Edible Animals
Feb. 11th, 2018 04:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithMy inner teenage boy was deeply amused by this billboard showing a spectrum of pets to food animals.
Me, I'm a pragmatist. Anything I can get into my mouth and digest safely is potential food. In practice, I strongly prefer not to eat other sapient beings unless I am starving to death, so things like cetacean, elephant, and primate are off my list of edibles outside of that context. There are a few things I choose not to eat because I disapprove of their production methods; farmed veal exceeds my personal tolerance for animal abuse. However, historic veal is in the same class as buckling for me -- used to be, all the milk animals would drop about 50% male offspring that you didn't need, so you dressed them out right then and had the tenderest meat ever. That I would gleefully eat if I had the chance. There are plenty of things I'd like to try, haven't encountered yet, and probably wouldn't want to eat routinely; dog and horse are both in that category. So are insects, a key indicator that I am not culturally an American despite living here. My everyday category is wider too: rabbit, goat, and lamb are all things I actively look for and order when I find them. I also enjoy some animal parts that most Americans do not, including tongue, brains, heart, gizzard, and testicles. I loved haggis the one time I got it. However, I have tried kidney and wasn't fond of it; I really dislike liver and would have to be ravenous to eat it willingly.
These are all things that vary widely by culture and time period. What are some of your settings?
Me, I'm a pragmatist. Anything I can get into my mouth and digest safely is potential food. In practice, I strongly prefer not to eat other sapient beings unless I am starving to death, so things like cetacean, elephant, and primate are off my list of edibles outside of that context. There are a few things I choose not to eat because I disapprove of their production methods; farmed veal exceeds my personal tolerance for animal abuse. However, historic veal is in the same class as buckling for me -- used to be, all the milk animals would drop about 50% male offspring that you didn't need, so you dressed them out right then and had the tenderest meat ever. That I would gleefully eat if I had the chance. There are plenty of things I'd like to try, haven't encountered yet, and probably wouldn't want to eat routinely; dog and horse are both in that category. So are insects, a key indicator that I am not culturally an American despite living here. My everyday category is wider too: rabbit, goat, and lamb are all things I actively look for and order when I find them. I also enjoy some animal parts that most Americans do not, including tongue, brains, heart, gizzard, and testicles. I loved haggis the one time I got it. However, I have tried kidney and wasn't fond of it; I really dislike liver and would have to be ravenous to eat it willingly.
These are all things that vary widely by culture and time period. What are some of your settings?
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-17 03:48 am (UTC)As far as offal goes, I love gizzards. I love chicken and turkey heart, and would probably try other types. I haven't had tongue, but I would like to. Liver is disgusting and I will only eat it if there is nothing else to eat. I would try other types of offal, but might not like it. Any sausage that tastes strongly of liver is a no-go for me.
I will eat all of the seafood, except the ones that are sapient.
No veal, or lamb, or fois gras, because of the way they are raised.
Thoughts
Date: 2018-02-17 03:50 am (UTC)Tongue is exquisite, so tender it melts in your mouth, but the texture is like nothing else. It's a giant pain in the ass to peel, though, and nowhere near as cheap as it used to be. I'd take tongue sandwiches to school, people would ask what it was, I'd tell them, and they'd scream. LOL