Culinary Iconography! Allah in beef gristle!

It's been awhile since I ran across a culinary iconography item. This one is from Nigeria where a diner in Birnin Kebbi noticed a pattern in his beef gristle that resembles the word 'Allah' in Arabic. Funny how these gods always leave their markings in food, tree bark, plant roots etc. (LINK: Allah seems to particularly love to write his name in the flesh of animals) but never speak or show themselves directly to human beings. Humans have such an imagination and will see anything to try to justify their beliefs. It isn't enough for them simply to believe and they show us how they have to reaffirm their beliefs repeatedly and in such absurd and bizarre ways. This story gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "mystery meat."

LINK: 'Allah meat' astounds Nigerians

Diners have been flocking to a restaurant in northern Nigeria to see pieces of meat which the owner says are inscribed with the name of Allah.

What looks like the Arabic word for God and the name of the prophet Muhammad were discovered in pieces of beef by a diner in Birnin Kebbi.

He was about to eat it, when he suddenly noticed the words in the gristle, the restaurant owner said.

A search of the kitchen's meat revealed three more pieces which bore the names.

The meat was boiled and then fried before being served, owner Kabiru Haliru told newspaper Weekly Trust.

"When the writings were discovered there were some Islamic scholars who come and eat here and they all commented that it was a sign to show that Islam is the only true religion for mankind," he said.

[Why didn't someone ask him then what about Jesus sightings in fish sticks, etc?]

The restaurant has kept the pieces of meat for visitors to see.

Thousands of people have already gone to the restaurant to see them since they were discovered last week.

A vet told the newspaper the words "defied scientific explanation".

"Supposing only one piece of meat was found then it would be suspicious, but given the circumstances there is no explanation," Dr Yakubu Dominic said.

LINK: There IS an explanation. Coincidence that the beef gristle formed a pattern that might look similar to the letters in a word recognizable to only those who read Arabic. Human imagination does the rest. Like seeing familiar patterns in clouds passing overhead.