Josh Schwartz really misses University Teriyaki. In fact, he misses it even more than he can explain, he admitted with a laugh.

But sating his cravings isn’t as simple as waltzing into the restaurant to order a dish of chicken and beef teriyaki. A month and a half ago, it might have been that easy. But now, this UW sophomore is keeping a strictly kosher diet.

It’s no question that the UW has students of different faiths and religious backgrounds. But with this diverse melting pot of religions comes a smorgasbord of something else that’s just as multifaceted: students who keep religious diets.

Some students on campus choose to observe — or not observe — religious diets because of personal reasons, family influences or tradition. Whatever the story, religious diets are a way that students show their dedication to their faith.

“[Religious diets] function to make people aware of eating as an activity,” said Martin Jaffee, a professor of comparative religion and Jewish studies at the UW. “Certain things that you eat will defile you.”

The kosher diet

Rabbi Elie Estrin said that keeping kosher means that Schwartz can only eat food that has ingredients that are kosher and is prepared with kosher utensils.

“The general idea [of a kosher diet] is to not mix milk and meat and to try to ensure that anything that goes into the food — ingredients and even utensils used to prepare it — are all kosher products,” Estrin said. “This is a simple and basic explanation, and there are a lot more details to it.”

After spending a year in Israel before beginning his freshman year, Schwartz learned that if he had the food available to him, it wouldn’t be too difficult to make a big change in his daily life.

“[Keeping a kosher diet] is another way to show who I am and that my Judaism is really important to me,” Schwartz said.

Although Schwartz now keeps a stricter kosher diet than his family members, he says his family is very supportive of his choice and that his mom even helps him shop for kosher products and cook kosher meals.

Adhering to his kosher diet while on campus might be a little difficult because many of the prepared meals have meat that does not meet the kosher rules. But at the end of the day, Schwartz believes that his choice to stick to a strict kosher diet is worth the effort.

“Every time I eat a meal now, it makes me think about being Jewish,” Schwartz said. “Every time I eat, it makes me reflect on my identity. It’s a daily way for me to reflect on my Jewish heritage.”

Religious vegetarianism

Once, when Ankit Patel was little, he spent some time with his uncle who brought him to eat nachos. These weren’t just any nachos, but nachos smothered with heaps and heaps of beef.

Patel, whose family is Hindu and who had never eaten that type of meat before, remembered that his father instructed him not to eat beef. He relayed this idea to his uncle, his mother’s brother, who told him to “try it out.”

“It was so good. I asked, ‘Can we get more?’” the UW junior recalled.

When Patel told his father that he had eaten beef, he was less than thrilled. Yet Patel didn’t suffer any serious consequences.

Patel’s grandfather — his mother’s father — traveled a lot. And because his grandfather had to eat whatever was available to him, he ate meat and sometimes even beef, which is taboo for many Hindus who consider cows sacred.

His father, though, who has been a strict vegetarian for all of his life because of both religious and health reasons, has never before eaten meat.

“Sometimes when we’re on the plane and the airline’s forgotten to get a vegetarian meal for my dad, or they’ve run out, my dad just won’t eat,” Patel said. “If meat is the only option, he would rather go hungry.”

According to the University of Minnesota’s Office of International Programs, Hindu dietary restrictions differ based on region and local custom. However, because of Hindu doctrines of non-violence, karma and rebirth, many Hindus don’t eat animal and fish products besides milk and honey.

“I think for me and my family, Hinduism is a little bit more lax for the dietary restrictions,” Patel said. “It’s more for a need basis.”

The halal diet

Of all the foods to pine for, UW senior Khaled Zaki craves Rice Krispies Treats.

He misses the cereal-marshmallow morsels that he used to eat when he was a kid, before he began to prescribe to a halal diet.

But because many American cereal-makers use gelatin in their products — and because gelatin is not halal — Zaki can’t eat Rice Krispies Treats.

According to The Islamic Bulletin, an online Islamic publication, in non-Arabic-speaking countries, halal, which translates to “permissible” or “lawful,” refers to Muslim dietary laws. Most foods are halal unless otherwise specified in the Quran and people cannot change the unlawful, or haram, into halal. People also cannot make the halal into haram.

Although following a specific diet comes with its benefits, it can be difficult at times.

“Sometimes, it’s frustrating,” Zaki, who is also president of the Muslim Student Association, admitted with a chuckle. “But then you’re like, ‘This is for a good cause. I’m sacrificing, and I’ll be rewarded.’”

When Zaki, who commutes from home, is on campus, he’ll usually opt for vegetarian pizza from Pagliacci, or else he might go to Shalimar or Burger Hut, which both serve halal meat. Like Schwartz, Zaki cannot eat most prepared food on campus — with the exception of the Nosh Away sandwiches, which came to the UW last spring — because it does not meet kosher or halal standards.

For Zaki, keeping a halal diet is important because people’s bodies are made up of what they eat — and if a body isn’t “pure,” it can mean that a prayer might not get accepted completely, Zaki said.

“When I adhere to the diet, I feel accomplished because I’m a law-abiding student of Islam,” Zaki said.

Reach contributing writer Kat Chow at development@dailyuw.com.