He is only forbidden you what dies of itself, and blood, and flesh of swine, and that

over which any other name than that of God has been invoked.

But whoever is driven in necessity, not desiring, nor exceeding the limit, no sin shall be

upon him.

Surely a law is forgiving.

Merciful.

This passage in the second chapter of the Quran is what most directly spells out Islamic

dietary law, a set of guidelines roughly akin to kosher law, in which most notably

bans consumption of alcohol and pork.

In the seventh century, the Prophet Muhammad raised a 10,000 strong army of converts loyal

to his new faith, and began the Muslim conquest, which would spread Islam first across the Arab

Peninsula, and, after his death in 632 CE, throughout the Middle East and into North Africa.

In 639 CE, the conquest of Egypt began, and the Muslim army made quick work of the ruling

Byzantine Empire's forces, which were thin because of its own prior wars with the Persians.

In 641 CE, the Egyptian city of Alexandria, named for the centuries earlier conqueror Alexander

the Great, fell, and Egypt has remained a Muslim majority state sense, though a coptic

Christian minority remains.

As Islamic dietary law became the law of the land, its culinary prohibitions would heavily

influence Middle Eastern cuisine, pork excise as a protein in favor of chicken, lamb, and

beef.

Flash forward to 1990, when a trio of Egyptian Americans named Muhammad, Ahmed and Abdel

Bessat opened their version of that New York City street food staple that says ubiquitous

...