{"id":187,"date":"2016-08-11T17:31:24","date_gmt":"2016-08-11T17:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/nyuprecollege2016\/?p=187"},"modified":"2016-08-11T17:36:54","modified_gmt":"2016-08-11T17:36:54","slug":"finding-middle-east-new-york-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/nyuprecollege2016\/2016\/08\/11\/finding-middle-east-new-york-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding the Middle East in New York City"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jew\u00e9l Jackson<\/p>\n

Everyone says that New York is a melting pot of different cultures and that every part of the world is represented in this one city.<\/p>\n

I represent one ingredient in that melting pot and coming 8,000 miles from the scorching sun and occasional sandstorms of Kuwait, I needed a fix of Middle Eastern food and Arabian people.<\/p>\n

Luckily, I found the Halal Guys, a well-known established food company that serves Halal food from their 10 food trucks and three restaurants across the city.<\/p>\n

The Halal Guys dates back to the 1990s and to its three Egyptian founders, Mohamed Abouelawin, Ahmed Al Saka, and Abdelbaset ElSayed.<\/p>\n

Starting off as Manhattan taxi drivers in the 90\u2019s, these three men found it difficult to find Halal food within the city without traveling to Brooklyn or Queens.<\/p>\n

Noticing that there was a problem providing Halal food to Muslim taxi drivers, these three men took it upon themselves to find a solution.<\/p>\n

So, they set up one food truck that served Halal food.<\/p>\n

And from there, that one food truck has expanded into an international business that reaches all the way to Singapore to provide Halal food to any and everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a vision. We\u2019re going to be the dominant and serve the best Halal food all over the world,\u201d said Mohamed Ahmdein, the senior staff-training member.<\/p>\n

But what is Halal?<\/p>\n

\u201cHalal is human[ily] raised and human[ily] slaughtered,\u201d said Ahmedin, and follows Muslim religious law. He said that the Halal certifications can be found on the company\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

Walking into the Halal Guys restaurant on East 14th<\/sup> Street, you can see that this business is already rapidly expanding. Ahmedin pointed out that they were currently training a group of South Korean employees to work in their restaurants in NYC.<\/p>\n

\u201cActually our Muslim customers is less than other customers because we are serving everyone,\u201d said Ahmedin.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhite sauce, hot sauce, and halal\u201d is what the Halal Guys are known for, said Ahmedin.<\/p>\n

Without giving away the family secret he was able to tell me that the white sauce is \u201ca creamy mayo base with citrus spices.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah we have a lot of copycats for our white sauce out there,\u201d he laughed.<\/p>\n

With prices as low as $6 for a whole meal, the Halal Guys appeals to not only its Muslim customers but to any and every nationality that wishes to try Middle Eastern food.<\/p>\n

\u201cHospitality, mouth watering food, and great prices is our standard,\u201d said Ahmedin.<\/p>\n

By following that standard the Halal Guys believe that they can continue to reach their goals of becoming an international sensation of serving Halal food.<\/p>\n

Click here for “Authentic Middle Eastern Food Pleases Kuwait’s Palate”<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jew\u00e9l Jackson Everyone says that New York is a melting pot of different cultures and that every part of the world is represented in this one city. I represent one ingredient in that melting pot and coming 8,000 miles from the scorching sun and occasional sandstorms of Kuwait, I needed a fix of Middle … Continue reading “Finding the Middle East in New York City”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":193,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[47,60,46,44,16],"class_list":["post-187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-halal","tag-halal-guys","tag-jewel-jackson","tag-middle-east","tag-nyc"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFinding the Middle East in New York City - NYU Precollege 2016<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/nyuprecollege2016\/2016\/08\/11\/finding-middle-east-new-york-city\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Finding the Middle East in New York City - NYU Precollege 2016\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Jew\u00e9l Jackson Everyone says that New York is a melting pot of different cultures and that every part of the world is represented in this one city. 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