With Thanksgiving approaching, immigrants from Guatemala and El Salvador are the ones who especially crowd the business of LA Fresh Poultry, owned by Egyptian Abdul El Hawary.
“No. Not turkey. “No like,” says Guatemalan Teresa Jiménez in Spanglish, who bought two Indian chickens, for which she paid $32.00.
“The meat is fresh and has good flavor any way you cook it,” the woman said. “In supermarkets the meat is quite refrigerated and has lost its flavor.”
Like her, Salvadoran Herman Reyes, a native of the La Paz department, went to the business along with his niece Alison Reyes to buy three ranch chickens.
“I’ll make panas con pollo,” said Alison, who smiled at the peculiar Spanish accent of Abdul, a Muslim who speaks five languages, including Arabic, English and Hebrew.
“Let’s see if this paisa knows how to cook,” Abdul El Hawary joked to the Salvadoran. “If you don’t know how to cook chicken, I’ll teach you.”
A compliment for Salvadorans
El Hawary states that between 35% and $5% of his clientele does not know how to cook a turkey, “but my Salvadoran clients are the best at cooking Indian chicken.”
“They add a lot of flavor to the food and add rice, they eat with bread and Creole sauce,” acknowledged the man, who has always shown his interest in other Latin American cultures.
However, aside from directing the busy traffic around 121 North Virgil Street in MidCity Los Angeles, the man also shares his family’s secret for cooking molokhia chicken on Thanksgiving Day. ), a vegetable frequently used in the cuisine of the Middle East, East Africa, North Africa and South Asia.
Abdul El Hawary says that he arrived in the United States in 1980. His brother Mohamed, who lived in New York and owned a donut shop, invited him to emigrate.
As the years went by, Mohamed moved to Lake Elsinore, California, and Abdul decided to follow in the same footsteps.
From a bank to the bird business
For nine years (1980-1989), El Hawary worked at Chase National Bank, in the computer area, until he got bored of being a salaryman and decided to start seeking his fortune in business.
It was not until 2006 when he opened LA Fresh Poultry, a company where he literally began to fly, among the wings of chickens, ducks and turkeys.
“Business is good, but it could be better,” El Hawary said. “The expenses for electricity, garbage, water, building rent and the salaries of my employees are very high
In fact, he stressed that a few years ago he paid $500.00 a month for garbage collection, and now the bill is $1,300.
“The bastards are very thieves,” he said.
In the line of buyers, Mr. Nelson Colocho, a 54-year-old Salvadoran from Sonsonate, purchased two chickens for $32.00.
“The price is comfortable, but it is worth it because the meat is fresh,” he said. “I came for the chicken for the soup… I love how my wife prepares the chicken broth with lots of vegetables, elbow soup and güisquil (chayote for Mexicans).”
Mr. Colocho, a resident of the city of Glendale, added that Thanksgiving, although it is an American tradition, is also celebrated in other Central American countries, such as Guatemala and Honduras.
Share food in community
In Guatemala, many chapines like Carolina Morales, a native of Suchitepéquez, opt for turkey or chompipe, but she preferred to bring four chickens.
“In my church [Adoradores de Cristo Rey, entre la calle Sexta y Alvarado] We are going to have a dinner for 30 people,” said Martínez, 26 years old.
She, who works in a restaurant, announced that she will prepare the chickens as if they were baked turkeys.
“You have to season the chicken with lemon juice, garlic, onion, olive oil, honey, chicken broth, pepper, oregano, thyme and other ingredients, so that when it comes out of the oven it is finger-licking good,” said the girl. Ah! I forgot to say that we also add mint, cilantro and epazote to the chicken and that we also cook rice.”
What is Thanksgiving Day?
Since 1621, every year on the fourth Thursday of November the traditional Thanksgiving Day is celebrated.
The tradition remembers the celebration of the English with the Native Americans, for the success of their first harvest for three consecutive days.
Of the colonists who had arrived the previous year, on the ship “Mayflower”, to the Plymouth Colony (part of the present state of Massachusetts), only half managed to survive the first winter, which is why the following year’s successful harvest was cause for celebration and gratitude.
At the celebration, the settlers shared turkey, pumpkins, and dried fruit with the natives.
And, although that meeting of different cultures was not celebrated again for many years, in 1789, President George Washington declared Thanksgiving Day a national holiday, which that year was celebrated on Thursday, November 26.
“I am also ready to celebrate like every year,” said Abdul El Hawary, who will be accompanied by his wife Mervat and his sisters Zoba and Fatema, 84 and 82 years old, respectively.
And how do Egyptians celebrate Thanksgiving?
“Just as Catholics make the sign of the cross, cross themselves and bless food, in our community we practice Halal, which is like blessing God.” [Alá]. Muslims do not eat meat other than Halal.”
Halal is an Arabic term meaning “lawful” or “permissible” and is a general concept that guides the lives of Muslims in many areas, such as food, hygiene, healthcare, economics and travel.
In the context of food, halal refers to foods, beverages and other products that comply with the standards of Islamic law. For a food to be halal, it must meet certain characteristics: The animals must be raised in a natural environment and on a vegetarian diet; They should not receive growth hormones or antibiotics.
Furthermore, the slaughter of animal sacrifice must be carried out quickly and deeply into the neck of the animal, without touching the spine, and the name of Allah must be pronounced during the sacrifice.
Two clients of Abdul Al Halary participated as witnesses in this ritual: Fatema Begum and Rawad Hasan, Muslims from Bangladesh.
They witnessed the slaughter of the chickens they would bring home happen quickly and they bled to death inside a dairy farm.
“We are a family of four and we have to respect our customs,” Fatema said.