu - since that is the most misunderstood by many.
So what is halal (meaning "allowed" or "permitted") food in the Islamic sense?
01. Foremost is it should NOT be pork or its derivatives (because it is said in their Qur'an)
02. The animal or plant must have been raised in a natural and dignified environment.
03. The animal must have been 'slaughtered' in a proper (dignified) manner.
04. Fish, fruits and vegetables are 'generally' halal if #2 and #3 are satisfied.
Simple and safe, even for us non-muslims, right? Very!
But it gets a little 'technical' when they talk details about how an animal, fruit or veggie is raised. Dyan maraming things to remember. And mind you, environmentalists might even be surprised that things they are harping about aren't actually new. It has been a requirement of muslims all along - for food to be considered halal! Those are things like clean environment, no harmful pesticides, and many more.
Now the 'killing' or more properly (I think) 'slaughtering', must also follow standards, which, I think has resonable, practical or even scientific basis. Example: goat has to be killed by cutting the throat with a very sharp knife, to make it quick and painless as possible to ensure it does not suffer. Hey, the "neck" thing is even explaned: so that blood and brain are cut-off pronto, no chance of "feeling" or "suffering".
Dahil nga naman dead na agad in one strike, so, no suffering nor stress!
I also learned sometime ago that, any natual food naman pala is halal, except for pork (they call it pig) or carrion (decayed or decaying), as long as #2 and #3 are satisfied. If not, that food becomes haram.
Examples: fruits or veggies are halal, but if they were 'injected' with whatever to make them plump or fresh, they become haram. Chicken is halal. But if they were raised in crowded cages and/or fed with medicines to make them grow fat, they become haram! Also, if slaughtered by electrocution - haram.
Note: so hindi lang pig (pork) ang haram. Many eatables can become so, depending on how they were grown or harvested. Eto pinaka-gusto ko: eggs (and chicken) grown in our "modern" poultry farms are actually automatically haram. Reason? Call this funny, but their reason is true: 'eggs that became eggs not via the natural union of a rooster and a hen' are haram - "laying feeds" are unnatural and artificial.
Tama di ba? Most (if not all) of the chicken/eggs we buy from supermarkets are genetically modified. Imagine, lahat ng manok sa poultry basta lang nangingitlog without having sex. Unnatural nga naman.
Now you may say "eh bakit ang daming muslim kumakain ng fried or barbecued chicken"? Well, like us Christians, they also have disclaimers. I don't know if it is in their Qur'an, but it says something like "as long as you are not aware that the food you are eating is haram". Malay ba nila kung yung baka naging bulalo, eh hinataw pala sa ulo ng palakol, sumuray-suray muna, bago tuluyang namatay at kinatay. Da!
Which brings us back to Ramyan Kambingan-Bulaluan, A Non-Pork Restaurant. I salute them.
They don't say they are halal just because they don't serve pork. That's important and admirable. Yung iba kasi pataka lang. Malay ba nila saan pinalaki ang isda, saan lumaki at paano kinatay ang kambing, eh binili lang nila sa public market, diba? But they're sure they don't have pork. So that's what they say.
That's why I was curious to see and experience that restaurant. It's not halal, no-pork lang! And, I think, that's a good enough information for our Muslim Pinoy Travelers who pass by this place in Digos City!
FYI for the non-Muslims, it is one good restaurant that just has no pork. But they have this...
And, if you are just having coffee or finishing your softdrinks, and want to have a feel of fresh air...
I enjoyed this experience.
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