Meals on a Monday...

I guess it might be interesting to talk about food in the UAE. This being a Muslim nation all protein must be Halal certified and have expiration dates....If you buy eggs in the UAE every egg has both a pack date and an "expiry" date. Every food product is labeled with the acceptable dates and there is a large fine associated with knowingly selling an expired product.
Halal certification is different, first Muslims do not eat pork. It is a big time sin. Beef, veal, chicken, game meats, virtually everything that breathed before it was harvested is covered by Halal. It assures that the animal was killed humanly, bled out properly, prayed for or blessed and has some kind of Muslim financing. Fish are not included, but all other meats must be so certified.
Now if a store or restaurant gets a special license they can serve pork to non Muslims. Very, very very few take advantage of that. Bob and I have had a pork week...lol. Saturday we went downtown to a grocery store that had a pork room. We bought some sliced ham to make sandwiches with. Well, as you may recall during this holy month (Ramadan) we can not eat or drink or even chew gum in front of a Muslim from sunup til sunset, with the penalty being possible jail time and deportation for multiple offences. Restaurants are closed during the daylight hours. So on Monday we packed Ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch, and went downstairs and ate them in an empty break room. It seems like we were double breaking the rules by not fasting and having pork for lunch. Tonight we had dinner at an American style restaurant (owned by a gentleman from Texas) We both had baby back pork ribs. We are catching up for lost time.....
Alcohol is not allowed for Muslims either. The UAE does allow non-Muslims to drink at international hotels. There is a zero drinking and driving tolerance. If any trace of alcohol is discovered while you are driving it is 30 days in jail followed by deportation. I don't mind being the designated driver, the risk of losing job and resident visa is just way to big to take a sip of a beer or wine.
You can get American beef (my company sells it) here. It is Angus and well aged. virtually all the produce comes from Iran and Europe. The bread at the market is fresh and very affordable. A three foot long baguette runs about 45 cents. Arab bread is even more affordable (about a nickle a pocket) and is made fresh daily and is very tasty. As I m mentioned the soda's taste like hell, almost everyone drinks bottled water with their meals. The water is mostly pulled from the gulf of Hormuz and is desalinated in a large plant. The water is not drinkable out of the spigot. So lots of water coolers and bottled water (lots of American water-like Aquafina, Dansai) are served.
Well tomorrow is Tuesday (hump day) here and I am very tired...I did get a picture of Sham and I together and I will try and post on here and Face book tomorrow.
Have a wonderful day!
John