A delicious and varied menu is essential for a restaurant’s growth and success. If you’re a restaurant owner, you don’t want to be too inflexible in your choice of dishes and not attract any new customers. You want to keep your options exciting and diverse so many more people can enjoy their meals. When creating your menu, you should keep in mind the different religions that are practiced in your area and other possible ones that can eventually come around.
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That being said, you may want to be mindful of the following religious food restrictions when developing your menu.
Christianity
Christianity is one of the most practiced religions in the United States, and depending on the denomination, it may have different restrictions that you can implement into your menu. For instance, some practitioners may choose to exclusively drink nonalcoholic beverages or consume vegetarian meals. If they’re carnivorous, they may choose to not eat red meats and focus instead on consuming fish or poultry. Some people attending vacation Bible school, or VBS, may opt out of eating anything that contains blood, as they’re taught to not eat any animals that are sacrificed to idols or strangled animals.
Islam
Another religion you should be mindful of when creating your menu selections is Islam. People who practice Islam, also known as Muslims, tend to only eat halal, or lawful, foods and avoid eating haram, or prohibited, foods. This means that they’ll eat things such as fruits, vegetables, dairy, and eggs but will steer clear of pork, blood, crustaceans, and alcohol. Be sure to have alternative options in your menu for halal foods so they have a chance to savor your plates without breaking their rules.
Judaism
Moreover, you should consider adding kosher options to your restaurant’s offerings. When food is kosher, it meets the standards of the Jewish laws, or kashrut, as it’s properly addressed in the religion. Kosher food needs to be pure but is not restricted to any specific food group. Jewish people who follow the Torah or the Jewish law will, however, stick to eating cattle and game that have chewing cud and cloven hooves. This means that they may eat cattle, goat, and sheep, but not pig. Likewise, they may only eat chicken, duck, goose, and turkey, while the rest of the birds are forbidden. Jews eat dairy products that come from kosher animals only, and they cannot consume milk and meat at the same time.
Hinduism
Lastly, Hinduism, thought to be one of the most diverse religions, has restrictions of its own that many of its followers are bound by. Many Hindus are considered lacto-vegetarian, meaning they avoid meat and eggs but drink milk with their vegetarian diet. Hindus consider cows as holy animals; therefore, they don’t eat beef, but some may eat lamb and chicken. Their ideology is based on the concept of reincarnation, so they are reluctant to kill any living being for consumption.
Keep these religious food restrictions in mind when working on your restaurant’s menu to attract and keep many more clients.
