DUBAI // A meat supplier from Canada hopes to introduce halal bison and Islam-friendly elk into high-end restaurants and hotels by next month.
Prairie Halal Foods, a private joint venture between several Canadian food producers and processors, also intends to supply UAE establishments with Angus beef, chicken and honey.
About 80 per cent of the UAE's imported food is halal, with most of its meat coming from Brazil and Australia.
The meat will come from Alberta, a Canadian province known for its open ranges, high-quality beef and petroleum industry.
Bison and elk are rare meats that have a game-like flavour. Bison is much like beef, but is lower in calories, cholesterol and fat.
The large herd animal used to roam wild throughout North American prairies, but is now largely farmed.
The company is looking for restaurants willing to serve the meats by December.
"We worked with slaughterhouses and introduced a Muslim fellow to develop a halal protocol," said Wahid Kandil, the general manager of Prairie Halal Foods.
He said the company is working with the Islamic Society of North America to ensure its products meet all religious requirements.
According to religious tradition, the animal must be killed by slitting the throat while a recitation from the Quran is repeated. Blood, pork and alcohol are forbidden, or haram, to Muslims.
Compared to the halal beef already available in the country, "definitely, our beef is better", he said.
Although Mr Kandil would like to sell the meat to consumers directly, the cost involved would probably be too high.
"It's more suitable for the high end," he said.
The company is hoping to tap into a global halal market that is estimated at US$580 billion (Dh2.1 trillion) and expected to rise to US$1 trillion by 2010, according to the Financial Times.
Alberta's deputy premier, Ron Stevens, was in Dubai yesterday to launch Prairie Halal Food's first Middle Eastern office in Dubai.
He predicted business ties between the UAE and the Canadian province would continue to deepen, as Alberta's oil and gas reserves are predicted to be second only to Saudi Arabia's.
Over the past year, the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company has spent more than US$5bn buying up stakes in Alberta's oil sands projects.
jgerson@thenational.ae
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Frankenstein in Baghdad
Ahmed Saadawi
Penguin Press
List of officials:
Referees: Chris Broad, David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Andy Pycroft, Ranjan Madugalle and Richie Richardson.
Umpires: Aleem Dar, Kumara Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Ian Gould, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Bruce Oxenford, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Sundaram Ravi, Paul Reiffel, Rod Tucker, Michael Gough, Joel Wilson and Paul Wilson.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
The specs: 2017 Maserati Quattroporte
Price, base / as tested Dh389,000 / Dh559,000
Engine 3.0L twin-turbo V8
Transmission Eight-speed automatic
Power 530hp @ 6,800rpm
Torque 650Nm @ 2,000 rpm
Fuel economy, combined 10.7L / 100km
Bombshell
Director: Jay Roach
Stars: Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie
Four out of five stars
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
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The biog
Most memorable achievement: Leading my first city-wide charity campaign in Toronto holds a special place in my heart. It was for Amnesty International’s Stop Violence Against Women program and showed me the power of how communities can come together in the smallest ways to have such wide impact.
Favourite film: Childhood favourite would be Disney’s Jungle Book and classic favourite Gone With The Wind.
Favourite book: To Kill A Mockingbird for a timeless story on justice and courage and Harry Potters for my love of all things magical.
Favourite quote: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” — Winston Churchill
Favourite food: Dim sum
Favourite place to travel to: Anywhere with natural beauty, wildlife and awe-inspiring sunsets.
Ahmed Raza
UAE cricket captain
Age: 31
Born: Sharjah
Role: Left-arm spinner
One-day internationals: 31 matches, 35 wickets, average 31.4, economy rate 3.95
T20 internationals: 41 matches, 29 wickets, average 30.3, economy rate 6.28
