Taboo food and drink

Taboo food and drinks are food and drink which people avoid consuming for religious, cultural or health reasons.

Taboo meats

Various religions forbid the consumption of certain types of meat. For example, Judaism prescribes a strict set of rules, called Kashrut, regarding what can and cannot be eaten. Certain sects of Christianity also hold to these or similar rules. In Islamic practice, the laws of Haram and Halaal dictate, among other things, certain foods which may not be eaten. Hindus, Jains and Buddhists often follow religious directives to observe vegetarianism and avoid eating meat. Since Hinduism lacks a central dogma, many Hindus do eat meat. However among many modern Indian Hindus, all meat is considered a taboo except mutton (usually in India the goat's flesh, or sometimes sheep's flesh), chicken and fish.

Cultural taboos against the consumption of some animals may be due to their species' standing as a pet or animal companion. For example, it is taboo to eat dog meat in the United States and Europe or horse meat in the US, but the former is common in South America and Southeast Asia while the latter is considered a delicacy in Japan (basashi). Within a given society, some meats will be considered taboo simply because they are outside the range of the generally accepted definition of a foodstuff, not necessarily because the meat is considered repulsive in flavor, aroma, texture or appearance.

Some authorities impose cultural food taboos in the form of law. This is alleged to be dietary persecution and possibly human rights abuse. For example, even after resumption to Chinese rule, Hong Kong has not lifted its ban on supplying meat from dogs and cats, imposed in colonial times.

Health reasons may also contribute to a taboo. For example, eating undercooked pork has a risk of trichinosis, while many forms of seafood can cause extreme cases of food poisoning. Scavengers and carnivores are frowned upon in many taboo systems, perhaps from their potential to pick up disease and parasites from other creatures.

Medical food taboos come from professionals' advice that some food is known to exacerbate an illness, make a person more vulnerable to one or impede treatment.

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 Europe, South America, North America, some parts of the Middle East, and China, among other places. The consumption of rabbit meat, however, historically pre-dates their use as pets, and is therefore not considered taboo by most people.

Michael Moore's film Roger and Me famously features a poor Flint, Michigan woman selling "bunnies for pets, rabbits for meat".

Rabbit meat was once commonly sold in Sydney, Australia, the sellers of which giving the name to the Rugby League team the South Sydney Rabbitohs, but quickly became unpopular after the disease myxomatosis was introduced in an attempt to wipe out the feral rabbit population (see also Rabbits in Australia).

The hare is specifically stated to be unclean in the book of Leviticus in the Bible, making it taboo for Jews and those Christians that hold these rules to be binding for themselves.

Alevis and Alawites consider the meat of rabbit and hare haraam.

Prairie dog and 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, especially in the south. Praire dog is also occasionally eaten by Native American tribes in the Southwest.

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.

In 2004, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation took legal action to stop vendors serving skewered cuy at an Ecuadorian festival in Flushing Meadows Park. New York State allows for the consumption of guinea pigs, but New York City prohibits it based on a vague health code. Accusations of cultural persecution have since been leveled.

La Molina National University ^*, 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 size of the native breed.

Dogs

In a number of countries around the world, apart from being kept as pets, certain breeds of dogs are slaughtered as a source of meat and specifically raised on farms for that purpose in some countries.

According to the ancient Hindu scriptures (cf. Manusmriti and medicinal texts like Sushrut-Samhita), dog's meat was regarded as the most unclean (and rather poisonous) food possible—it was worthy only for the lowest of the untouchable castes — who were therefore called shvapacha (those cooking dog's meat). In modern India, dog's meat is eaten in a few pockets, as in the north eastern state of Nagaland by the tribals or converted Christians.

In the Philippines, it is against the law to slaughter dogs as food. But illegal slaughterhouses exist and these are located mostly in the northern part of the country. The brutality of the manner of slaughtering the animals has come to the attention of the media which showed television documentaries of the illegal trade of dog meat.

Cats

Cats are eaten in parts of China. In Guangdong, China, cat is reportedly served along with snake in a dish called "The Dragon and the Tiger". In desperate times, people have been known to resort to cooking and eating cats, in places where it is otherwise not usual to do so, as it occurred in a poverty-stricken shanty town in Rosario, Argentina, in 1996 (though the much-advertised cat meal was later revealed to have been set up by media from Buenos Aires).

Cats are also used to produce medicinal potions such as Korean "liquid cat", a remedy for joint pain made by boiling cats 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 manufacturers 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 its genetic similarity 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 (roof-rabbit) 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. Dar 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 Comprar gato por lebre, meaning "to buy a cat as a hare". However, especially in Brazil, cat meat is seen as repulsive and people often shun barbecue establishments suspected of selling cat meat (although this seems unlikely, since cat meat is very different from beef).

Work animals

Camels

Another animal that is not eaten in Europe and North America is the camel, although it is not commonly eaten in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia. The killing and eating of a camel is strictly prohibited by the Torah as well. Although the camel is a cud-chewer, the Levites still considered it "unclean". While the foot of a camel is split into two toe-like structures, it does not meet the biblical cloven hoof criterion. The meat of a camel may also have been spurned due to the camel's physiology. All of a camel's fat is stored in its hump. This makes the rest of the body very lean. Although this is ideal for removal of body heat, it does not make for good eating.

Notice that Islam does not follow Judaism here. According to the materialistic anthropologist Marvin Harris, since Arabs were nomads, camels were essential for their travels, but, in case of emergency, Muslims could not afford to starve because of the taboo.

Caribou/Reindeer

Although caribou is popular as a dish in Alaska (USA), Norway, Sweden, Finland (especially poronkäristys (reindeer stew)), Russia and Canada, many people in the United Kingdom and Ireland are squeamish about the idea of eating reindeer meat. This relates to the popular culture myth of the reindeer as assistant to Father Christmas, as opposed to the “cows of the north” vision of the Northern countries.^*^*^*^* Despite this Venison is growing in popularity.

Donkey

The meat of domesticated donkeys is not considered Halaal according to the Sharia of Islam.

Horses

Horse may not be eaten by observant Jews, since under Mosaic Law, horse meat is forbidden because the horse is not cloven-hoofed nor is it a ruminant. However, in Islamic countries, horse is generally considered halal, although not commonly used for its meat.

The eating of horse meat is a food taboo to some people in the United Kingdom, the US, and Australia, and its supply is sometimes even illegal. It is also notable that the English language has no widely-used term for horse meat ("cheval meat" is sometimes used as a euphemism). In the UK, this strong taboo includes banning horsemeat from commercial pet food and DNA testing of some types of salami suspected of containing donkey meat. Like lobster and camel, it is forbidden in Judaism and some sects of Christianity. In 732 AD, 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.

Other

Birds

Large domesticated fowl such as chickens, turkeys, and ducks are commonly eaten in many cultures, along with their wild game counterparts.

Pigeons are raised and eaten in parts of Asia and Europe, where the young birds are known as "squab". In North America, however, pigeons are more typically regarded as vermin and therefore unfit for consumption.

Many people also find the thought of eating the meat of crows and other scavengers repulsive, as evidenced by the expression "eating crow".

Small birds such as songbirds have also traditionally been eaten in Asian and European cultures; one such dish is the Ambelopoulia of Crete. In Western cultures today, most people regard songbirds as friendly backyard wildlife rather than as food. In addition, migratory birds are protected by international treaty.

Some large flightless birds such as the dodo, great auk, and moa have been hunted to extinction for their meat. Today, ostriches are raised in captivity for their meat and eggs.

Cows

Many Hindus, particularly Brahmins, are vegetarians, abstaining from eating any meat at all, including fish. Most Hindus, except some semi-tribals and Dalits in a few pockets of India, abstain from the consumption of beef, as the cow holds a sacred place in Hindu society. However, the taboo does not extend to dairy products, since the preparation of dairy products does not involve slaughtering or harming the animal. According to the scriptures of later Hinduism, it is a grave sin to kill a cow, to take part in its slaughter, and to eat its flesh. 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, the 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 lower castes, like Dalits, ate beef and carabeef (buffalo). In modern times, beef-eating has gained some acceptance in various parts of India, but only by those Hindus who are considered (and scorned) by the others as being "extra-modern" or "over-Westernized". Note that by Indian law, the slaughter of cattle is banned in almost all Indian states except the states of Kerala and Arunachal Pradesh. Slaughter of cows is an extremely emotional and provocative issue for both normal Hindus and the followers of more extremist Hindutva ideology. The Hindu society considers eaters of cow's meat almost as barbarians.

Elderly Taiwanese may also refrain from eating cow meat, because many of them feel that it is wrong to eat an animal that was so useful in agriculture.

Crustaceans and other seafood

Almost all types of non-piscine seafood, such as shellfish, lobster, shrimp or crawfish, are forbidden by Judaism, some schools of Islam, and some followers of Christianity because such animals live in water but do not have both fins and scales (Leviticus 11:10-12).

As with swine, crustaceans and many other forms of non-piscine seafood are scavengers that work at filtering the water. Improperly collected or uncooked seafood can be dangerous. It is probable that people who lived far from the sea and had no experience in choosing proper seafood would prefer to forego all seafood as a question of safety.

Fish

The Kikuyu and Kalenjin people of Kenya observe a taboo against the consumption of fish. The rejection of fish may be attributable to the arid conditions and associated scarcity of water.

Certain species of fish are also forbidden in Judaism and Islam, such as the freshwater eel (Anguillidae) and all species of catfish. This is because they live in water, but have no scales. (See Leviticus). This Jewish and prohibition is for all marine creatures which have no fins or scales. A common interpretation of the Islamic prohibition is that animals that "live in both worlds" may not be consumed. This applies to primarily aquatic animals that nest or breed on land.

Until the 1980s, the Roman Catholic Church forbade the consumption of meat on Fridays (limited to Lent Fridays in Spain as a land of crusade). In medieval times, meat was more expensive than fish; making meat taboo forced austerity on the believers. Professional fisherman were granted favor and economic advantage for various Papal 'gifts', and hence, fish became the 'meat' officially santioned by Rome. There was no Papal condemnation for fish consumption on other days, but penitent souls were required to eat fish on Fridays.

French Canadian fisheries were suffering economically until it was learned a penitant offering could be made to their local diocese, thus assuring their financial future in much the way their Roman brethren benefited. Fish, hence, became favored by the Catholic institution rather than taboo. As a side note, in the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church classified the tail of beavers (which is covered by a scalloped skin) as "fish" because it was a delicacy favored by the clergy. Thus, beaver tail was for some time the only non-proscribed meat allowed during Lent.

Insects

Except for certain 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, bee grubs and witchetty grubs. For example, grasshoppers (inago) and bee larvae (hachinoko) are eaten in some regions of Japan, and silkworm larvae (beondegi in Korean or nhộng in Vietnamese) are a popular snack food in these countries. Mopane worms, a species of caterpillar, are an important protein source in South Africa. Bugs are popular all over Southeast Asia.

Casu marzu is a type of cheese made in Sardinia, Italy that has been deliberately cultivated with the larvae of the cheese fly to change the characteristics of the cheese.

Western taboos against insects as a food source generally do not apply to honey (concentrated nectar which has been regurgitated by bees). For example, honey is considered kosher even though honeybees are not, an apparent exception to the normal rule that products of an unclean animal are also unclean. On the other hand, many vegans avoid honey as they would any other animal product.

Kangaroo

Kangaroo meat has had a varied history as meat in Australia due to the emotive association, predominantly by foreigners, of kangaroos as pets and a national symbol. In actuality the relatively lower consumption compared to beef and lamb is primarily due to the higher relative cost and more exotic "gamey" flavour of the meat. Kangaroo meat is the base of dishes in many restaurants and is available at many butchers and major supermarkets as mince, sausages and steak. The meat can also be smoke cured and makes an interesting prosciutto.

Kangaroos along with Emus are the only national symbols which are consumed freely.

Offal

In countries such as Australia, Canada and the United States, 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; however, both are served in American restaurants specializing in European cusine. Except for liver (chicken, beef, or pork), and intestines used as natural sausage casings, organ meats consumed in the U.S. tend to be regional or ethnic specialties; for example, tripe as menudo or modongo among Latinos, chitterlings in the southern states and beef testicles called Rocky mountain oysters or "prairie oysters" in the west.

Pigs/Pork

Consumption of pigs is forbidden among Muslims, Jews, and Seventh-day Adventists. Many Christians of various denominations, and in fact many people generally (not driven by religious doctrine) also abstain from consuming pork. For these, pigs are in general associated with uncleanliness. There are various theories concerning the origins of this law, but none has been universally accepted.

For one thing, pigs do not possess sweat glands at all. This means that their bodies are much more likely to retain waste than other mammals would normally release through such pores. Usually the "unclean" status is attributed to wallowing habits of pigs; in water, mud, or even feces when nothing else is available, which is necessary for pigs to cool themselves without sweat glands. In Middle Eastern conditions the wallowing in mud/water would result in pigs and humans vying for the scarce water resources.

Pork may also contain worms but this is far less common now than in the past and the worms are easily killed with proper cooking. A common pork parasite is trichina which causes a minority of diarrhea cases each year in the United States.

The most likely reasoning for not eating pork, is that pigs are omnivorous: they do not discern between meat or vegetation in its natural dietary habits. They also eat their own feces and the feces of other animals, this is quite unlike other animals which humans consume (cows, horses, goats, etc.) who would naturally eat only plants. In most, though not all cases, mammals do not eat the meat of other meat-eaters; consumption of pigs by humans would thus seem unnatural. Humans cannot digest grass so they turn it into food through ruminants. Pigs do not digest grass as well, actually the preferred diet of pigs very closely resembles that of humans. That is, they are not picky. It is often said that pig flesh is the closest thing in nature to human flesh, and in the past some peoples of Papua New Guinea used a phrase which translated as "long pig" to refer to human flesh; pigs have also been considered for xenotransplantation, as their internal organs are remarkably similar to humans.

One other explanation for pork taboos given by some scholars is that some foods are prohibited so that humans will understand that they have limitations, basically as a reminder that they must keep to the discipline of their Creator, and that they should not take lightly their obligation to steward all the Earth's species well. This hypothesis is supported by passages in some religious texts, but cannot be promoted to a theory unless more specific references can be found.

There also seems to have been a Scottish pork taboo many centuries ago.

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. Most is "bushmeat" or caught from the wild, in area of high non-human primate populations such as Sub-Saharan Africa and southeast Asia, especially Indonesia. One of the major theories for the origin of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in humans is the eating of primate meat infected with a similar virus. (see: Kuru).

Rats and Mice

In most Western cultures, rats and mice are considered either unclean vermin or pets and thus unfit for human consumption, traditionally being seen as carriers of plague. However, rats are commonly eaten in Ghana and in rural Thailand, Vietnam and other parts of Indochina. Cane rats (Thryonomys swinderianus and Thryonomys gregorianus) and some species of field mice are a rich source of protein in Africa. Bamboo rats are also commonly eaten in the poorer parts of South-east Asia. 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 also domesticated and raised for food in ancient Rome. In some Asian countries, mice are eaten, and go by the name of vole. In France, rats bred in the wine stores of Gironde were cooked with the fire of broken wine barrels and eaten, dubbed as cooper's entrecôte. In some communities the muskrat (which is not a rat at all) is hunted for its meat (and fur) (e.g. some parts of Flanders); see also under "Fish" above for consumption of beaver tails.

Whales

Whale hunting is prohibited in all but a few nations such as Norway, Iceland and Japan. In those countries whale meat is eaten but has seen a decline in popularity due to international pressure and increased awareness of its status as a protected species. To avoid sanctions, Japan and Iceland have argued their whaling is done for scientific purposes, but this has been met with skepticism by many international anti-whaling and scientific groups, and their catch often ends up at food markets.

Despite the general ban on whale hunting in the United States and Canada, some indigenous groups are allowed to hunt for cultural reasons.

Human Meat

Of all the taboo meat, human flesh likely ranks as the most proscribed. Historically, man has indulged in the flesh of fellow humans in rituals, and out of insanity, hatred, or overriding hunger -- never as a common part of one's diet.

Taboo vegetables

In certain versions of Buddhism onions and chives are taboo. Specifically, Kashmiri Brahmans forbid "strong flavored" foods. This encompasses garlic, onion, and spices such as black pepper and chili pepper. Brahmans believe that pungent flavors on the tongue inflame the baser emotions.

In Yazidism, the eating of lettuce is taboo.

Taboo drinks

Alcohol

Some religions—most notably Islam, the Bahá'í Faith, Latter-day Saints, the Nikaya and most Mahayana schools of Buddhism and some Protestant denominations of Christianity—forbid or discourage the consumption of alcoholic beverages.

Blood

Drinking blood is a strong social taboo in most countries, often with a vague emotive association with vampirism (the consumption of human blood).

Although blood sausage, or blood made to cake form, is quite popular in many parts of the world, it is considered repulsive in most of the United States. In China, Thailand and Vietnam coagulated chicken, duck, goose or pig blood, known in Chinese as "blood tofu" (血豆腐 xuě dòufǔ) is used in soups, such as the classic Thai dish kuay tiaw reua (boat noodles). In Sweden, the blood soup svartsoppa is traditionally eaten on certain holidays. Polish cuisine, has a version, czarnina, which in enjoyed by many adherents, in certain regions. In Laos, and sometimes Thailand (especially the Northeast), a raw version of laap, a meat salad, is made with minced raw-meat, seasoned in spices, and covered with blood.

Followers of Judaism, Islam, and Jehovah's Witnesses are forbidden to drink blood or eat food made with blood.

The Maasai and Batemi people of Tanzania drink cow's blood mixed with milk as a major part of their diet. In Kenya, camel blood is drunk.

A special dish called Dinuguan (literally meaning "of blood") is eaten in the Philippines. It consists of pig or cow intestines, liver, and other organs stewed in pig or cow blood.

There is one religious sect in the Philippines that is very critical of this practice of eating dinuguan, the Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ). But a majority of the christian populace loves the dish which is deeply rooted in the Philippine culture. Dinuguan is usually eaten with Puto, a type of rice cake.

In the northern state of Nuevo Leon in Mexico a soup or stew known as fritada is made with the offal and blood of kid goats (cabrito in Spanish).

In Brazil several popular dishes include blood, like chouriço (a type of sausage made of pig's guts and blood) and the ubiquitous galinha ao molho pardo (chicken with dark gravy, the dark of the gravy being given by the chicken's own blood). The ancient Spartan black broth included blood as a major ingredient.

Coffee and tea

In addition to alcohol, coffee and tea are also taboo drinks for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and some other Mormon groups. For some Mormons this taboo extends to cola and other caffeinated beverages, but usually not to chocolate.

References

Unmentionable Cuisine; Calvin W. Schwabe ISBN 0-8139-1162-1

External links

מאכלות אסורים | 食のタブー | Tabu alimentar | Hevosenliha

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