Taboo meat
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
There are many reasons why some meats might be considered taboo and not others. Sometimes people have a more sentimental connection to some animals than others, for instance cows are sacred animals in India, and are not eaten there, while cats and dogs are kept as household pets throughout the world and are rarely eaten. Other meats are avoided for religious reasons, for instance some Jews avoid lobster and pig meat because their religion has forbidden the eating of 'fish without true scales' and all mammals except even-toed ungulates which are ruminants; camel meat is forbidden to Jews because camels have soft toes instead of hooves.
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Pets
Rabbit
Leporids such as European rabbits and hares make friendly pets for fanciers or those allergic to cats and dogs. They are also a food meat in (at least) Europe, South America, North America and China. The consumption of rabbit meat, however, historically predates their use as pets, and is therefore not considered taboo by most people. The hare is specifically stated to be an unclean animal the book of Leviticus in the Bible, making it taboo for Jews and those Christians that hold these rules to be binding for themselves.
Michael Moore's film Roger and Me famously features a poor Flint, Michigan woman selling rabbits "for pets or for food."
Prairie Dog & Squirrel
Both the American prairie dog and squirrel were widely hunted for food in the United States until the mid-20th century, but have recently become exotic pets. The main appeal of these animals as a food source was their abundance and the ease of catching them. Squirrel is still occasionally eaten.
Guinea Pigs
Guinea pigs (cavies) were originally bred for their meat, and only became an exotic popular pet when introduced to Europe from America.
Guinea pigs, or cuy, plural cuyes, continue to be a significant part of the diet in Peru, mostly in the Andes Mountains highlands, where they are an important source of protein and a mainstay of Andean folk medicine. Peruvians consume an estimated 65 million Guinea pigs each year, and the animal is so entrenched in the culture that one famous painting of the Last Supper in the main cathedral in Cusco, Peru shows Christ and the 12 disciples dining on Guinea pig. Today guinea pig meat is exported to the United States and Japan.
La Molina National University [1] (http://www.lamolina.edu.pe/portada/), Peru's most prestigious agrarian university, has bred a larger, faster-growing variety of the animal that it hopes will prove a nutritional boon to the country, as well as a source of export income. This breed grows to about 2 kg, or at least twice the native breed.
Dogs
In certain cultures, dogs are raised on farms and slaughtered as a source of meat. In Korea dog meat is the basis for summer soups and stews in some segments of the population (see Gaegogi). The source of the meat and the alleged methods of slaughter has generated friction between dog lovers and people who eat dogs, that occasionally breaks out as headline news.
In other countries, like the Philippines, dogs have served as a emergency reserve of food. Another example is China where in times past Chow Chows were often posted to guard family storehouses. During a hard season when the food store was depleted, the dog would be slaughtered as an emergency ration. (An "emergency ration" Chow Chow is a recurring character in Excel Saga.)
In the United States and Canada, Inuit and non-native sled dog teams traditionally fed a dog who expired during a grueling run to the remaining dogs (but did not themselves eat it).
Historically, dogs were raised specifically for food by the Aztecs and Polynesians.
Cats
In desperate times, people have been known to resort to cooking and eating cats, as occurred in Argentina in 1996. Cats are eaten in parts of Korea and China. In Canton, China, cat is reportedly served along with snake in a dish called "The Dragon and the Tiger".
Cats are also used to produce medicinal potions such as Korean "liquid cat", a remedy for joint pain made by boiling cats (alleged to be alive in some cases) with spices, and for their fur which is used to make fur coats and other fur clothing.
Cats are sometimes confused with civet cats. This has led Americans to accuse some Chinese manufacturer of using cat fur in their products. Others worry that some traditional medicines imported into the United States are of unknown animal origin. In 2001, a shipment of cat toys imported into the United States from China were recalled and destroyed because they were trimmed with cat fur, which had just been banned in the U.S.
Some Australian Aboriginal tribes have been known to hunt the feral cats as a secondary source of meat. One tribe well known for this activity believe this cat to be either indigenous or of ancient, non-European origin. However, one recent DNA analysis has shown evidence that they are related to British shorthair cats. Feral cats in Australia are regularly hunted, but not eaten, by non-Aboriginals due to their being voracious pests. They are considered a danger to native species. There is a small minority of scientists who contend the cats are more likely to eat from rubbish dumps and other food sources provided by humans.
The term roof-hare applies to cat meat presented as that of a hare, another pet used as a source of meat. Subtracting the skin, feet, head and tail, hares and cats are practically identical. The only way to distinguish them is by looking at the processus hamatus of the feline scapula, which should have a processus suprahamatus. Pasar gato por liebre ("to pass off a cat as a hare") is an expression common to many Spanish-speaking countries, equivalent to "to pull the wool over someone's eyes" derived from this basic scam. There is an equivalent portuguese expression Comer gato por lebre, meaning "eat a cat as a hare".
Work animals
Horses
Horses are bred by humans for use as food. Meat from (injured) horses that vets have put down with a lethal injection is not used for consumption: the carcasses of such animals are cremated. In 2001, people consumed an estimated 153,000 tonnes of horse meat worldwide.
In the late palaeolithic (Magdalenien) wild horses formed an important source of food.
Horse meat is often of very good quality. It can be tender, and is low in fat and high in protein, something that has led to its being popular among body builders. Horse meat has a slightly sweet taste that some find distasteful, but that can be disguised with seasoning and spices.
Today many European countries, including France, Italy, Romania and Belgium, produce and consume horse meat.
In France specialized butcher shops (boucheries chevalines) sell horsemeat, as ordinary butcher shops do not have the right to deal in it. According to legend, the French taste for horse meat dates from the Battle of Eylau in 1807, when the surgeon-in-chief of Napoleon's Grand Army, Baron Dominique-Jean Larrey, advised the starving troops to eat the flesh of dead battlefield horses. The cavalry used breastplates as cooking pans and gunpowder as seasoning, and thus founded a tradition.
During World War II, due to the low supply and high price of beef, the state of New Jersey legalized the sale of horse meat. At war's end, the state again prohibited such sale (some say in response to pressure from the beef lobby.)
In Japan horsemeat is eaten raw as sashimi in some areas. This is called basashi.
Since gypsies do not eat horse meat, there are occasional accusations of restaurants publicly posting signs saying they serve horse meat in order to discourage gypsies from eating there.
The taboo
Horse is commonly eaten in many countries in Europe. Horse may not be eaten in Jewish countries, since under Mosaic Law, horse meat is unclean because the horse is not cloven-hoofed or cud-chewing. However, in Islamic countries horse is generally considered halal. In pre-Christian times, horse meat was eaten in northern Europe as part of Teutonic religious ceremonies, particularly those associated with the worship of Odin.
The eating of horse meat is a food taboo to some people in the United Kingdom, the US, and Australia, and is sometimes even illegal. Like lobster and camel, it is forbidden by some followers of Christian and Jewish religions. In 732 CE, Pope Gregory III began an effort to stop the pagan practice of horse eating, calling it "abominable", and the people of Iceland allegedly expressed reluctance to embrace Christianity for some time largely over the issue of giving up horse meat. His edicts are based on the same scripture as the Jewish prohibitions. In some countries the effects of this prohibition by the Catholic Church have lingered, and horse meat prejudices have progressed from taboos to avoidance to abhorrence. In other parts of the world, horse meat has the stigma of being something poor people eat and is seen as a cheap substitute for other meats. The problem of horse meat having the reputation of being tough is a popular myth.
According to the anthropologist Marvin Harris, some cultures class horsemeat as taboo because the horse converts grass into meat less efficiently than other beasts, since horses do not function as ruminants. When breeding cattle for meat, a cow or a sheep will produce more meat if fed with the same amount of grass. However (apart from the ox) those can not be used as working animals. Brigitte Bardot has spent her latter years crusading against the eating of horse meat.
Although people in the United States of America rarely eat horse meat, many horses from the US are sold for slaughter and consumption in Europe, Mexico or Japan. 1986 Kentucky Derby winner and 1987 horse of the year, Ferdinand, is believed to have been slaughtered (likely for dog food) in Japan [2] (http://horsesdaily.com/news/racing/2003/07-21-derbywinner-ferdinand.html). A Food Standards Agency (FSA) 2003 investigation has revealed that salami and chorizo on sale in the UK sometimes contain horse and donkey meat, without being mentioned on the food label—something that is required. Much of the horse meat produced in the US is sold to zoos for carnivore feeding, due to its high protein content.
Preparation
Those preparing sandwiches with horse meat usually use it smoked and salted. Horse meat forms an ingredient in several traditional recipes of salami, and in Kazakhstan it is used in hazy (horse sausage).
Japanese call raw horse meat sakura (cherry blossom) from its pink color. It can be served raw as sashimi - where it is called basashi - in thin slices with soy sauce and wasabi, and it is also commonly found on menus for yakiniku (a type of barbeque) as baniku. In Switzerland horse meat may be used in Fondue bourguignonne. It is widely believed that traditional Belgian fries (pommes frites) were cooked in horse fat, but in fact ox fat was used, although this has been supplanted by nut oil (considered inferior by many) for health reasons. In Italy horse fat is used in recipes such as Pezzetti di Cavallo. In Chile it is used in charqui. In Iceland it is used for fondue, but it is mostly used for stews for its strong flavor.
Mare's milk is used by peoples with large horse-herds, such as the Mongols. They may let it ferment to produce kumys. However, mares produce a much lower yield of milk than do cows.
Other
Primates
Some consider the consumption of monkeys and apes to be too close to human cannibalism due to the similarity of our species. The similarity increases the danger of viruses.
Insects
Except for locusts and related species, insects are not considered kosher. Many find the consumption of insects to be disgusting rather than immoral. In particular, some insects and insect larvae, such as weevils and maggots, are associated with food spoilage.
Many different kinds of insects have traditionally been consumed as food in non-European cultures, including locusts, grasshoppers, and crickets, and larvae such as caterpillars and bee grubs. For example, grasshoppers (inago) and bee larvae (hachinoko) are eaten in some regions of Japan.
Pigs
Consumption of pigs is forbidden among Jews and Muslims. There are various theories concerning the origins of this law but none has been universally accepted. One common assumption is pigs are considered 'unclean' compared to other domesticated animals for their wallowing habits (preferably in water or mud, but under stress even feces) and more omnivorous tendancies, including the consumption of leftover garbage. According to anthropologist Marvin Harris, the main explanation for this taboo is the fact that in the Middle East region pigs compete for resources directly with humans, especially water, since pigs need water to keep themselves fresh.
Cows
Many Hindus abstain from eating any meat at all. Most Hindus do not eat beef, as the cow holds a sacred place in Hindu society; the taboo does not always extend to milk and dairy products. While the injunctions against eating beef arose long after the Vedas had been written, it is assumed that the largely pastoral Vedic people and subsequent generations of Hindus throughout the centuries relied so heavily on the cow for all sorts of dairy products, tilling of fields and fuel or fertiliser that its status as a willing 'caretaker' of humanity grew to identifying it as an almost maternal figure. Traditionally people from the lower castes like Dalits ate beef and carabeef. In modern times, beef-eating has gained some acceptance in various parts of India.
Fish
Fish are forbidden among the Maasai and some other peoples of East Africa, who nevertheless drink cow's blood, which is a taboo in most other places.
Seafood
Almost all types of non-piscene seafood such as eel, lobster, shrimp or crawfish is forbidden by some followers of Christianity (Leviticus 11:10-12) and Judaism because they live in water but don't have scales.
Rats and Mice
In most Western cultures, rats and mice are considered either unclean vermin or pets and thus unfit for human consumption. However, rats are commonly eaten in Ghana and in rural Thailand. Historically, rats and mice have also been eaten in the West during times of shortage or emergency, such as during the Battle of Vicksburg and the Siege of Paris. Mice were domesticated and raised for food in ancient Rome.
In some communities the muskrat is hunted for its meat (and fur).
Organ Meats
In the United States and Australia, many people are squeamish about eating offal, or the internal organs of butchered animals. Organ meats such as sweetbreads and kidney which are considered edible in other cultures are more often regarded as being fit only for processing into pet food under the euphemism "meat by-products" in the United States. Except for calf liver, organ meats that are consumed in the U.S. tend to be regional or ethnic specialties; for example, tripe as menudo among Latinos, chitterlings in the southern states, beef testicles as mountain oysters in the west.
See also
- Cannibalism
- Vegetarianism
- Veganism
- Kashrut
- Halaal
- Kosher foods
- Clean animal
- Unclean animal
- Muslim dietary laws
- Bushmeat
References
- Unmentionable Cuisine; Calvin W. Schwabe ISBN 0-8139-1162-1
External links
- Global Appetites for Horse Meat (http://www.cbc.ca/news/features/horse_meat_industry.html)
- U.S.D.A. Promotes Horse & Goat Meat (http://www.igha.org/USDA.html)
- Americans squeamish over horse meat (http://www.sptimes.com/2002/09/04/Columns/Americans_squeamish_o.shtml)
- Korean Animal Protection Society (http://www.koreananimals.org/index.htm)
- China exotic food FAQ (http://www.china.org.cn/english/Life/36202.htm)
- Traditional German gourmet recipes with horse meat (http://www.theiling.de/recipes/)
- Insects as food (http://www.food-insects.com/)fi:Hevosenliha
Categories: Food and drink | Pets | Cats | Diets | Islamic law | Jewish law and rituals | Meat
