SEND BY FRENZ Jodie Phillips FROM Cardiff Bay

Chef Ram Limbu cooks halal burgers at the Grill ‘n’ Shake, Cardiff Bay

Wales’ diversifying population is being reflected in its food. For our Welsh Food Month series, Jodie Phillips looks at the rise of the halal market.
Our supermarket shelves and the things we buy from them sport many features today that would not have been evident to shoppers a decade ago.
The organic movement has soared, of course, and there has been a notable rise in people keen to know the provenance of their food, hence the photographs of individual farmers on our milk bottles and free range chickens.
And as Wales’ retailers and restaurants are responding to a changing marketplace, reflecting the country’s increasingly diverse and discerning consumers, also among these changes are the rise in the halal sections of supermarket aisles and the halal butchers on our high streets.
Halal is the term used to designate food seen as permissible according to Islamic law. To be defined as halal, the food must meet criteria set in the Koran, including the way the animal is slaughtered and thorough bled before it is eaten.
The global halal food market is said to be worth hundreds of billions of pounds and its presence in Wales is growing notably.
Among the restaurants serving halal-only food are the neighbouring Grill N Shake and Spice Route, both based in Cardiff Bay’s Red Dragon Centre.
Owner of Grill N Shake, Mabs Noor, said: “I recognised that Cardiff is extremely culturally diverse and felt that there was a gap in the market for a restaurant which offered classic American dishes but with an Islamic twist, which is provided by the halal meat.