Post of the Day!

[rockysigman]

luke said:

Phil would respond, but he's busy force feeding his kid a boot in the ass.

POTD

[samplestiltskin]

Well I'm entitled to bitch Phil, but I'm a bit sick after learning about it all and I think it's time for me to go home. Damn dude. What a kick-off for my weekend. I'm adopting a kitty this weekend tho, so that will help.... i think.

[Mary]

Ducks are cute. Therefore, it is immoral to eat them.

I propose a ban on eating any animals that waddle. Waddling is ridiculously cute.

Bow to my superior logic, mortals.

Cheers,
M

[tuneschick]

So if I eat free-range, grain-fed chicken, that's the same as eating ducks that are force-fed with a tube down their throat until their livers are grossly enlarged? Interesting. I did not know.

Obviously I don't have a 'right' to have an opinion on this, since I'm not a vegetarian. So I should probably just shut up now. But I'm confused by a few things.

I really and truly don't understand how abusing an animal in this way is a sign of "caring" for it? Phil, maybe I misunderstood you here - I'm just really curious. I'm not saying all breeders/farmers = animal abusers... but I would consider this to be abuse, yes (and it's certainly not the only instance, obviously, as Riley mentioned.) I'm also not sure why concern about this practice means that people have warped priorities.

Phil, you've posted a lot about the environment and our responsibility to make this a better world for future generations and I always have great respect for your opinions. But that's why I'm surprised to see you say this: "And I couldn't care less about a practice that's been done for thousands of years."

You're talking about one very particular example - and maybe this sounds overly idealistic - but I can't help but wonder how change is ever instigated if everyone says that? I know foie gras does not equal the destruction of our entire environment, obviously, but I think a statement like that can be very sweeping. I don't think you'd put up with someone saying that they couldn't care less about fighting the effects of global warming because people have been fucking up our environment for thousands of years... or they don't care if they litter because people have been doing it forever... so why is it not OK for people to think other practices that have been going on for thousands of years need to change too? I just don't find the 'there's no point in worrying about it now' logic necessarily all that sound.

I'm not one to get up on a soapbox but I had to get that out. Not that I have a right to have an opinion on this, of course, so maybe it's best to just forget I said anything at all.

[strat-0]

I realize this is totally the wrong board for this, but since it's the topic de jour, what the hell...

As of today, it is also illegal to slaughter horses to be exported and used for human consumption. Now, at first glance, this is right and good. I'm down with the whole horse mystique thing -- I love horses and would not care to eat horsemeat. It's just not right to me. I could go on and on about why it's wrong, like eating bloated duck livers or puppies. But, to call upon Mary's inescapable logic, the law just doesn't make sense.

Glue factory = OK. Exported for human consumption = not OK. It's absurd. There will never be a market for edible horsemeat in the US, just like there will never be one for dog or cat meat. We find the idea repugnant. The point is that all animals must (or should) be treated humanly from birth to death. But when sick/unwanted/uneeded animals are put down humanely, whatever happens to their carcass is moot. Horses, ducks, dogs, etc. are animals, and still, rightly or wrongly, considered property. From what I could see, the tiny market in butchering and exporting these unfortunate equines for foodstuff serves a useful purpose in this country and actually may serve the species.

But to oppose the bill is like opposing a flag desecration amendment or mandatory sentences for kiddie porn convicts. Oh, you want to murder and eat Trigger, eh?

[maarts]

we eat duck.
We eat chicken.
We eat cow.
We eat fish.
We eat pig.
We even eat kangaroo.

All adorable.
All edible.

I don't see why horse is any different than those animals.
Why I eat Babe, Nemo, Hortense and half the cast of Chicken Run without thinking, what's so wrong about gnawing on Trigger's bone?

[phil]

The point is that all animals must (or should)
be treated humanly from birth to death.


There goes the entire Fast Food industry ... !!

[phil]

I find it hard to believe that nobody in the US is eating horse meat.

I love horses but their meat also make the best tartare there is ... !!

[strat-0]

phil said:

I find it hard to believe that nobody in the US is eating horse meat.

Well, not on purpose, anyway!

phil said:

I love horses but their meat also make the best tartare there is ... !!

I would think it would be a bit tough and sinewy. Maybe it would be better raw. I mean, I can look at a nice pig or steer and say, "Mmmmm," but a horse just looks like a sleek pile of muscle, bone, and gristle.

[Ryosuke]

People who eat foie gras are evil, make no mistake about it. They're still damn delicious though.

I suppose when we have a RS Castaway party and they serve raw horsemeat, Phil and I will get to eat 'em all by ourselves? Awesome.

[phil]

French, Italians, Swiss, Japanese and Quebecois in Canada are horse meat aficionados and most of the 65,000 horses slaughtered in the country were shipped to Europe, Japan and to the province of Quebec.

The French appetite for horse meat dates from the Battle of Eylau in 1807, when the surgeon-in-chief of Napoleon’s Army, Baron Dominique-Jean Larry, advised the starving troops to eat the flesh of dead battlefield horses. The cavalry used breastplates as cooking pans. They also used whatever spices they could get their hands on. It continues today!

Horsemeat is lean, protein-rich, finely textured, bright red, firm, and more so horses are immune to BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy). Tough meat cuts must be cooked long enough to tenderise connective tissue (collagen), or marinated before cooking to ensure both flavour and tenderness.

English will not consume horsemeat. To them, horses are companions, not food, the way most of us think of dogs!

Yet Chinese and Korean eat dog meat and consider it a delicacy. One man’s protein is another man’s pet!

Today horsemeat at least in Quebec, particularly in Montreal is very popular. Butchers specializing in horsemeat are busier than ever due to the BSE fears spreading rapidly.

Horse butchers in Montreal sell minced meat, steaks, sausages, and brochettes. All claim horsemeat to be superior quality from a sanitary perspective.

In Europe, horse butchers are allowed to sell only horsemeat, as is the case in Quebec.

Americans will not touch horsemeat, and find it offensive to consume it.

[phil]

Here's a few facts about horse meat ...

Age

A popular saying states : "old beef, bad meat; old horse, good meat"! Connoisseurs appreciate older horsemeat because it has matured and it is ready for consumption. The horse butcher's stall has two suggestions: first, the colt, with its white meat, its nutritious value equivalent to veal, its neutral taste and its easily digestible meat and then the adult horse meat. At the age of 3 or 4, the horse meat is already very good but after its seventh year, it is simply delicious. Horse meat can be eaten at a later age as long as the horse was not submitted to hard work. It is interesting to know that a horse can live up to age twenty-five to thirty.


The sex of the animal

The slaughterhouse has categorized the animals by decreasing order of quality: the mare, the gelded horse (castrated), and the stallion. The male's muscular mass is much greater than that of the female and also firmer.


Race

Thoroughbreds and half-breds are most appreciated for their tender, red and succulent meat; the fat is quite firm. Without any distinction, all horse species are sought after; there is no official quality classification as for the beef because of the meat's constant quality. Mule and donkey meat which are tastier than horsemeat are not for consumption except in Spain and in Portugal. The law makes a clear distinction regarding these "first cousins" before slaughtering. Zebra meat is strong, too fat and very tough…an exotic meat to be left for a lion's appetite!


Color

The meat is of a bright red: but soon after it is cut, the muscle takes on a typical rusty color.

This feature is a guarantee of quality. The fat is fine, firm and of a nice saffron color which comes from the carotene in corn and the grass from the pasture. Contrarily to beef where meat and fat are intertwined, horsemeat is wrapped around the muscle.


Tenderness

Horsemeat gives us the impression that it has been tenderized It is known as the most tender meat there is: a specific biological process is used to tenderize the muscular fibers. Other meat require three or four days before they can be consumed in order to allow for the rigidity to disappear and for the autolytic enzymes to act: horsemeat reaches maximum tenderness in 24 hours which makes it ready for consumption very early. Butcher shops can offer meat that has been cut on the day following slaughtering.


Taste

Its taste is a combination of beef and deer: it's pleasant and slightly sweet due to its glycogen content from the muscle tissue. Pan fried, horsemeat can be mistaken for first quality beef.; if you choose to marinate it and cook it on the barbecue, your friends will be wondering and will congratulate you for this succulent recipe.


Meat cuts

Each cut is judged according to its tenderness, its taste and its reputation. The prime cuts are sold as roast, steak or minced meat. Less tender cuts can be used for stews and pot roasts.. For delicatessen purposes, you will find pure horse sausages, horse and pork sausages, pastrami and horse pâtés. For manipulation and classification purposes, the horse carcass is divided in two and then separated in half carcasses (front quarter and hind quarter). There are two great types of cut: the French cut and the North-American cut. The first comes from way back when and was developed because of a very demanding clientele; the meat cuts are sophisticated and uniformly tender. The French butcher is a well respected professional not to say that the North American butcher is not a professional.

[frag]

I just puked a little.

[Galactus]

If you can ride it or describe it as a "cute widdle ______" you shouldn't eat it.

[phil]

Smart, Clean, and Lean

Do you sweat like a pig? Chances are you don't, especially if you can wring out your shirt at the end of a hot day. Contrary to popular belief, pigs are unable to sweat; instead, they wallow in mud to cool down. Their mucky appearance gives pigs an undeserved reputation for slovenliness. In fact, pigs are some of the cleanest animals around, refusing to excrete anywhere near their living or eating areas when given a choice.


Piglet, "host" of THE JOY OF PIGS.

Pigs are misunderstood in many ways. Many people think of them as portly and stupid, but the NATURE program THE JOY OF PIGS shows us how intelligent pigs really are. (They are naturally lean, too, unless they are overfed by humans.) Pigs are smarter than any other domestic animal. Their ability to solve problems, like the pig I.Q. test on THE JOY OF PIGS, is well-documented, and they are considered by animal experts to be more trainable than dogs or cats.

Pigs are difficult to classify. In popular culture, they appear as everything from sweet simpletons (CHARLOTTE'S WEB) to wicked tyrants (ANIMAL FARM) to brave heroes (BABE). To pig farmers, the animal is a commodity. To truffle harvesters, pigs are reliable hunters whose keen sense of smell locates these pricey fungi. To scientists, pigs are unique as one of the only large mammals that exists, in one form or another, in every part of the world.

Every continent bears the imprint of the pig's feet -- preferably in a nice mud puddle. Red river hogs in West Africa, bearded pigs in Borneo, pig-like peccaries in Bolivia, and outlandishly tusked Indonesian babirusa all enjoy similar lifestyles of food, water, and a good roll in the dirt. These pigs' European ancestors became some of the first domesticated animals thousands of years ago. Wherever humans have ventured, they have brought pigs along with them. Colonists carried pigs with them to distant lands, proliferating pig farming throughout the world.

In the United States, raising hogs is big business. In 1997 alone, United States hog farmers raised more than 58 million head to support growing demands for pork. But the popularity of pigs as pets is growing, and many Americans now keep pigs in their homes. So when dinner's served in those homes, it's made for a pig, not from one!


So ! Ready to give up your bacon now... ??