Australian halal dish
Halal snack pack
A halal snack pack
Alternative names HSP AB meat in a box meat on chips meat box snack box snack pack kebab snack plate mixed meat package kebab box Course Main Place of origin
Australia Region or state
Australasia Associated
cuisine
Australian cuisine Serving temperature Hot Main ingredients
A halal snack pack is an Australian
fast food dish, 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] whilst
yoghurt or yoghurt sauce,
[3]
[4] cheese,
jalapeño peppers and
tabbouleh are common additions. While the snack pack was traditionally served in a
styrofoam container , it is now most commonly served in
moulded pulp or cardboard containers, as most Australian states have banned
single-use plastic packaging.
[5] The snack pack has been described as a staple takeaway dish of
kebab shops in
Australia .
[2]
[6]
Some Australian restaurant menus refer to the dish as a "snack pack", "snack box" or "mixed plate".
[2] The name of the dish was chosen by the
Macquarie Dictionary as the "People's Choice Word of the Year" for 2016.
[7] In
Western Australia , the dish is often called a "meat box", and in
Adelaide it is known as an "AB".
[a]
[8]
[9]
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.
[10] They have since become a quintessential
Australian dish .
[11]
[12] Variations or
similar dishes exist in other countries; examples include "doner meat and chips" in the
United Kingdom , "kebab meat on chips" in
New Zealand ,
[13] "döner teller " ("doner plate") in
Germany ,
kapsalon " ("
barbershop ") in the
Netherlands and
Belgium , "kebabtallrik " ("kebab plate") in
Sweden ,
[14]
[15]
[16] "
gyro fries" in the
United States , and "kebab ranskalaisilla " ("kebab with French fries") in
Finland . In
Adelaide , the dish is known as an "AB".
[17] Meanwhile in
Perth , Western Australia the term "meat box" is commonly used.
[18]
In late 2015, following the creation of the Facebook group Halal Snack Pack Appreciation Society , a subculture formed around the dish that was known to bring cultures together.
[19]
[20]
[21] 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.
[22]
[23]
In popular culture
A halal snack pack served on a ceramic plate
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.
[24] In response, several Australian restaurants created a Pauline Hanson-inspired halal snack pack.
[25]
[26] There has also been a
GoFundMe campaign to turn Hanson's former fish and chip shop into a
pop-up halal snack pack stand.
[27]
Similar dishes
The "AB" dish in Adelaide is
gyros meat topped with chips, tomato sauce, chilli sauce, barbecue sauce, and
garlic sauce .
[28]
[29]
[17] The dish is sometimes served with alcoholic beverages.
[28] 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.
[28]
[30]
[31] The "AB" may be placed at the centre of the table and shared.
[30]
[32] The Healthy Snack Pack is a variant of the Halal Snack Pack where the chips are replaced by a choice of salad.
See also
References
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^ Mike (12 November 2009).
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^
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^
a
b Spain, Katie (11 July 2016).
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^
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^ Schmidl, Engel (25 July 2016).
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Archived from the original on 28 July 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2016 .
^ Safi, Michael; Hunt, Elle; Wall, Josh (19 April 2016).
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^ Wall, Josh; Chung, Julian (19 April 2016).
"Halal snack pack: bridging cultures or a recipe for radicalisation?" . The Guardian .
^ Hall, Katy (5 July 2016).
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^
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Sky News Australia . 17 March 2016. Archived from
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^
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Archived from the original on 13 August 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2016 .
^ Herring, Freya (2 August 2016).
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Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2016 .
^ Young, Matt (18 July 2016).
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^ Thomsen, Simon (4 July 2016).
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^
a
b
c
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Archived from the original on 6 May 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2016 .
^
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^
a
b
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^ Hough, Andrew. (14 July 2005). "Rivals Lay Claim to the 'Absolutely Beautiful' - Cafe's Messy Meal Turns Into a Title Fight",
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^ McCann, James (23 April 2016). "
Who Makes Adelaide's Best AB? ",
Rip It Up , Adelaide. Archived from the
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Notes
^ The name supposedly stands for "abortion", but other variants include "after birth", "absolutely beautiful" or "atomic bomb".
Further reading
External links