Mexican Halal Food

We live in a multicultural society which is composed of multiple people from different Countries. Living in such a society has many benefits such as the ability to try food from various cultures. I believe food helps to bring people closer together and is a good way to be introduced to someone's culture. I was interested in exploring Mexican food due to its spices and tanginess. I am originally from Pakistan where spicy food is the norm which is why I felt that I would enjoy Mexican food for the purpose of this assignment. However, I was raised Muslim and from a young age, I only ate halal food. Halal is any type of food that is permissible for Muslims to consume. I knew that finding halal Mexican food would be tough since Mexican food often involves pork in it which can’t be consumed by Muslims. After some research I decided to go to a kosher Mexican restaurant, kosher is similar to halal and can be eaten by Muslims. The restaurant was called Carlos and Gabby's and was located and coney island avenue between avenue k and j. At the restaurant, I decided to order the beef quesadilla which was served with beans and sour cream, while my friend ordered the chicken tacos. A quesadilla is made by stuffing a tortilla with any kind of meat, which is then grilled. The quesadilla was grilled and cooked to perfection. The heat of the grill caused the quesadilla to darken and have a brown shell this is known as the Maillard reaction. When the meat was cooked in the quesadilla the proteins denatured and coagulated. Denaturing is a scientific process in which you destroy the properties of a protein by heating it whereas coagulation occurs when you thicken a liquid into a solid. It was complemented by the salad which went really well with the dish. The quesadilla was seasoned perfectly and contained a decent portion of meat as some restaurants skimp on certain ingredients to save money. It was however greasy and a little high in sodium so if anyone is on a diet then they should definitely stay away from this place. Overall this place was a definite recommend from me as I will be returning in the future To try other things on their menu. The food was prepared from scratch and you can definitely taste the amount of work that goes into it. The waiting staff was friendly and patient as they recommend what to order since it was my first time here. This was a positive food exploration and I look forward to coming here again. In the future, I hope to experiment with foods from different countries around the world to get a better understanding of how other people live.

Reference:
1. Anderson, L. (2014, January 22). Four Ways to Make Your Quesadillas Much More Delicious. Retrieved March 17, 2018, from http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/01/22/how_to_make_quesadillas_a_few_guid elines_for_tortilla_cheese_and_fillings.html 2. Denature. (n.d.). Retrieved March 17, 2018, from http://www.dictionary.com/browse/denature 3. Protein: Coagulation. (2017, July 21). Retrieved March 17, 2018, from https://www.ifst.org/lovefoodlovescience/resources/protein-coagulation