[Pictured Above: Snake Meat]
One of the most fascinating things about our planet is the how vastly the food is from country to country. The American palette is probably more limited than most, relegated mostly to the various kinds of meats, vegetables and other basic foodstuffs found at the local supermarket, while other places have no qualms whatsoever about chopping up a dog for dinner.
Am I suggesting we start eating our canine friends? Not at all. What we eat is, of course, based mostly on what is locally available. It's a whole lot more expensive to ship exotic foods from halfway across the world than it is to slaughter a cow from a nearby farm, have it chopped into steaks at the butcher and bring it home for Sunday dinner. But when was the last time you ate buffalo, alligator, or rattlesnake? How about a nice, hearty grub stew?
I'm betting the overwhelming majority would say never. The thing is, all of the aforementioned items can be found right here in the U.S. , but save for survivalists, adventurous restaurant owners and the eaters that they cater to, we eat only what is easy to farm or widely available. In reality, slaughtering a chicken or a pig is not much different from killing a gator or fishing for shark. They're all edible, they all taste different, each with a distinct texture.
I'm not suggesting we all switch over to monkey brains, insects or moose-meat for good, but it'd certainly be fun to try out some alternatives to chicken, pork and beef.
Why do you think people avoid more exotic meat options?
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Comments (46)
Because they aren't culturally used to it. If it were more commonplace, there'd be fewer qualms.
Why are we culturally limited to begin with? Probably just ease. Domesticated animals are easier to control and mass produce than wild ones, and alligators/sharks/rattlesnakes are going to be hard to deal with at all, meaning they'd cost more. Plus, it seems like the animals of our choice have more meat, but I don't know that definitively.
Because they're adventurous.
Unlike me... lol. I'd feel strange consuming alligator. I grew up on the Gulf Coast and they were all over the place... I'd feel like I'm depleting my old home or something? Idfk. o.o
eww that thing looks disgusting
I'm Chinese so this is no issue to me. Yes, I would eat dog if given the opportunity, but it doesn't mean I'm gonna kill my own pet and eat it. The reason why people get so afraid of eating such animals is because of the emotional attachment (pets). However, if they no prior relationship to the animal, they wouldn't mind scarfing it down in a minute, like a steak at the local roadhouse.
I think we just have to go back and look at this from different perspectives. Historical, evolutionary and just looking at what's more available.
Sheep, cows, pigs, goats, chicken etc are all easily accessible on farms & North America did focus on farming and stuff way back when.
We never had to kill monkeys or snakes in order to eat meat. Other countries might not have had the easily available "farm" animals like we do here and they might have had to push themselves to eat OTHER meats.
A matter of survival? I think so.
Also, it might just seem NORMAL in other countries to eat dogs and snakes and monkeys and who knows what else.
And to us it's just normal to stick to what we eat.
It's all about availability and what we have become accustomed to.
Now excuse me as I go dine on chicken. No snake for me!
:)
-Bee
Dog is not very tasty. I had a dog burger in Thailand.
But in a world full of people, a good portion of them starving, people must eat. I can understand an aversion to it living in the US, but to try and degrade these people because of their choices is silly. I see it all the time. Keep eating dogs and cats I say. Eat em all, why? Because you're starving and they are made of meat
I had some buffalo and ostrich in Arizona. I'd love to try alligator.
Saying the American palette is probably more limited is an understatement. It's definitely more limited, and I'm not saying this just because I'm Chinese. When it comes to American tastes, I don't see a lot of variety. With things like fish, it's all fillets. When was the last time you saw a whole fish, skeleton, head and all in a restaurant? How about a poultry head, feet or guts? Ox tail? All the animals you mentioned? A lot of it comes from not being exposed to it from an early age, but a good portion also comes from being scared to try anything different. The latter's really more a cultural thing that pervades almost the entire society, but that's a bit of a different topic for another day.
Put it in front of me and if it isn't poisonous, I'll eat it.
haha, ill eat anything at least once.
tripe--tried and decided i dont like it, HAYou know what else is not very tasty? Donkey. Yuck. I don't mind trying other meats, but they're generally more expensive. Maybe they'd be cheaper if demand grew and people started figuring out effective ways to farm rattlesnakes and such, but why? What we've got tastes fine. :)
I ate weird things as a child and I'm fine with it now. I think the only thing I can't do is live insects since I get squeamish.
I think the answer is in the title, they're "weird" in this country because we aren't accustomed to eating them.
you're not going to find currency appetizing;
in these occasions...Snake is good. So is Alligator. Ostrich tastes similar to turkey, and I've tasted bear before. Which, I'm unsure how to describe, other than lean, and slightly gamy.
If it ain't poisonous, scaly or can be domesticated to use the bathroom in a certain place, I'll eat them AND their intestines...
snake is really good :D
it is easier to kill chickens and pigs because they are fat and don't run as fast and the defenseless animals don't have rows of sharp teeth to protect themselves, but they have to wrestle alligators and sharks or build contraptions to catch them so it'll up the cost for the meat. who will buy an alligator burger for $100? cheap fast food 99 cents value menus are more popular
I had some sort of fried battered squid for lunch at school. All I could think was, "Wow, at least it's not pork," and, "I hope I don't break out tomorrow." The day before they served octopus pancakes and some weird fish.
I'm super picky about meat...I had goat once and really didn't like it. I won't eat any kind of organs either...my dad makes liver all the time and I won't touch it. People will probably think that's stupid but I really can't handle eating organs or anything besides beef, chicken, turkey, lamb and sometimes pork. I had a bite of deer once (maybe moose?) when I was a kid and that wasn't bad though.
For me, game isn't really exotic. I have had deer (venison), bear, goat, alligator, boar, ostrich, quail, goose, duck, lamb, and buffalo (maybe others I can't remember right now). When making stuffing for a turkey meal like Thanksgiving, I use the offal (organs) from the bird in the stuffing. I also served cow heart once to guests at my house. I have also had things like crawdads and all sorts of seafood like squid, mussels, oysters, etc. I have tried caviar. The one thing I haven't really done is the insect thing though. Maybe one day I will get up the stones to try insects but for now I am not sure.
The point is that I have had all these things while never setting foot outside of the continental United States. There are lots of different opportunities for meat other than cow, chicken, and pig here. Granted, while watching the summer olympics and seeing the food montage NBC did that included things like scorpions, that was a bit crazy. I remember wishing I could try some of their food too while I was watching. I guess maybe it is a question of how food-adventurous or curious a person is. Some people are perfectly content and happy with their diet without branching out. For the more adventurous, there are plenty of new things to try here in the US. Cheers!
Because it's a cultural norm. That's it.
But I want to try gator. That sounds delicious.
aligator is OK, a little chewy. my favorite is chicken liver and hearts, can't believe they are so cheap over here!
I think alligator is pretty delicious. Their tails anyway. And I ate guinea pig in Ecuador. It's apparently a luxury food, but it tastes like chicken to me, lol. I see no big deal in trying new cultural food. When in Rome, right?
I hear moose is good. Oxtail is apparently amazing. I've had duck, veal, goat, and lamb, and personally I don't feel right eating it, I don't know why. I prefer pork/beef/chicken and halibut/cod/haddock and I'm not too against trying new, hearty meats.
Insects though? No..... nor monkey brains......
The aversion to "strange meat" is the reason why I don't recommend Americans to eat at my house.