Eating an Halal Snack Pack with chopsticks sounds a bit odd, but hey, I’m Chinese. I like to use chopsticks, especially for cooking and mostly for eating.

Halal Snack Pack

On Thursday, I started having a craving for some lamb. It could have been an on-line conversation I was having with a friend about how good lamb tastes that created the craving.

Since my last visit to Belco Halal Kebabs and Pizzeria when I ate a lamb kebab for lunch on a Saturday, I’ve wanted to return to try an Halal Snack Pack.

While I was at work on Friday, a couple of friends asked what I was planning for dinner and the usual comments about KFC were made. I explained I was going to visit Belco Halal Kebab and Pizzeria for a lamb Halal Snack Pack. Even though I’m eschewing carbohydrates in my diet, a treat every now and then wouldn’t hurt me. Not that there are many carbs in lamb, but the snack pack also has hot chips and there’s always a sauce. Often something like sweet chilli or hot chilli or garlic yoghurt. The carb levels can be quite high in something like a sweet chilli sauce.

Yummy Lummy was recognised

So on arriving at the shop on Friday afternoon, the bloke behind the counter was preparing pizza boxes. I asked for a small Halal Snack pack with lamb. He suggested mixed meats, but I was keen on lamb. I also asked for garlic yoghurt sauce.

After I completed my meal order the bloke looked up at me and said, “You were here a little while ago. You posted on Facebook.”

He couldn’t remember the name of my Facebook page, but said he knows it by the lime green colour scheme.

I said, “Yea, Yummy Lummy.”

“Yea, that’s right, Yummy Lummy!”

He told me he shared the post a bit with friends.

Sadly that post is no longer visible because Facebook has hidden it from public view after haters and trolls reported my blog for abuse.

A meaty poutine. Don’t tell my Canadian friends

Preparing the snack pack doesn’t take long. The chips are cooked. Grated cheese is added. Lamb is shaved from the compressed lamb which is attached to a rotating spit. Then garlic yoghurt sauce is squirted over the meat.

The meal smelled wonderful. Full of heady aromas. It had a good weight to it too. I didn’t weigh it on scales, but in the hand it was at least a kilogram. It felt good in the hand. This was a substantial snack.

On opening the cardboard container, the sweet smell of garlic and aromatic lamb hit me and I smiled. Before tucking in, I pulled a pair of chopsticks out from my utensil draw and stuck them into the meat.

As is my want, I proceeded to shoot a photograph and a video of the snack pack.

Gary, why do you photograph all your food?

On Friday morning, a work colleague who follows me on social media asked why I photograph everything I eat. I explained it’s a hobby and it’s what I do. What I didn’t explain in detail, is that cooking and photographing my food is how I manage my internal tension, stress, and anxiety of life.

My regular job is very different and while not stressful per se, it requires a different skill set. There are also constant regulatory requirements and expenses associated with maintaining a professional skill set and because of a poor workplace experience some years ago I make a point of having a daily ritual of focussing on something I enjoy that isn’t work related.

People now cringe at the term, work life balance, but I regard it as important. I no longer wish to be consumed by my work. I don’t want to be defined by my work. I used to live and breathe work and that lead to some unfortunate consequences.

How did the Halal Snack Pack taste?

I was impressed with the flavours of the lamb with the garlic yogurt. I also liked how the cheese melted with the chips and it gave me a sense of poutine which is a Québec favourite. While a snack pack, even a small snack pack could probably feed two or three people, I managed to eat the whole thing. I did feel full afterwards. So much so, when I did have some unsweetened yoghurt and crushed pineapple later for dessert, I wasn’t sure I had done the right thing by having the yoghurt. The thought of poutine did take me back to a marvellous rabbit meat poutine I enjoyed in Québec city in February this year.

Rabbit and Kangaroo snack packs anyone?

I wonder if you could compress a heap of rabbits 🐇 to a spit and have a rabbit meat snack pack. There are certainly enough feral rabbits in Canberra.

On that thought, given the huge numbers of kangaroos 🦘 and the culling that occurs in Canberra, roo meat snack packs might also be popular.

Can rabbit and roo meat be prepared halal?

I don’t know enough about Islamic rituals to know if rabbits and kangaroos can be prepared in a manner acceptable to adherents of Islam for rabbit and roo meat to be served halal. If anyone knows, please leave a comment.

Final thoughts

• Have you had an Halal Snack Pack?
• Would you eat a rabbit or roo meat snack pack?
• How would Canadians react if I said poutine was not as good as a snack pack?
• Would you eat a snack pack with chopsticks?