SARS Flavored

Is it just me or is eating civets, badgers, and raccoons just gross? Further, driven as it is by the belief that "wild flavor" imparts some magical quality to the food -- almost always something to do with better sex -- can we stipulate that eating civets, badgers, and raccoons is dumb?

I'm waiting for the World Health Organization to combat SARS with Viagra-spiked Big Macs all across Guangdong province. That would seem to get at root-causes.

Comments

[Chris Howell]

Jeff:

Judging by the comments, it's you.

[will]

having eaten racoon, it isn't all that bad, really.

it's not all good, either. but i suspect that has more to do with preparation than anything intrinsic about the animal.

[Jesse Walker]

I had racoon jerkey once. It was terrible.

It was later explained to me that racoon is usually terrible, since the animal subsists on garbage. To properly prepare it, my friend continued, one must capture the beast, feed it corn for a week, and then kill it.

The acquaintance who prepared the jerkey had not followed this advice, with repellent results. Also, he wasn't much of a cook to begin with.

[twistedmerkin]

I guess eating civets, badgers and raccoons is gross. But at least SARS isn't a sexually transmitted disease.

[Keith]

Less gross than african bushmeat.

[Shady O'Grady]

I'm sorry, where did that official edible animal list go again? While it is totally acceptable to choose not to eat some type of animal, as it is acceptable to ridicule anything you damn well please, looking cockeyed at a neutral cultural trait is closed minded and inherently racist. You think that, maybe, the Hindus who think eating cows is gross are having a chuckle over mad-cow disease?

[jim k]

I believe there is also coffee processed by Civit Cats. The beans are eaten, processed through the critter and collected at the other end. This is for the coffee conissour(sp) and very expensive.

[s.m. koppelman]

Mr. Taylor must be a joy to go out to dinner with, morosley picking all the funny-looking bits of vegetable out of his eggroll and wonton soup in that great new Taiwanese place while everyone else enjoys the loofah with dried scallops and the crispy duck webs, clearing his throat and announcing to anyone who will listen that he plans to stop for a slice of pizza afterward so that everyone knows he's having no fun at all.

[Madog]

My feelings are that if it won't make you too sick and you can catch it, then you should eat it.

*Intelligent beings are a special case: you should aways try to get their permission first, as they own their bodies and to eat it without their permission wouldn't be respectful of their property.

[Anonymous]

More fun than eating with a bunch of pretentious tastemakers who make it a point to tell you about all the new restaurants they've been to and the unusual foods they've eaten. Those people are even more irritating than the people who make it a point to tell you about all the new underground bands they've seen.

[JenL]

I think that designating nutritious food (edible meat) as "gross" is a sign of a civilization that hasn't had to seriously worry about starvation in a while . . .

[Croesus]

Jeff Taylor needs to get his head out of his ass and read Montaigne.

[Anonymous]

I think sars ts very terri ble

[Anonymous]

I think sars ts very terri ble

[McFaul Sean]

EMAIL: [e-mail]
IP: 62.213.67.122
URL:
DATE: 01/26/2004 03:36:16
People are exponentially funnier when they're in rant mode.