Excerpt:
When Shazia Saleem took a recent flight from London to Washington, DC, she requested a halal meal. On her outbound journey she was served a curry; coming back she got the same. "I'm grateful that the halal option is there," laughs Ms Saleem, a businesswoman, "but it's 2014–I think we'd be okay with something other than chicken tikka."
For years Britons hungry for halal food, especially meat, have tended to patronise specialist butchers in areas with large Muslim populations. Diners seeking restaurants that eschew pork and alcohol have mostly had to pick curry houses. But as the tastes of Muslim consumers, especially younger ones, change, so too do the businesses that serve them.
Ready meals are one growing market. Ms Saleem runs ieat Foods which pumps out halal shepherd's pie and spaghetti bolognese. Those are a hit among the increasing number of Muslims who, like herself, grew up in Britain, craving the same grub that their non-Muslim friends ate. Willowbrook, an organic halal farm in Oxfordshire, produces bacon from beef and boned, rolled shoulders of lamb—ideal for Sunday roasts.