Immigrant couple provides halal food — and community — to Syracuse’s Northside

Immigrant couple provides halal food — and community — to Syracuse’s Northside

Syracuse has become home for Hani and Tatyana Mahmud, who immigrated from Egypt and Russia almost two decades ago. As Muslim immigrants, they realized there was something missing in Central New York: halal food.

Hani and Tatyana Mahmud, immigrants from Egypt and Russia, talk about their relationship, starting a business, fostering community and providing job opportunities and halal food options to Central New York’s refugees and Muslims.


By Malika-Budur Kalila

Aromas of curry, cumin, turmeric, onions and other spices fill the room as goat curry cooks in a huge pot on the stove. Meanwhile, various dishes from cuisines around the world are served to customers.  

“It’s a blessing to feed people who were fasting the whole day; it’s a really beautiful benefit from God,” says Tatyana Mahmud.

It’s the month of Ramadan, and she is working on a significant order. Goat curry is one of the many special dishes she prepares for the 400 Muslims who will break the fast together at Mosque Isa Ibn Maryam, in the Northside of Syracuse.

Tatyana cooks goat curry for the local mosque where 400 people will break the fast the next day. (Malika-Budur Kalila/NextGenRadio)

“This is the month of Ramadan right now; it’s a holy month for us,” Tatyana said, in Pyramids Halal Meat. Behind her, a banner reads “Ramadan Kareem,” which means Happy Ramadan.

Tatyana and her husband, Hani Mahmud, own Pyramids Halal Meat, a grocery store that has halal food, a unique option in Syracuse. In 2011, this Muslim couple saw both a necessity and an opportunity to provide halal meat options to the community. The number of Muslim community members started growing in the Northside with the arrival of refugees.  More than 10,000 refugees have been resettled here in the past 10 years. Hailing from Africa and the Middle East, the Northside of Syracuse provides a sense of community.

Tatyana and Hani Mahmud, the owners of Pyramids halal Meat, immigrated from Russia and Egypt and now offer dry goods from abroad. (Malika-Budur Kalila/NextGenRadio)

Halal is the Arabic word for “permissible”, meaning meat and food that meets Islamic standards. Tatyana says, “For the meat to become Halal, the animals need to be slaughtered in the name of God, and their entire blood must drain out completely.”

The store has different types of halal meat, including lamb, goat, chicken, beef and sausage. (Malika-Budur Kalila/NextGenRadio)

“We have the halal food to support the community,” Hani said. “They can’t buy from outside because it’s not halal.”

Hani and Tatyana are both fasting. They don’t eat and drink from approximately two hours before sunrise until sunset, yet they both come to the store for work. Hani prepares halal-slaughtered meat for purchase.

Dani Mahmud chops chicken, slaughtered according to Islamic standards. (Malika-Budur Kalila/NextGenRadio)

Tatyana keeps up with her regular work schedule and cooks 18 dishes per day. But during Ramadan, it’s a bit challenging, she said.

“When you are fasting, you have no water, and your energy finishes very quickly,” she said. “But today God gives me power.”

The couple claims its business is booming now. However, the owners say that was not always the case, and starting a business in the Northside was not easy for them.

“People consider it a dangerous area,” Tatyana said. “They say [there’s] a lot of crime here.”

Moreover, the immigrants add they faced some instances of racial intolerance because of their background when they initially settled in the city.

“It was tough being a person from another country,” Hani expressed. “There [were] a lot of race issues; it was really tough to experience that. People used to call on us – neighbors, health department, local police.”

For more than a decade, the Northside of Syracuse has been central for refugee resettlement, adding to the immigrant population. Hani explained, since the Northside side is a diverse area, his family also wanted to stay within a community that would not discriminate based on the family’s ethnic background.  

Nowadays it’s not unusual to see children from different countries playing on the streets and families who shop in local stores that have ties to the countries they came from.   

Syracuse has become home for refugees mostly from Burma/Myanmar, Somalia, Bhutan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and other African and Middle Eastern Countries.

However, according to the Migration Policy, after the Trump administration imposed the travel ban in 2017, the number of refugees coming to the United States drastically decreased.

Syracuse was among the top ten regions that settled most refugees from Somalia. According to a recent report, in 2018, none of the Somalians made it to the United States.

Hani claims that the refugee population has a positive impact on the local economy. He adds, “Now most of the refugees are independent since they have jobs. If it weren’t for the refugees, the city would always be down,” Hani said. “I don’t care if anybody [says] otherwise.”

The couple states they want to serve their community not only by providing food but also by offering jobs for refugees, who make up the majority of the staff. Tatyana says she is not only happy with the refugees’ job performance but also with their demeanor.

“They are good people,” she said, looking at Fatuma Djumbe, who has worked in the store for four years. “Their heart is what makes you happy. We are not just workers; we are like a family.”

The Northside of Syracuse has the highest number of immigrants and refugees in the city. Fatuma Djumbe, a refugee employee, serves customers, some of whom drive from Utica to purchase Halal meat. (Malika-Budur Kalila/NextGenRadio)

Hani says although people call him a community leader, he doesn’t want to be recognized for his efforts because he is only doing it for the sake of service. He adds that his community represents diversity and tolerance.

“It’s very interesting here,” Hani said. “I think the northside can show the entire city how you can be together because all live here together no matter what you are, what color you are [or] where are you from.”

Customers leave the store after buying fresh dates and candy. (Malika-Budur Kalila/NextGenRadio)

Published by Malika-Budur Kalila

Malika-Budur Kalila is a broadcast and digital journalism graduate student at Newhouse School of Public Communications. Malika, who is from Kazakhstan, studied Economics and Management in Turkey for three years and earned her BA in Communication from Niagara University. As a graduate student, she interned at NPR affiliate WAER and traveled to Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan as a member of two different investigative reporting teams. She is fluent in English, Russian, Kazakh and Turkish. Malika is interested in international reporting and covering human rights issues. In her free time, she enjoys exploring different cultures and learning foreign languages.