Halal snack pack

A Halal Snack Pack is a fast food dish, popular in Australia, which consists of halal-certified doner kebab meat (lamb, chicken, or beef) and chips.[1] It also includes different kinds of sauces, usually chilli, garlic, and barbecue.[2] Yoghurt, cheese, jalapeño peppers, tabbouleh, and hummus are common additions. The snack pack is traditionally served in a styrofoam container, and has been described as a staple takeaway dish of kebab shops in Australia.[2][3]

HSP
Halal Snack Packs
Alternative namesAB, Atomic Bomb, meat in a box, meat on chips, meat box, snack box, snack pack, kebab snack plate, mixed meat package
CourseMain
Place of originAustralia
Associated national cuisineAustralia
Serving temperatureHot
Main ingredientsDoner kebab, chips, sauces, and optionally cheese.

Some Australian restaurant menus refer to the dish as a "snack pack", "snack box", "mixed plate", or "HSP", rather than as a "halal snack pack".[2] The name of the dish was chosen by the Macquarie Dictionary as the "People's Choice Word of the Year" for 2016.[4]

History

The halal snack pack originated in Australia as a culinary fusion of Middle-Eastern and European cuisines. According to some, snack packs date back at least to the 1980s.[5] They have since become a quintessential Australian dish.[6][7] However, variations or similar dishes exist in other countries; examples include "doner meat and chips" in the United Kingdom, "kapsalon" ("barbershop") in the Netherlands and Belgium, "kebabtallrik" ("kebab plate") in Sweden,[8][9][10] "gyro fries" in the United States, and "kebab ranskalaisilla" ('kebab with French fries') in Finland. In Adelaide, South Australia, the dish is known as an "AB".[11]

In late 2015, following the creation of the Facebook group, Halal Snack Pack Appreciation Society, a subculture formed around the dish, it has been known to bring cultures together.[12][13][14] This led to wide coverage of the dish in the media, as well as a notable reference by Senator Sam Dastyari in Australian Parliament during a debate about halal certification which is credited for much of the increase in attention paid to this dish.[15][16]

Health concerns have been raised, even flippantly,[17][18] about the refined carbohydrate content of halal snack packs. Excess refined carbohydrates can cause obesity and heart disease, as well as cerebrovascular, metabolic and renal conditions and complications.[19][13][14]

Halal Snack Pack Appreciation Society
A halal snack pack served on a ceramic plate

The Halal Snack Pack Appreciation Society is a Facebook group established in December 2015 that is dedicated to the halal snack pack. After its establishment, the group had 16,000 members sign on in its first month, and had almost 90,000 members in April 2016.[3][16] The site encourages users to post reviews of halal snack packs they consume at various restaurants and kebab shops throughout Australia.[20] The reviews sometimes include images of the dish, and are typically based upon the criteria of meat, chips and sauce quality, halal signage, packaging, price and the greeting diners receive, all of which are based upon a scale of 1–10.[2][16] As of March 2016, the site refers to the "standard" price of a halal snack pack as AUD $10.[2]

One of the goals of the group is to identify the potential for the world's best halal snack pack.[3] The Halal Snack Pack Appreciation Society also raises funds to support the Australian Relief Organisation, an organisation that assists underprivileged people to attain cataract surgery and assists orphanages with matters regarding water supplies.[20]

The group has Muslim and non-Muslim members, who refer to one another as "brothers and sisters".[3] Users on the site have been derided by other users at times for putting tomato sauce or salad on the dish, which the site discourages, referring to such users as "haram dingos".[3][21] The site also states that such users who add tomato sauce or salad may be banned from the group.[3]

The former Australian Labor Party Senator Sam Dastyari is a member of the Halal Snack Pack Appreciation Society, and has publicly stated support for halal products and certification.[16]

Some kebab shops and restaurants have realised significantly increased sales after being reviewed on the group's Facebook page.[3] For example, Metro One in the inner west area of Sydney had revenue increases of over 75% after being featured on the site as making one of the best halal snack packs in the city.[3]

In July 2016, then Labor Senator Sam Dastyari invited the One Nation party leader Pauline Hanson out for a halal snack pack after she won a Senate seat in the 2016 Australian federal election. She rejected his proposal, saying, “It’s not happening, not interested in halal, thank you”. Hanson then elaborated, stating, “I’m not interested in it. I don’t believe in halal certification,” and went on to claim that “98 percent of Australians” opposed it.[22] In response, several Australian restaurants created a Pauline Hanson-inspired halal snack pack.[23][24] There has also been a GoFundMe campaign to turn Hanson's former fish and chip shop into a pop-up halal snack pack stand.[25]

Similar dishes

The "AB" dish in Adelaide is gyro meat topped with chips, tomato sauce, chilli sauce, barbecue sauce, and garlic sauce.[26][27][11] The dish is sometimes served with alcoholic beverages.[26] Two restaurants in Adelaide claim they invented the dish: the North Adelaide Burger Bar (also known as the Red & White) between 1969 and 1972, and the Blue & White in 1989.[26][28][29] The "AB" may be placed at the centre of the table and shared.[28][30]

See also
  • Carne asada fries – a fast-food dish typically consisting of french fries, carne asada, guacamole, sour cream and cheese
  • Kapsalon – a Dutch dish consisting of fries topped with döner or shawarma meat, melted Gouda cheese, and dressed salad greens
  • Munchy box – an inexpensive dish sold by fast-food and takeaway restaurants, primarily in the West of Scotland region and Glasgow
  • Poutine – a Canadian dish prepared with french fries and cheese curds topped with a light brown gravy
  • Spice bag – a fast food dish popular in Ireland inspired by Asian cuisine

References
  1. Ewart, J.; O'Donnell, K. (2018). Reporting Islam: International best practice for journalists. Taylor & Francis. p. pt202. ISBN 978-1-351-78051-3. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  2. "Your Local Kebab Shop Is Now Trending, Introducing Your New Facebook Group Obsession". MTV. March 14, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  3. Safi, Michael; Hunt, Elle; Wall, Josh (April 18, 2016). "The halal snack pack: a fast track to a heart attack? Or worse?". the Guardian. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  4. "Halal snack pack named people's choice word of 2016 by Macquarie Dictionary". The Age. February 1, 2017.
  5. "Unpacking the halal snack pack". Food. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  6. Bartholomeusz, Rachel. "Unpacking the Halal Snack Pack". SBS news. SBS. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  7. Kerr, Jack (21 June 2016). "Explaining the Halal Snack Pack".
  8. "En kebabtallrik". Sverge Radio.
  9. Mike (12 November 2009). "Recipe - Kebab platter/Kebabtallrik". Freestyle Cookery.
  10. "Allting på? Introducing the kebabtallrik – A Swedish delicacy". Truly Swedish. Archived from the original on 2016-10-06.
  11. Spain, Katie (11 July 2016). "Halal Snack Pack? No, Adelaide's version is called an "AB"". Broadsheet. Broadsheet Media.
  12. Schmidl, Engel (25 July 2016). "Halal snack packs: the fast food bringing cultures together". The National. Abu Dhabi Media.
  13. Safi, Michael; Hunt, Elle; Wall, Josh (19 April 2016). "The halal snack pack: a first track to a heart attack? Or worse?". The Guardian. The Guardian.
  14. Wall, Josh; Chung, Julian. "Halal snack pack: bridging cultures or a recipe for radicalisation?". The Guardian. The Guardian.
  15. Hall, Katy (5 July 2016). "An important look inside the contents of a Halal Snack Pack". Mama Mia.
  16. "Senator rates halal snack pack a 10". Sky News Australia. March 17, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  17. Andrew (15 April 2016). "Forget Kebabs and Burgers, We've Found Your New Favourite Drunk Food". Hole in the Wall Brisbane.
  18. The (Un)Australian (22 July 2016). "Increase in Heart Disease Attributed to Hipsters Trying Out Halal Snack Packs". The (Un)Australian.
  19. Frances, William Scates (June 2016). "The meteoric rise of the Halal Snack Pack: What does it all mean?". The Point Magazine. The Point Magazine.
  20. "Pilgrims heading for Halal snack pack Mecca". Daily Telegraph. March 11, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  21. "Halal snack pack: bridging cultures or a recipe for radicalisation? – video". the Guardian. July 3, 2015. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  22. "There's one thing you don't want to mention to Pauline Hanson". news.com.au. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  23. "A Sydney restaurant has invented a vegan Pauline Hanson Halal Snack Pack". timeout.com. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  24. "Pauline Hanson's not going to like this". Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  25. Thomsen, Simon (4 July 2016). "This GoFundMe campaign wants to make Pauline Hanson's former fish & chip shop halal". businessinsider.com.au. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  26. "Macquarie Dictionary". Macquariedictionary.com.au. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  27. "The AB at Blue & White Café North Adelaide". Gourmantic. January 24, 2011. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  28. "Where is Adelaides Best AB?". WeekendNotes. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  29. Hough, Andrew. (14 July 2005). "Rivals Lay Claim to the 'Absolutely Beautiful' - Cafe's Messy Meal Turns Into a Title Fight", The Advertiser, p29.
  30. McCann, James (23 April 2016). "Who Makes Adelaide's Best AB?", Rip It Up, Adelaide. Archived from the original on 27 April 2016.

Further reading
External video
"The world's biggest halal snack-pack". Sunrise.
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