Baking for Muslim neighbours: non-Halal ingredients to avoid

[boatyardblues]

We have lovely new neighbours, a Muslim family, who keep bringing us delicious food. DS2 and I would like to bake for them to express our thanks, probably American style cookies or biscuits. I know from previous research when making a birthday cake for one of DS1’s primary school parties that we can’t use vanilla essence due to the alcohol used in processing/manufacture. Is there anything else we should avoid?

Should have said, obviously lard (pork fat) and alcohol are out.

This might be helpful? www.thismuslimgirlbakes.com/

Only gelatin and alcohol really. And yes pork. None of my muslim friends have ever been bothered about vanilla essence.. I wouldn’t flavour something with rum obviously but if the bottle says it doesn’t contain alcohol I wouldn’t worry. If people are that strict they will ask!

As someone whose best (Muslim) friend throws new items in the supermarket at me (not Muslim) to check if they are halal or haram, I would probably suggest that you ask. Just like you might ask anyone. Some Muslims interpret rules differently or don't avoid certain things, others are stricter, and they are also just as likely to possibly have allergies or intolerances. Very strict Muslims might even have objections to the use of utensils that have ever contained haram substances - that's not common but I have come across it.

Oddly, my in demand dish with many Muslim friends is Irish Stew! They can't get enough of it.

Use a Nadiya Hussain recipe. She is obviously a practicing Muslim, so her recipes will all be haram.

Thanks all - some really useful pointers.

What about Nadya Hussain's recipes?
You've brought back memories of the mum of a lovely local Indian family bringing our family different sweets and spices every now and again. I can close my eyes and smell it all now. Heaven.

@AgeLikeWine

Use a Nadiya Hussain recipe. She is obviously a practicing Muslim, so her recipes will all be haram.

You mean her recipes will Be Halal! Not haram

@AgeLikeWine

Use a Nadiya Hussain recipe. She is obviously a practicing Muslim, so her recipes will all be haram.

She means halal.

Use vegetarian friendly and non alcohol ingredients.

My MIL bakes halal mince pies for me, for which love her so much. They’re my Christmas highlight, I drinks vats of tea and they go so well together.

Obviously check with them. But the ingredients would need to be vegetarian and avoid alcohol
Any meat based products would need to be bought from a halal butchers. Also there are asian shops they have products that contain halal meat. So asian cash and carry's etc
Some products that contains meat have a halal logo on them these would also be ok.
But is something has ' suitable for vegetarian ' written on it and doesnt contain alcohol it should be fine.

@AgeLikeWine

Use a Nadiya Hussain recipe. She is obviously a practicing Muslim, so her recipes will all be haram.

Interestingly I just checked and she does use vanilla extract and the OP is correct - to some Muslims vanilla extract would be haram. There is no possible way of producing vanilla extract without using alcohol. So there are areas of difference in interpretation.

My neighbour is an amazing cook. We feel awful that it’s such one-way traffic and would like to rebalance things.

Part of the reason for asking about ingredients rather than recipes is that I have a box of family recipes going back to my great grandmother that I can adapt and would be more personal. All of my Grandma’s pastry-based bakes have lard in the pastry, but we swap out the lard for butter anyway. 🙂

@AgeLikeWine

Use a Nadiya Hussain recipe. She is obviously a practicing Muslim, so her recipes will all be haram.

They wont be necessarily halal. Because if she uses any meat or meat based products she can probably source halal versions.

E.g. if I cook chicken it will be halal cos I buy it from a halal butchers, but if you made it without using a halal butchers it wouldn't be.

Oops!

Yes, I meant halal, of course.

I think Trex is the halal sub for lard but check the pack.

We have lots of halal butchers round here, so sourcing halal meat wouldn’t be a problem. I would be more worried about them being concerned about us not keeping a Halal kitchen. I am very careful when I bake for my strict Orthodox Jewish friend, and for my coeliac colleague, as I know context is important too.

Moondust it is possible to extract vanilla into glycerine.
My choices, when living somewhere with zero alcohol, was to make vanilla sugar or extract into glycerine. I preferred the liquid version, but many used vanilla sugar.

As you were, OP. Pepoermintvextract would be the other obe to watch - similar issue to vanilla.

Pepoermintvextract would be the other obe to watch - similar issue to vanilla.

Thanks. I had thought as much and assumed almond essence is out too for the same reason.

I would suggest you ask them directly. Huge difference in how people keep halal.

Will do. I wanted to surprise them, but they may have members of the household with food allergies that need to be considered.