{"id":5763,"date":"2014-11-03T09:39:35","date_gmt":"2014-11-03T14:39:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/?p=5763"},"modified":"2014-11-03T09:39:35","modified_gmt":"2014-11-03T14:39:35","slug":"dylans-intro-to-nyc-2-holla-for-halal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/2014\/11\/03\/dylans-intro-to-nyc-2-holla-for-halal\/","title":{"rendered":"Dylan’s Intro to NYC #2: Holla for Halal"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a city where everyone is always running and everything is constantly moving\u2014figuratively as well as literally\u2014a twist on the meaning of fast food is inevitable. Halal food, my newfound love, a perfect culmination of\u00a0fast, cheap, and delicious, is proof that fast food doesn\u2019t have to be gross.<\/p>\n

My love affair with Halal food began on a Thursday. I had passed the cart numerous times, always tempted\u00a0by the warm scent of spices. My curiosity about the flavor beckoned me after weeks of microwavable rice and vegetables, but I skipped out either because I was hurrying to class, too cheap to dish out cash for food, or too weirded out by the tin-covered carts. After weeks of self-control, during a lunch break and armed with some extra cash, I strutted over for what smelled like a delicious meal. I stood there in front of a menu of images and peered up into the window asking the man for a falafel platter.<\/p>\n

Within minutes, a steaming pile of falafel over rice and salad in a Styrofoam container was handed to me with a plastic fork and one flimsy paper napkin.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Photo courtesy of the author<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I was mesmerized and looked up at the man, pleased with my decision as the aroma\u00a0wafted up my nose.<\/p>\n

\u201cSoda?\u201d asked the deep-voiced mastermind behind my beautiful lunch.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSix dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n

I was happy\u00a0by not only the appearance but also the price of my lunch.<\/p>\n

After I stumbled away, starstruck by my sustenance investment, I found a seat to take on the\u00a0decadent meal and dig my plastic fork into the pile of seasoned food. The creaminess of the tzatziki sauce and the crispiness of the falafel was a dream team while the rice not only added an additional flavor but made the meal even more filling. Don\u2019t get me wrong, the meal was no five-star restaurant dish, but it was a delicious change to my normal meals\u00a0and a huge improvement on\u00a0my Long Island quick lunch: a McDonald\u2019s snack wrap. A fast meal no longer has to be wilted lettuce and a lukewarm patty or unsatisfying fries.<\/p>\n

I am not the only person roaming the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn who loves a good halal lunch. Not only is there always a line outside the carts near Brooklyn College but in front of all of the carts across the five boroughs.<\/p>\n

On a trip to the Museum of Modern Art for a project, I passed the famous Halal Guys, whose two carts had lines down the block. I saw the happy faces sitting on benches holding onto their piles of fresh cart food and even a taxi driver shoveling his tiny plastic fork into his mouth while he weaved his car into and out of traffic.<\/p>\n

Halal food is everything a city dweller or a city adapter, like me, could need: inexpensive and most importantly, yummy. This city of\u00a0many cultures adapted the idea of fast food to something incredibly unique and that most everyone loves. I have been converted: whenever I\u2019m craving fast food or need a quick bite, I will be searching for the nearest sketchy aluminum box we call a halal cart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a city where everyone is always running and everything is constantly moving\u2014figuratively as well as literally\u2014a twist on the meaning of fast food is inevitable. Halal food, my newfound love, a perfect culmination of\u00a0fast, cheap, and delicious, is proof that fast food doesn\u2019t have to be gross. My love affair with Halal food began…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":703,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"portfolio_post_id":0,"portfolio_citation":"","portfolio_annotation":"","openlab_post_visibility":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[783,789,955,1562,1596],"class_list":["post-5763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-falafel","tag-fast-food","tag-halal-cart","tag-nyc","tag-opinions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/703"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5763\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}