Breaking The Ramadan Fast In A Cab At 50 MPH (Reheat)

Dan fills a taxi full of food and takes it to JFK Airport at sundown to break the Ramadan fast with Muslim cab drivers. What could go wrong? Plus a Texan talks about embracing her Muslim roots after 9/11 and fasting on Ramadan for the first time when she was in her thirties.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Dan Pashman?

  There's nothing quite like Aruba. The white sand beaches are truly unlike anything you've seen. But what really stands out is the food. Because Aruba's not like other Caribbean islands. French pastries, Spanish paella, Peruvian barbecue, papardelle that has no business being that good that far from Florence. Not to mention the local fair. Aruba's food scene pulls you in with its astonishing variety of cuisines and beyond satisfies you with its unexpected flavors. So plan your escape to culinary delight at aruba.com. Your taste buds will thank you. Start the day strong with Quaker protein products. Quaker makes it easy and delicious to get a good source of protein. No matter what the day has in store, Quaker protein products give you a variety of ways to reach your protein goals.

• 0:45Dan Pashman?

  Oatmeal, granola, bars, and rice snacks in flavors you already love, like maple and brown sugar and blueberries and cream. Quaker protein helps fuel you to start whatever's next. Get your protein with Quaker, available at a store near you.

• 1:02Speaker 01

  Sirius XM Podcasts.

• 1:10Dan Pashman?

  Hey, everyone. Dan here with another reheat. And as we sit here today, it is Ramadan, the holiest time of the year for Muslims. So it's the perfect opportunity to reheat a Ramadan episode that we did a few years back. For this one, I spoke with Sahar Arafat Ray, a Palestinian Texan cooking teacher who rediscovered her Muslim roots in her 30s. And later in the episode, in this part, I still remember like it was yesterday because it was such a special experience. I break the Ramadan fast with some taxi drivers in New York City in what turned out to be a very real and fast-moving New York City cabbie iftar experience. Now, remember, if there's an episode of The Sporkful you want us to reheat, drop me a line at [email protected]. Thanks, Ramadan Mubarak to everyone who celebrates and enjoy.

• 1:54Dan Pashman?

  Right now, Muslims across the world are celebrating Ramadan. Ramadan is the holiest month of the Muslim calendar. It's when Muslims believe the Quran was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. During Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn to dusk, every day, for 30 days. That's right, 30 straight days, they don't eat or drink anything while the sun is up. It's intense.

• 2:17Speaker 02

  I had a friend who worked for the Saudi Embassy in Houston, and she was, she's not Muslim, but she, so she went, you know, she went to lunch during, it was during Ramadan. She said she came back and she saw one of her coworkers, who definitely was Muslim, crouched behind a car shoving a Big Mac in his mouth. And he gave her this look like, "Don't tell anybody." So even the best of us managed, you know, slip a little, so.

• 2:43Dan Pashman?

  That's right. Like I said, Ramadan's intense. But as I learned when I talked to a wide range of Muslims, it's also spiritual, peaceful, and when the sun finally sets, delicious. You just heard Austin-based food blogger Sahar Arafat Ray. Coming up, she'll talk about rediscovering her Muslim roots in the wake of 9/11 and observing Ramadan for the first time when she was in her 30s. Later in the show, I go to break the fast with a bunch of cab drivers in the taxi parking lot at JFK Airport. Stick around. This is the Sporkful. It's not for foodies, it's for eaters. I'm Dan Pashman.

• 3:25Dan Pashman?

  Sahar Arafat Ray was born and raised in Texas, the daughter of a Palestinian father and a Texan mother. We met up in Austin to talk about how she observes Ramadan now, and of course, to eat, actually. So we're here at Peace Bakery and Deli in North Austin. We've got, I walked in the door, I was like, "What shall we have, Sahar?" And you were like, "Well, they got this braised lamb shake." And I was like, "Done." This is so good, the braised lamb shake on the rice, we got hummus, baba ganoush.

• 3:52Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 3:53Dan Pashman?

  Hang on, I gotta take a bite.

• 3:54Speaker 02

  Yeah, go ahead.

• 3:57Dan Pashman?

  I'm a big hummus guy. I love me some hummus.

• 3:59Speaker 02

  Yes. Yes, I'm a very strict constructionist when it comes to hummus.

• 4:04Dan Pashman?

  Tell me about that.

• 4:05Speaker 02

  Um, well, hummus in its most basic form is ground chickpeas, tahina, lemon, garlic, and salt. It is most basic of forms. Um, obviously, a lot of people, it's very popular, obviously, now, and a lot of companies like Sabra is the main one, or even just small mom and pop operations, they put a lot of other things in it. And for me, that's kind of an aberration. It's just, no, thank you.

• 4:30Dan Pashman?

  Do you have a strategy for your hummus and pita consumption?

• 4:35Speaker 02

  Yeah, you usually want to have more dip than bread. Let me, let me get some bread here.

• 4:39Dan Pashman?

  So for you, really, you're really just using the pita bread as like a hummus conduit?

• 4:43Speaker 02

  That is really all it is, is just a hummus conduit, yes.

• 4:46Dan Pashman?

  I'm with you, yeah.

• 4:47Speaker 02

  So you, it's, it's like, you know, minimum bread, maximum hummus.

• 4:53Dan Pashman?

  Oh, interesting. So what you've done is you've taken a pita and you've, you've split it in half, so you only have a single layer.

• 4:58Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 4:58Dan Pashman?

  And now you're kind of folding it over into a scoop. It's almost like you're shaping it like a bugle.

• 5:02Speaker 02

  Exactly, and, and just scoop it up. Yeah.

• 5:05Dan Pashman?

  That's a nice technique, I like that.

• 5:06Speaker 02

  I became very learned with this, as growing up. Yeah, you go to an Arab household, a lot of times, they won't have utensils on the table. They'll have, everything's wheat with bread, the old, the older schools people.

• 5:16Dan Pashman?

  Right. I gotta say, I, I love the sound of the Arabic language. There's so many words that I really like, but I feel like Baba Ganoush.

• 5:26Speaker 02

  Baba Ganoush.

• 5:27Dan Pashman?

  That's the winner. That's gotta be the winner.

• 5:29Speaker 02

  It is a winner. Yeah, Arabic is very guttural. So is, so is Hebrew. They're very similar, actually.

• 5:37Dan Pashman?

  Well, there are so many similarities.

• 5:39Speaker 02

  Oh, of course.

• 5:40Dan Pashman?

  Isn't that kind of one of the depressing things about it all?

• 5:41Speaker 02

  Yes, it is, yes. A lot of the food, a lot of the foods are very close together.

• 5:46Dan Pashman?

  Yeah, I mean, and halal and kosher are very similar.

• 5:48Speaker 02

  Yeah, there's, they definitely have their differences, but they are very similar. Um, you know, salam, shalom, they sound very much alike. You know, there's a lot of words that are very similar. So, yeah, we all come from the same background. I just don't, I just don't get it.

• 6:01Dan Pashman?

  Yeah. Well, we're here together today, Sahar.

• 6:03Speaker 02

  Yes, we are. It's awesome.

• 6:06Dan Pashman?

  We're gonna fix everything, right now.

• 6:07Speaker 02

  That's right, we should.

• 6:08Dan Pashman?

  Over these lamb shanks.

• 6:22Speaker 02

  Raised in Texas and my father is Palestinian origin. He's actually was born and raised in Nablus, which is now on the West Bank. My mother is a native Texan, born in Galveston, Texas and is German.

• 6:39Dan Pashman?

  So you're born and raised in Texas, in Fort Worth?

• 6:42Speaker 02

  Right.

• 6:43Dan Pashman?

  And were you raised Muslim?

• 6:45Speaker 02

  No, I was raised in a pretty a-religious household. My mother was raised Catholic, my father was raised Muslim. When he came here, he just sort of drifted away from his faith somewhat. He's always identified as Muslim, but he just didn't practice when he came here. And when he met and married my mother, she wasn't really practicing her religion either. And they just raised my sisters and I very a-religiously and let us forge our own paths as we got older.

• 7:14Dan Pashman?

  And tell me about what role Islam plays in your life now?

• 7:18Speaker 02

  For me, it's a really big part of my identity now. For years, I wouldn't really think about it, I wouldn't talk about it. Because unfortunately, Islam has a lot of unfortunately negative connotations that come with it. But as I've gotten older, I've decided, you know, I'm just going to embrace this. I may not be somebody who goes praise five times a day, I may not always fast, I may not always keep halal, but you know what, it's a part of me and I'm just going to embrace it and just take hold.

• 7:48Dan Pashman?

  Was it something in particular that led you to make that change?

• 7:54Speaker 02

  Surprisingly, it was after 2001 that I was so, you know, not only was I angry about what happened...

• 8:03Dan Pashman?

  9/11.

• 8:04Speaker 02

  Yeah, 9/11. I was very angry about that because, you know, that was not, you know, we could go on all day about how that's really not Islam, what those guys did. But I was really very angry at the backlash because I felt like we were, as a Muslim, I was almost forced to apologize for this. And it's like, I shouldn't apologize for it because it wasn't a Muslim thing that was done. But it did make me think that, you know what, I really should look into this and actually learn more about my own religion. And when somebody says something that is incorrect about Islam, then I can at least say, no, you're wrong.

• 8:42Dan Pashman?

  And so how old were you the first time you observed Ramadan?

• 8:46Speaker 02

  I was in my 30s. I couldn't say exactly how old I was, but I was definitely in my 30s.

• 8:50Dan Pashman?

  Tell me about that. What was like the first time you did it?

• 8:52Speaker 02

  Uh, it was really hard and I was really cranky a lot. So it was, it was really difficult.

• 8:58Dan Pashman?

  Were you with your husband at the time?

• 9:00Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 9:00Dan Pashman?

  Because he's not Muslim.

• 9:02Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 9:02Dan Pashman?

  Was he like, I don't know about this whole rediscovering Islam thing, honey?

• 9:05Speaker 02

  Yeah, pretty much. We went out to eat the first time and he's, and I'm like shoving food in my mouth. He goes, yeah, don't bite your fingers. It was really funny.

• 9:22Dan Pashman?

  So Sahar, let's talk about eating at Ramadan.

• 9:25Speaker 02

  During Ramadan, what you do is you eat very, very early in the morning, which is the Sahur meal. And you eat that before the Fajr prayer, which is the sunrise prayer. You always break your fast with some dates and some water because that's what the Prophet did, the Prophet Muhammad. And then, then you go to prayer and then you go, then you can eat. And

• 9:47Dan Pashman?

  So a little something to take the edge off.

• 9:48Speaker 02

  A little something to take the edge off. Then you eat. And generally, people like to start off with soup because it's something easy on the stomach, usually like a lentil soup or a chicken or seafood, something very light. Move on to salad, like fatouche salad, which is A bread salad, basically. And then you move on to the big stuff. You know, you move on to the sayedeh, which is a fish with rice dish. Or you move on to the mansif, which is the lamb and yogurt dish. And it's an old Bedouin dish. It's very common with Palestinians and Jordanians, and it takes a long time to prepare. And you make a lot of it, which is another, which is, it's not a dish you make for two people, it's a family thing. And then eventually you'll get to the desserts.

• 10:31Speaker 02

  Some people will eat all night long and just keep eating until shahur the next day. Some people will eat until very late in the night, catch a little sleep, and then get up and have their, have their shahur meal before the sunrise prayer.

• 10:45Dan Pashman?

  Right.

• 10:46Speaker 02

  There are no, and I talked to several of my relatives about this, ones that are much more devout than I am. And they all said the same thing, and I knew I was on the right track, because I never really associated any specific foods with Ramadan. And they all said, no, we just eat.

• 11:01Dan Pashman?

  Right.

• 11:02Speaker 02

  Just eat more of it.

• 11:03Dan Pashman?

  Is your father still alive?

• 11:04Speaker 02

  Oh, yes, yes.

• 11:05Dan Pashman?

  He's still in Fort Worth?

• 11:07Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah, my parents are both still in Fort Worth. My parents are both alive and kicking, so.

• 11:11Dan Pashman?

  What does your father think about you now having sort of embracing Islam and getting more into the culture and the food and the language and all that?

• 11:20Speaker 02

  He's good with it, because for us, it's an appreciation of what he is, I think. You know, he wasn't born in this country. He came to this country as a college student and stayed. So he's been here for over 50 years. But he still retains some of the old ways. And it was, it was kind of fun growing up with that, especially the food. The food part was the best.

• 11:44Dan Pashman?

  Right. That's Sahar Arafat Ray. She writes about food at TartQueensKitchen.com. She also teaches cooking classes in Austin. She can show you how to make the Middle Eastern dishes that she just mentioned in our conversation. She teaches a wide range of other cuisines as well. All the info is at TartQueensKitchen.com. Coming up, I fill a New York City cab full of food and take it to the JFK Airport taxi parking lot at sundown. What could go wrong?

• 12:25Speaker 03

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• 12:31Dan Pashman?

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• 13:13Dan Pashman?

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• 13:57Dan Pashman?

  satisfies you with its unexpected flavors. So plan your escape to culinary delight at aruba.com. Your taste buds will thank you.

• 14:06Dan Pashman?

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• 15:42Dan Pashman?

  Welcome back to another Sporkful Reheat. I'm Dan Pashman. Hey, check out my Instagram when you get a chance. I share what I'm up to, what I'm eating, all of my hot takes that don't always make the cut here on the Sporkful, although I don't know why anybody would want to cut out my rants about the best way to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. But the point is that that stuff is on my Instagram, and we have a lot of fun there. Also, sometimes I'm like debating, what should we do for this episode? And I'll put up a poll. It gives you a chance to actually have input into the show. So you can do it right now while you're listening. Follow me on Instagram, @thesporful. Again, it's @thesporful. Thanks. All right, back to this week's reheat.

• 16:19Dan Pashman?

  Welcome back to the Sporkful. I'm Dan Pashman. A bit more info for you about how the Ramadan fast works. There are exceptions for people who are young, sick, elderly, or pregnant. Muslims use a lunar calendar, which is 10 or 11 days shorter than a solar calendar. That means that Ramadan moves a little earlier every year. So like some years, it's in February. But this year, it falls during the longest days of the year in the northern hemisphere. So Muslims in Norway have to fast for like 20 hours. But some imams have issued fatwas, shortening the fast in those areas, often by basing it on the time in Mecca. I wanted to get a feel for the ways different people celebrate Ramadan. So I went to the Arab American Family Support Center in Brooklyn.

• 17:03Dan Pashman?

  I talked to a group of Jordanian, Yemeni, and Palestinian-American teenagers.

• 17:09Speaker 04

  I remember one time when I was younger and I was taking a nap and my sister woke me up. And she is like, "Nadmi, Nadmi, wake up." And I was like, "Why? What is it?" She's like, "It's time to eat." And I go to the kitchen, and I'm the only one, and I'm eating. And she comes back, she's laughing at me. And my mom, she's like, "Nadmi, why are you eating?" I was like, "Leen told me it was time." She got in trouble for it.

• 17:30Dan Pashman?

  Tell me some of your favorite things to eat at Ramadan for iftar.

• 17:33Speaker 05

  Sambals.

• 17:35Dan Pashman?

  Oh, it's like a fried, like, almost like a pocket with cheese and different vegetables. It must be so hard, because that's the kind of food, if it's frying, I bet your house smells so good.

• 17:44Speaker 05

  Yeah, man.

• 17:48Dan Pashman?

  Tell me about the moment before the first bite.

• 17:52Speaker 05

  I don't know. I mean, the last minute is like a whole hour for me. So I think the last minute is the longest.

• 18:00Dan Pashman?

  But is there also something special about that minute?

• 18:02Speaker 05

  Yeah, there is.

• 18:04Speaker 04

  It's like, everybody goes crazy, because it's like, you're just waiting. It feels like you can't even wait like another minute, because you've been waiting hours. It's like, it feels so long. And then, once it comes, and then you eat, it's like, it's not even that big of a deal. You did it, and it's over.

• 18:21Speaker 05

  Like, for example, yesterday, I was working, and, like, you know, Sunday is a slow day. And then, last, like, five minutes, I'm waiting, I have my food, everything, I'm getting ready. And I see this customer, like, 10 of them came, and I was like, "Seriously, guys? It's time." And then, after they left, I went to close the door, I said, "Close for 20 minutes." And then, my boss, he called me, "What do you do?" I said, "Man, listen, I'm leaving this, I wanna eat, I'm hungry."

• 18:50Dan Pashman?

  What are some things you can do during Ramadan that you would not be able to do the rest of the year?

• 18:54Speaker 06

  The best part is when you stay at night, for the whole night.

• 18:59Speaker 05

  I think you have more freedom in choosing the food you want your mom to cook.

• 19:04Speaker 04

  Like, if you don't do your chores, like...

• 19:07Speaker 07

  That you won't get punished for it. They're like, okay, whatever. I think it's just because they don't have that much energy to bother you. So that's a good thing.

• 19:17Dan Pashman?

  What's the best part of Ramadan? What do you look forward to?

• 19:19Speaker 05

  To be close with God and family, friends. And Ramadan because you see all the people you love and around you. I think the energy is really nice because, like, I don't know, you act in a different way than you were if you weren't fasting.

• 19:35Speaker 07

  Like, there's no fighting, no arguing. The best part of Ramadan is get the whole family gathered and eating together.

• 19:44Speaker 05

  Sitting together, talking.

• 19:47Speaker 04

  Yeah, it's like spending time with family and friends and it's like you have everybody around you and supporting you. You're not doing it by yourself.

• 20:01Dan Pashman?

  From the Arab American Center, I met up with Mohamed Tipu Sultan. He's a Muslim cab driver who works with a union called the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. About half of New York City cabbies are Muslim and I wanted to find out what it's like to do that job when you're not eating or drinking all day. Tipu and I had a plan. Buy a bunch of fruit and snacks, bring them to the cab drivers waiting for fares at JFK Airport. Get there right at sundown when it's time to break the fast. Share the food, talk to Muslim cabbies. Sounds like fun, right? Tipu is off duty, so we hailed a cab and the two of us rode in the back. And first thing I learned, cab drivers are used to being in control of the vehicle. So Tipu had lots of opinions about which route our driver should take. Let me see this a little farther.

• 20:46Dan Pashman?

  Yeah, Inshallah, the Belt Parkway is good, except the Rockway, Bluewood area has the traffic. Tipu, you, at 7:15, you have been fasting all day, am I right? Yes, I'm fasting all day. That means I ate 3:30 a.m. the last food I ate.

• 21:07Speaker 07

  Eat and last drink I uh three forty-three, the last minute of the the closing time.

• 21:15Dan Pashman?

  Wow.

• 21:15Speaker 07

  I drink the water.

• 21:17Dan Pashman?

  How are you feeling right now?

• 21:18Speaker 07

  Uh, feeling thirsty and tired and hungry.

• 21:23Dan Pashman?

  Right.

• 21:24Speaker 07

  Missing my food.

• 21:26Dan Pashman?

  Um, you now mostly drive night shift or day shift?

• 21:29Speaker 07

  I drive a night shift.

• 21:31Dan Pashman?

  So that's about what time to what time?

• 21:32Speaker 07

  Five o'clock to five o'clock in the morning.

• 21:35Dan Pashman?

  Every day?

• 21:35Speaker 07

  Every day.

• 21:36Dan Pashman?

  Oh, my gosh. So for for a taxi driver who is fasting for Ramadan, is it better to have the night shift or the day shift?

• 21:49Speaker 07

  Easier for fasting at the driver driving a nighttime. Person who driving a daytime, it is much more realization about the fasting. So whole day he's on the street uh with this traffic and picking the luggage. So it is a harder day driver to be fasting and driving in a daytime.

• 22:12Dan Pashman?

  Where are you from originally?

• 22:13Speaker 07

  I'm from Bangladesh.

• 22:15Dan Pashman?

  How long have you been here?

• 22:16Speaker 07

  Uh, last seventeen years.

• 22:19Dan Pashman?

  And am I right, uh, are you you're going to school?

• 22:21Speaker 07

  Uh, yes, uh, I back and forth. I've been, I try my best, but having family and child is not easy.

• 22:29Dan Pashman?

  So you have a wife and you have?

• 22:31Speaker 07

  I have a two kids.

• 22:32Dan Pashman?

  How old are they?

• 22:33Speaker 07

  One of them is a year and a half and another one is seven, falling to seven, yes.

• 22:39Dan Pashman?

  Wow. And what are you studying for?

• 22:41Speaker 07

  Uh, I I got about associate degree in physics and from Kingsboro Community College. And currently I want to read admission in Brooklyn College on computer science.

• 22:55Dan Pashman?

  So you already have a degree in physics?

• 22:57Speaker 07

  I already have associate degree in physics.

• 22:59Dan Pashman?

  Now you're going for computer science?

• 23:00Speaker 07

  Computer science.

• 23:01Dan Pashman?

  Is there anything you learned about physics that affects the way you drive your cab?

• 23:05Speaker 07

  Oh, that's totally, it is all about physics. Driving a taxi is all about physics.

• 23:12Dan Pashman?

  Tell me about that.

• 23:13Speaker 07

  So I see the uh observing the uh speed of the car and I. I see the timing and I can want to take a left turn. And how fast I have to push the gas.

• 23:24Dan Pashman?

  Right, your brain is deciding how how fast do you have to go to get in front of the car that's coming?

• 23:29Speaker 07

  Coming, oncoming.

• 23:30Dan Pashman?

  To make your left turn.

• 23:31Speaker 07

  Left turn.

• 23:32Dan Pashman?

  Now, what about the physics of taking the first bite of food? At the end of a day of fasting on Ramadan?

• 23:39Dan Pashman?

  What is the best angle to put the food into your mouth at? And at what velocity?

• 23:45Speaker 07

  That is hard to be counted because my tongue will be with the full of speed. It's getting down.

• 23:52Speaker 07

  It's getting down. And the air probably biology work.

• 23:57Dan Pashman?

  Right, that's biology, not physics. That'll be your next degree.

• 24:03Speaker 07

  That's true.

• 24:06Dan Pashman?

  We got to the airport with our cab full of watermelon, apples, and other treats. But right away, there was trouble.

• 24:13Speaker 02

  It's different, I'm trying to explain to you, you're not to be in here. I can go call the police right now and if you don't leave, they will arrest you. That's how serious it is.

• 24:22Speaker 07

  I know that's serious.

• 24:23Speaker 02

  And obviously you don't, because you keep trying to explain something to me that I already understand.

• 24:29Dan Pashman?

  While Tipu and my producer Anne talk to the supervisor, I snuck away. There's a rest stop building in this parking lot and there's actually like an outdoor prayer area that the Muslim cabbies have set up in the back. It's a little patch of sidewalk covered with rugs, wedged between an access road and a dumpster. Tell me your name. Rahil. Are you Muslim? Yes, I am, sir.

• 24:54Dan Pashman?

  So Ramadan Mubarak. Thank you, thank you very much. This is the holy month. We fast during this month. The time now is eight oh three. In about exactly half an hour, you see more people to be praying here in this area. Right. And breaking the fast. As a taxi driver in particular, how does it affect you during Ramadan? Many things. Particularly, this job is demanding because so many other things that come along with the job, like traffic. I deal with the customers, but I mean, but just in general.

• 25:25Speaker 06

  Uh, this is the month in which uh, you see, God is attesting you. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is attesting you. This is a test. Your life that we are here today is a test. Now, during this, we get tested more.

• 25:37Dan Pashman?

  Uh, in about thirty minutes, it will be iftar. It will be time for you to break your fast for the day. What are you looking forward to eating?

• 25:43Speaker 06

  Well, I will be having a passenger uh, somewhere. So I have my supplies in my cab. The custom to break the fast is with a date. I have a few dates in my cab. So I will break in the fast somewhere on the highway. With the passenger in the back.

• 25:59Dan Pashman?

  Okay.

• 25:59Speaker 06

  You have a nice day. Thank you so much.

• 26:01Dan Pashman?

  Thank you. Good luck. Take care. Can you tell me your name, please?

• 26:04Speaker 06

  Surinka.

• 26:06Dan Pashman?

  Where are you from originally?

• 26:07Speaker 06

  I'm from Gambia.

• 26:08Dan Pashman?

  And um, you're fasting for Ramadan?

• 26:11Speaker 06

  Yes.

• 26:11Dan Pashman?

  So it's just, what, about twenty-five minutes?

• 26:14Speaker 06

  Yes, about twenty-five minutes.

• 26:15Dan Pashman?

  Until iftar?

• 26:15Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 26:16Dan Pashman?

  What are you going to be eating?

• 26:18Speaker 06

  I'm gonna eat something light, you know, coffee, like a little roll. And then um, after praying, and then I'll eat some, like, rice. That's my main.

• 26:28Dan Pashman?

  Right.

• 26:28Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 26:31Dan Pashman?

  Oh, okay, sorry. All right. Thanks.

• 26:33Speaker 06

  No problem.

• 26:34Dan Pashman?

  Ramadan Mubarak.

• 26:35Speaker 06

  Thank you, thank you.

• 26:38Dan Pashman?

  So, the jig was up. We left the food by the prayer area, got back in our cab. We decided to head to LaGuardia Airport to see if there were Muslim cabbies breaking their fast there. But the sun was about to set. It was a race against time. Tipu, you may have to break your fast here in the back of this cab.

• 26:55Speaker 07

  Well, I have my food. My wife gave me.

• 26:56Dan Pashman?

  Yeah, you, yeah, did you bring, you have, we didn't leave all the food there, did you, Tipu?

• 26:59Speaker 07

  No, I have some in my, from my home. I brought it.

• 27:02Dan Pashman?

  Oh, good, good. Because, so, Tipu has taken the lid off of his of his food. He's getting ready. How much, how many more minutes do we have, Tipu?

• 27:11Speaker 07

  Uh, seven more minutes.

• 27:12Dan Pashman?

  Let's check the time. Seven more minutes. Not like a keeping track, though.

• 27:15Speaker 07

  Yeah.

• 27:15Dan Pashman?

  Eight twenty-four. Seven minutes. You, uh, you may, you may break your fast in this very cab. I'm sure it won't be the first time you've done that, right?

• 27:22Speaker 07

  Not in a first time.

• 27:24Dan Pashman?

  Have you ever broken your fast as a passenger in a cab?

• 27:27Speaker 07

  This is the first time I'm that's the first time I'm as a passenger.

• 27:32Dan Pashman?

  It smells so good. How do you do this to yourself? Why are you taking the lid off? You're releasing the smell. You're only teasing yourself.

• 27:37Speaker 07

  Yeah, just, it is also rewarded. That you're sitting

• 27:41Speaker 02

  In front of the food and it's still you are not eating and you are following the water of Allah.

• 27:46Dan Pashman?

  So you are supposed to look at the food before. You're supposed to make it as hard as possible, it sounds like.

• 27:53Speaker 02

  Uh, it is like, uh, like it is also rewarded when you are sitting with the food. Allah will seeing it how much hard struggling we are doing it.

• 28:04Dan Pashman?

  Tipu, what time is it?

• 28:06Speaker 02

  Uh, eight thirty.

• 28:08Dan Pashman?

  Check your phone.

• 28:09Speaker 02

  Uh, what time is it? Eight thirty one or?

• 28:14Speaker 02

  Uh, eight thirty? What time is they start? Eight thirty one or eight thirty two? Oh, we done? Yep. Oh, okay. So Bismillah. You want some? Oh, yeah, I want this.

• 28:28Dan Pashman?

  Shekna, our driver, who's also been fasting all day, just passed back some dates.

• 28:35Dan Pashman?

  It's literally, it's a party in the car now.

• 28:38Speaker 02

  I'm sorry. Uh-oh, sorry.

• 28:40Dan Pashman?

  Oh, that's okay. Shekna, how does that taste? Good. All right. After all day spending.

• 28:47Speaker 02

  Brother, take this. No, stay on your left, stay on your left. Left, left, left, left, left.

• 28:52Dan Pashman?

  We almost got in an accident just now.

• 28:56Speaker 02

  You take this, Annie.

• 28:59Dan Pashman?

  I'll, I'll, I'll share that with Ann. No, no, no. You, you eat. I haven't been fasting. I'll, I'll share with Ann. It's okay. You eat. Oh, all right. Thank you. Oh, my God. This is the eggplant.

• 29:08Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 29:09Dan Pashman?

  Mmm. Oh, my God. That's so good. We got like a buffet back here. We got bananas, apples, we got chana, we got some of the eggplant. Oh, man. And Tipu, I have to say, just in the few minutes since we started eating, I can see you're, uh, you're already energized. As, as he holds.

• 29:29Dan Pashman?

  Tipu just took two bites of his banana, passed it up to Shekna, who took two, who finished the rest of the banana. This is, it's a feeding frenzy.

• 29:36Speaker 02

  Sharing.

• 29:37Dan Pashman?

  Yeah, sharing, that's right.

• 29:38Speaker 02

  This is Ramadan month. The sharing is the reward. Allah, Allah will give us the reward. This is about participating in the food, sharing the food. We understand each other.

• 29:48Dan Pashman?

  And it is cool, like Shekna, our driver here, our cab driver, he's from Mali. You're from Bangladesh. You guys have never met before, and here we are in a car together, but you have this common bond.

• 29:57Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 29:58Dan Pashman?

  Here you are, eating out of each other's hands.

• 29:59Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 30:00Dan Pashman?

  At fifty miles an hour on the Vanwick Expressway.

• 30:08Dan Pashman?

  By the time we got to LaGuardia, the fast had been broken and the cabbies had gone their separate ways. And anyway, nothing was gonna top watching Tipu feed our driver, Shekna, as Shekna weaved through traffic at 50 miles an hour. So, thanks for not killing us, Shekna. And Tipu, thanks for sharing your wife's amazing cooking with us. And to all the Muslims out there, Ramadan Mubarak.

• 30:37Dan Pashman?

  This show is a production of WNYC and The Sporkful. It's produced by Anne Sanni and me. We get help from Tim Ruggieri. Special thanks to Paula Schuman. And thanks to Rama Isa Abraham at the Arab American Center and all the kids we spoke with: Abdullah, Arwa, Hamud, Lean, Nayef, Nirmine, and Osama. Until next time, I'm Dan Pashman.

• 30:56Speaker 01

  I'm Leila Padiachi from Cape Town, South Africa, reminding you to eat more, and eat better, and to eat more better.

• 31:22Dan Pashman?

  This reheat was produced by Gianna Palmer. The team that produces The Sporkful today includes me, along with managing producer Emma Morgenstern. And senior producer Andres O'Hara. Our engineer is Jared O'Connell. Music help from Black Label Music. The Sporkful is a production of SiriusXM Podcasts. Our executive producer is Camille Stanley. And hey, did you know you can listen to The Sporkful on the SiriusXM app? Yes, the SiriusXM app, it has all your favorite podcasts, plus over 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era. Plus, live sports coverage. Does your podcasting app have that? And there's interviews with A-list stars, and so much more. It's everything you want in a podcast app and music app, all rolled into one. And right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful.

• 32:07Dan Pashman?

  Until next time, I'm Dan Pashman.

• 32:15Dan Pashman?

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