THE EXOTIC SECRETS OF COW STREET

Recipes handed down through the generations ensure that halal cooking holds sway in a Beijing district

It's Lantern Festival eve, and three long lines of people have formed along the west side of the Beijing street Niujie, and across the road there are two more.

Anywhere else in Beijing and these people could well be lining up to buy the seasonal delicacies of tangyuan or yuanxiao (rice dumplings), but in this case the lines are just part of the daily ritual. What the taste buds of these people in Niujie (literally Cow Street), Xicheng district, are hankering after is homemade halal food, readily available in the area, with its large population of those of the Hui ethnic group.