Friday, November 23, 2007

The Hunt for A Red October Turkey

This happened during the Canadian Thanksgiving (Oct. 8), but I never wrote about it, so might as well post it now.

It was 3 pm Sunday and next day was Thanksgiving. We never celebrated it as such and for me it was mostly just another day I would not have to go to work. But suddenly, I felt the deepest, darkest desire to sink my teeth into a juicy, well cooked, stuffed turkey.

At that moment one of my Brampton buddies called. "Hey, what you doing?"

"I am going to No Frills." I told him. "They have a halal section and I saw turkeys there."

"Oh great! I am off too!"

I went to No Frills. Damn! The halal section was COMPLETELY empty. I never saw it like that. It was the first time I thought "man! they let too many Muslims into this country when a man can't find a decent halal turkey!"

Next stop - the local Muslim butcher store.

"Of course we have turkey, brother!" The Afghani guy told me. "It's X dollars per pound."

I did a quick calculation, and my jaw dropped. The guy was going to charge me $60 for a turkey! A turkey that is perfectly available in the non-halal section for $20!

And this is where I thought of a perfect rant - Muslim butchers who deliberately over charge you for meat because they know they got you. In fact I see no valid reason why halal chicken should be costlier - it's chicken! Which is why the No Frills halal section is good, the prices are comparable.

At that moment my Brampton buddy calls me, "Hey thanx! That was a great suggestion! I got the last turkey at our No Frills!"

@#!$^#@% him!

"Did you get yours?" He continued.

What can you reply? Of course I lied. "Yeah sure, I got mine."

"How much did you pay?" He asked.

"Well, how much did you pay?"

"It cost me $20." He informed me. "It's so many pounds."

"Ah," I answered. "Mine was only $15, and it's way bigger." Of course.

Dejected, I decided to head to the local Walmart - had to get some toiletries.

And guess what? They have a halal section too!

AND they had a turkey, for $15, at so many pounds heavy.

Moral of the story: Turkey is tasty. Yum!

Happy Thanksgiving to my US readers.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

My family and I have thought about doing a turkey dinner forever, but the only time you can get it is around Thanksgiving (I think?) at the butchers. I didn't even realized that No Frills had such a variety of halal meats to include turkey. I've always just seen the Al-Safa packaged chicken nuggets etc.

Happy Turkey Day!

Anonymous said...

Hahaha, it's a Thanksiving Day miracle!

'liya said...

I've never tried Turkey but I'm curious to know what it tastes like. Did you do the whole gravy and berries and thing? It always looks so yummy!

Anonymous said...

I had never tried turkey until I immigrated here. I couldn't cook the whole thing, it's too *giganit* for just 2 pple, so I cut into smaller pieces. I don't know, maybe it's because it's not something we usually eat but I find the meat *dry*. Or maybe someone can post a recipe for us who like their food *spicy*. sf

Anonymous said...

*gigantic* sf

Anonymous said...

Pssst... You've been weirdo-tagged. :D It's OK, as I say to everyone, if you don't do it, I just had to inform you because I wanna be good and follow the rules. (so that I'll get presents from Santa Claus! *lol*)

mezba said...

AKA, oh the No Frills near our place has a whole halal section. I guess it depends on the customer base and surrounding area. I doubt you are going to find a No Frills with a halal section in Moosetown, Alberta.

Null, haha!

Liya, Turkey is great when done right, but if you make a mistake it's awful! We do it desi style, with curry sauce and haldi and morich and corriander leaves and ... omg I am hungry now.

Sf, depends on the size - the ones at Walmart were pretty small birds and quite suitable for an average family. The local Canadian way of cooking is too bland for me (think Swiss Chalet) so we always add spices and sauces to add a kick to it.

Ajla, um Santa Clause isn't real lolz

Anonymous said...

Haha..what are the odds? Yeah Walmart has a halal section now too. We are finally making our mark!