Alt. titles: So hungry I could eat a horse .. Don't ask, don't tell.
Growing up in Britain as a sort-of-kosher Jewish person I would often ask hot dog sellers: what kind of sausage is it ? Ditto with pies or stews or any other form of non-distinct carnivorous fayre. And invariably they would reply: "It's meat", as if I was a moron. Unfailingly, this "meat' turned out to be pork and thus off my menu. It was a revelation, arriving years later in New York, to find that their sausage "meat" usually turned out to be not just beef but also kosher.
One of the philosophical concepts behind Jewish dietary restrictions and the blessings surrounding the act of eating is that by paying more attention to what you eat and how you eat it you thereby inject a greater level of sensitivity into your otherwise bovine (sorry) existence. Sensitivity leads to spirituality. I like that idea even if I have generally failed to live up to it. The rise of vegetarianism, veganism and healthy, organic eating shares the same attentiveness over what we put in our mouths.
I recount this particular memory now because horse meat is all over the news. It seems a vast amount of UK food that was supposed to be beef has in fact come from equine sources. In some cases a small percentage but in others practically the entire meat product was horse. And there is of course shock and outrage across the land.
A tad hypocritical ? After all, "it's meat", innit ? Only weird people ask what kind of meat exactly ? It's really a strong and abiding memory I have that most people in this country, or indeed the world, eat "meat" and happily use that generic in place of anything more specific. I felt embarrassed for asking such an apparently ridiculous question.
Update: Just received the following in an email from Waitrose, showing that even the "posh" supermarkets are not immune:
"The meat industry and meat products continue to be in the news and so I thought you might appreciate an update on what we have been doing. We have now done tests on 40 of our meat products. No horse meat was found in any of these tests. We did, however, discover that in just two batches of our essential Waitrose frozen British beef meatballs (480g), some of the meatballs may contain some pork. In fact, one of the tests carried out showed that the meat in the meatballs was, as it should be, 100% beef. But because another test indicated there may be some pork, I felt it important for you to be aware."
PS: I think "It's meat, innit ?!" would make a great advertising slogan for the industry.
Update 2: European kosher comes in from the cold ?!
Growing up in Britain as a sort-of-kosher Jewish person I would often ask hot dog sellers: what kind of sausage is it ? Ditto with pies or stews or any other form of non-distinct carnivorous fayre. And invariably they would reply: "It's meat", as if I was a moron. Unfailingly, this "meat' turned out to be pork and thus off my menu. It was a revelation, arriving years later in New York, to find that their sausage "meat" usually turned out to be not just beef but also kosher.
One of the philosophical concepts behind Jewish dietary restrictions and the blessings surrounding the act of eating is that by paying more attention to what you eat and how you eat it you thereby inject a greater level of sensitivity into your otherwise bovine (sorry) existence. Sensitivity leads to spirituality. I like that idea even if I have generally failed to live up to it. The rise of vegetarianism, veganism and healthy, organic eating shares the same attentiveness over what we put in our mouths.
I recount this particular memory now because horse meat is all over the news. It seems a vast amount of UK food that was supposed to be beef has in fact come from equine sources. In some cases a small percentage but in others practically the entire meat product was horse. And there is of course shock and outrage across the land.
A tad hypocritical ? After all, "it's meat", innit ? Only weird people ask what kind of meat exactly ? It's really a strong and abiding memory I have that most people in this country, or indeed the world, eat "meat" and happily use that generic in place of anything more specific. I felt embarrassed for asking such an apparently ridiculous question.
Update: Just received the following in an email from Waitrose, showing that even the "posh" supermarkets are not immune:
"The meat industry and meat products continue to be in the news and so I thought you might appreciate an update on what we have been doing. We have now done tests on 40 of our meat products. No horse meat was found in any of these tests. We did, however, discover that in just two batches of our essential Waitrose frozen British beef meatballs (480g), some of the meatballs may contain some pork. In fact, one of the tests carried out showed that the meat in the meatballs was, as it should be, 100% beef. But because another test indicated there may be some pork, I felt it important for you to be aware."
PS: I think "It's meat, innit ?!" would make a great advertising slogan for the industry.
Update 2: European kosher comes in from the cold ?!
In South America attempts to eat non meat dishes invariably result in bemused expressions from the proprietor who will often suggest a meat dish on the basis that the respective animal itself consumed vegetables....
ReplyDeleteI've heard that before .. such impressive logic !
DeleteJust goes to show that keeping kosher has other benefits too such as avoiding Bute
ReplyDeleteTrying to keep kosher in South America will however lead to starvation within a short period of time
ReplyDelete