How to cater halal buffet food at a children's party?

[Feedingmybaby]

It’s DDs birthday party soon and just starting to think about catering. We are holding the party in a hall and will do typical buffet food for both adults and kids.

We’ce invited the whole class, and lots of children are Muslim and will only eat halal - I’ve never catered for this dietary requirement before.

Can anyone give any suggestions? There will be some cheese and jam sandwiches for the kids, but I was also planning on doing ham. Would the products containing pork need to be kept separately to everything else if the Muslim children are to eat them? I just don’t want the parents to not eat the food if I’m to do it ‘wrong’!

Are you from an area with a predominantly white British population? I grew up in a town with a huge Pakistani population. I now live in a London borough that is very diverse. Families celebrate Eid, Diwali, Hanukkah. They go to local mosques on Fridays. Some mums wear a hijab. Kids come over for play dates and their parents will check in re food as they have religious dietary requirements. And kids also talk to each other about religion. My DCs know a lot more about Islam than I ever did.
Sure, there’ll be some kids who I know who’s religion I don’t know about. But I’m pretty sure I know about all their friends who are Muslim.

Always invited my dc class mates for all birthdays, never catered for halal. There will never be (knowingly) halal meat in our house. We eat halal when on business trips.

Yes please also check allergies. My DC wouldn't be able to have many of the alternatives suggested e.g. veggie sausage rolls, cheese sandwiches etc.

Another one for just doing a veggie table or complete veggie.

Not everyone agrees with halal method of slaughtering so easier to just do veggie.

In the UK this is the same thing (with the other exception of kosher). Meat is legally required to be stunned except for these two religious exceptions in the UK.

Please be careful when doing all vegetarian! If a child has a dairy allergy it's a bit shit for them as (a) all the cheese (b) a lot of faux meat has soy in which will set often off an allergic reaction in a dairy allergic child (ask me how I know!!)

Apparently pre stunned killing is a higher percentage than not in the UK

Exactly, veggie sausage rolls will often not suit a child who cant have dairy (and if it was DS he would get immediate diahorrea on the floor so a bit of a buzz kill!)

Just keep it pescatarian op. Easy peasy.

So does your son just eat meat ?

Just do it vegetarian. Unlikely to be any issues there.

No jelly - these often contain beef gelatine.

Check sweets.

As it's a children's party alcohol won't be an issue.

It might be sensible to contact parents about what is on offer and also mention allergies, nuts etc.

If the school is a nut free one then someone there has a serious allergy - but I'd check anyway.

It's the butter in the pastry for dairy allergies and often soy based meat replacements. My DD has anaphylaxis to soy so cannot go anywhere near most fake meat.

You are right, we do live in an almost exclusively white British area.

There are no non white children in my child’s class at school. I’ve never heard the children or indeed the parents ever mention religion as I suppose it just isn’t an important factor in their lives.

The majority of halal meat in the UK is pre-stunned - around 88% of it.

Don't do ham, particularly if you are catering for Muslims. It's so insulting even if you have it on different plates, tables etc.

Keep it simple, vege / halal. Vegan sausage rolls, chicken drumsticks, shop bought veg wraps and sandwiches cut into smaller child size triangles, crisps, fruit kebabs, cake, muffins.

Cater so anyone attending can eat anything.

I just didn't understand your comment about vegetarian sausage rolls, but you really meant all pastry which is fair, parties must be a nightmare . I remember my Dd had friends with extreme allergies their parents just used to hand in food to parties/brownies/school discos .

The vast majority of Halal meat is stunned so in what way is it the same thing?

Do you not have nativity plays? Is there no school church? No religious education?

Just skip the meat! Kids parties don’t require it halal or not. There’s plenty of vege options that kids love.

I would stick to meat free, easy enough for a buffet. Jam sandwiches, cheese sandwiches, egg mayo or even tuna mayo. Pizzas, carrot and hummus, crisps, cheese twists.

The only thing to consider is with the cake. I share my baking with my Muslim neighbours a lot (and so have scrutinized my ingredients) and vanilla essence is often made with alcohol but they make alcohol free versions. Also make sure to get vegetarian sprinkles or that the cake is vegetarian (a lot of sprinkles contain an E number that is made from crushed beetles)

Cant you just not serve pork? Im not Muslim but we don’t eat pork and it’s annoying when people give haribo sweets in school, so make sure to check the sweets also. I wouldn’t want pork served on the same table personally.

The person you quoted didn't want to eat halal meat and you wanted to know if she meant halal or non stunned. But it doesn't really matter which she meant as the only meat she needs to actively avoid is halal (besides kosher which is less readily available anyway).

It’s the parents responsibility to proactively tell the birthday child’s parents about their child’s allergies. Not wait to be asked or turn up assuming.

Ugh, halal is so incredibly cruel 😞. Maybe stop trying to suck up to the Muslim parents and serve no meat at all? There are plenty of different veggie options.