One day a TV reporter heard that some Swiss were eating dog meat in the Alps and visited an Alpine village. When the film crew arrived in the village, they saw a small black dog frolicking in front of the house. The next day they visited the same house, but unfortunately the dog was gone. But in the kitchen, the reporter found pieces of meat. The Swiss refused to say where the dog is and what kind of meat it is. Is it necessary to say that no one else saw the dog?
Once in one of the Western newspapers there was a small article about an American who visited a restaurant in Manchuria. The visitor asked if there were hot dogs on the menu. The Chinese chef was not strong in English, however, some words seemed familiar to him, such as hot (hot eng. - hot) and dog (dog eng. - dog). After a while, the American was brought a plate of hot meat soup. "What is it?" the American asked in surprise. “What you ordered is hot dog!” – with a good-natured smile answered the Chinese.
In Korea, there is an unusual dish called 보신탕 (boshintang), a health-boosting soup. Some also call it dietary. And ... yes, it is made from dog meat. Many foreigners visiting Korea ask, "Is it true that Koreans eat dogs?"
A long time ago, when the Olympic Games were held in Korea, several Western media portrayed Koreans as dog meat-eating savages. Because of what, when Koreans are asked this question, they cannot give a logical answer or are completely embarrassed. But should Koreans really be ashamed of this part of their culture?
Northern China (Manchuria) and Korea are very cold in winter. Therefore, in ancient times it was difficult to raise cattle and almost impossible to eat meat, because the cow was used as the main tool in agriculture. Of course, that beef was a rarity. This was the reason that the peasants began to breed dogs for food. Yellow dogs, as food dogs are called, grew well even in the cold season without special food and care. In fact, such dogs were stray and were never pets. It used to be uncommon in Korea to have any tender feelings for stray dogs that ate garbage and dung.
According to scientific research, dog meat is easily absorbed by the human body and gives strength. Since ancient times in Korea, dried dog meat has been used in medicine along with medicinal herbs. Many Koreans believe that eating a dog improves the quality of their sex life, however, this fact has not been scientifically proven.
Koreans still cannot forgive the animal rights activist and famous French actress Brigitte Bordeaux, who at one time officially asked them to stop eating dog meat, while saying that the nation that eats dogs is a nation of savages. She also promised to boycott Korean products if the consumption of dog meat does not stop in Korea. The Koreans were sincerely surprised and did not understand why, in this case, the actress would not refuse to buy French-made goods, because they are made by the hands of the French, who eat frogs, snails and foie gras.
It is worth noting that in modern Korea, dog meat soup is not included in the daily diet, but is a delicacy.
We love meat very much - maybe even excessively. However, as the recent US example shows, people only like certain types of meat: when the US Department of Agriculture wanted to approve a horse meat plant, people didn't approve. Yes, conditions in meatpacking plants for other common animals are terrible, and horses are "companion animals", but in other countries, more distant from Western civilization, horses are bred for meat.
However, if you also think that horses are an unfortunate delicacy, you will be surprised to know what kind of meat is a common dish in other countries. Vegetarians turn away...
10. Iguana
Yes, people eat iguanas. It's a traditional dish in parts of Mexico and Central America, plus iguana meat is very rich in vitamins and tastes like chicken (I wonder, doesn't it taste like chicken?) Most people eat common iguanas, ctenosaurs, and black iguanas.
True, the sale of iguanas in the United States is prohibited, however, due to the mild laws of Florida, they are imported as exotic pets, and they become annoying pests. They dig under sidewalks, climb into attics and eat endangered flora and fauna, so this can change the "protected" status of iguana meat very quickly.
9. Turtles
Everyone has heard of turtle soup, and everyone has heard that certain types of turtles carry salmonella. However, as with any pet (or dish for that matter), if taken care of and washed properly, turtles can be eaten. If you love delicacies, there are plenty of turtle recipes on the internet to please your gourmet taste buds.
Although very popular in Central America and Asia (sea turtle eggs are considered an excellent aphrodisiac), turtles are mostly staples in Chinese medicine, believed to moisturize, nourish and support the kidneys and blood, and relieve menopausal symptoms. Yes, you heard right, menopause symptoms.
8. Guinea pigs
Guinea pigs? Nooo, not our cute furry pets! Unfortunately, in some parts of South America, guinea pigs are a fairly popular meat that according to some reports is healthier than beef (everything seems to be healthier than beef) and tastes like lamb.
In just one, about 65 million guinea pigs are eaten annually. And why not? They are easy to feed, easy to breed (a female guinea pig can produce 3-5 offspring per year, each with 1 to 6 cubs), and take up less space than regular livestock. In fact, the Peruvians think we're crazy for keeping them as pets. And given that they can cost up to $50 (not including food, cages, and other things to keep guinea pigs), they may be right.
7. Emu
Emus are known for several things: they are the second largest bird in the world, they live in Australia, and their name is a lot of fun to say. However, according to emu connoisseurs (it turns out that there are such people), emu is a rare combination of taste and usefulness. Emu meat is dietary, low in cholesterol, rich in iron and vitamin C, and tastes like tenderloin steak. Despite being considered a delicacy by the tribes of Australia, the rest of the world has not appreciated this meat for some reason. Maybe everyone laughed so hard at the name of these big birds that they forgot that they needed to have dinner.
6. Larvae
While the mere thought of tasting grubs will lead most people to look around for a handy bag to vomit, grubs are almost entirely protein and are highly nutritious. They are eaten in parts of Africa, and of course in China. In addition to the fact that the larvae can be a main dish, they are also useful in medicine - they can determine the moment of death of a person, they can be used to get rid of rotten meat and waste, and they are also used in the production of cheese in Sardinia (and eaten together with cheese).
5. Camels
Ironically, camel meat has been eaten for centuries. The ancient Greeks wrote that camel meat was served at Persian banquets, moreover, in the form of a whole fried animal. The Roman emperor Heliogabal loved the hooves of camels. Apart from Heliogabalus, most people prefer the brisket, ribs and loin of camels, and their hump is considered a special delicacy. The hump of camels contains "white and sugary fat", which can be used to preserve other meats - lamb, beef and camel meat. Although camel meat is quite tough meat, the longer you cook it, the more tender it becomes.
Camel meat is commonly eaten as an alternative source of protein in dry countries such as Djibouti, Somalia, Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan. In Kenya, camel blood is mixed with milk to produce iron, vitamin D, salt and other minerals. The Abu Dhabi Officers Club mixes beef or mutton fat with camel meat to create burgers, and in Alice Springs, Australia, you can enjoy camel lasagna. Just don't tell Garfield.
4. Dolphins
Although dolphin hunting occurs in a small number of places (the coastal cities of Japan, the Faroe Islands and the Solomon Islands), the rest of the world does not approve of this practice, if only because of the high concentrations of methylmercury in dolphin meat. While all fish contain mercury, dolphins have very high concentrations due to the fact that they feed on other marine animals that contain mercury and accumulate in their bodies over the 18 to 50 years of their lives.
3. Cassowaries
Cassowaries are a species of large birds related to ostriches and emus, endemic to the forests of New Guinea and other islands northeast of Australia. And, according to the Korowai people of southeast Papua, cassowary meat tastes a lot like human meat.
Although cannibalism is not a big part of their culture as it is in other tribes, any person who is accused of being a kakua (secret sorcerer) will be ritually eaten. So they know what we taste like. True, in fact, this is all very complicated - after all, most cassowaries are considered under threat of extermination, and cannibalism is an illegal occupation. However, this will not stop adventurous (crazy) people from trying these types of meat. And if someone is brave enough to try human meat and cassowaries, tell us your impressions in the comments. And don't forget to include your address so we can send a police squad to you.
2. Dogs
Everyone knows that in China, Vietnam, South Korea and other Asian countries they eat dogs. As it turns out, dogs were eaten in ancient Rome, ancient Mexico, and ancient China. Now this practice is common in Switzerland, and even the President of the United States, Barack Obama, has tasted dog meat.
While some consider dog meat a traditional dish, others consider it inappropriate and even blasphemy. Eating dogs is forbidden in both Judaism and Islam, and in Buddhism, dog meat is one of the "five forbidden meats." Dog farmers, on the other hand, don't see it as any different from raising other livestock. And you decide for yourself - if in doubt, review the White Beam.
1. Jellyfish
People from all over the world eat octopus and squid, but can jellyfish be eaten? Technically, yes. Of the 85 known species of jellyfish, 12 are edible. They are mainly harvested in Southeast Asia, but due to the popularity of the American Cornerot, they are also harvested in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico and eaten in China and Japan.
The preparation takes 20-40 days and is done by a person with the cool title of "jellyfish master". During cooking, the gonads and mucous membrane are removed, and the dome and tentacles are treated with a solution of alum and table salt. After that, compression comes into play, which reduces odor, liquid content and harmful organisms. The result is a crispy, brittle dish. Despite being 94% water and 6% protein, jellyfish contain almost no cholesterol, carbohydrates, or saturated fat. Unfortunately, jellyfish meat can contain the same bacteria as all other types of meat. And yet it is very interesting to find out that some types of jellyfish are edible and not poisonous.
“South Korea is the 14th economy in the world, but 2.5 million dogs and thousands of cats are sent to slaughter every year. This is called "healthy eating". Animals are forced to endure deprivation and unimaginable suffering from birth until the day they are killed. And South Koreans truly believe that the more a dog suffers, the more it will enrich the quality of the meat and increase the health benefits of the consumer.
(From the petition...)
Eating dog meat in Asian countries is an old tradition, only in China dog meat has been used for food since 500 BC. They ate dog meat in ancient times, not only in Asia, but, for example, in Mexico. As for Korea, initially dogs were not perceived there as “friends of man”, but were raised as livestock. Today, nothing has changed in this regard, dogs, like cats, are not pets. According to Koreans, the difference between livestock and a pet is subjective. In the tradition of eating dogs, there is no religious and mythological explanation at all. Koreans, like other Asians, eat dog meat because they believe it is good for their health.
Why do some people eat pork and others don't? In the eyes of Muslims, we can all look blasphemous too. Why do you need to go with your charter to someone else's monastery? This is an ancient tradition that was born long before the advent of Europe, and in China already at that time there was a highly developed civilization and a whole class of highly educated people. It's good for health, they say. Many people consume various animals to maintain the health of the body. There is no religious-mythical explanation. Koreans prefer to eat farm-bred dogs, but that doesn't mean a mutt can't get into the pot. Many people talk about the cruel way of killing dogs, but why don't they give a lethal injection to cows, pigs and chickens? Probably, the Dutch would also be outraged if they were told that their national mills were already tired, ”said Alexander Vorontsov, a historian, candidate of historical sciences, head of the Korean sector at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Asians believe that dog meat increases potency and cures tuberculosis, for example, many rice pickers who spend most of their time working in the water suffer from it. Such explanations allow Koreans to keep dog markets, which are horrified by tourists and all those who are not close to this part of Asian culture. Dogs are kept there, and really, like cattle. In cramped cages, 20-30 animals sitting on top of each other. They are slaughtered right in front of the buyers. Today, there are more than 17,000 industrial dog farms in South Korea and 2-2.5 million dogs are slaughtered annually.
The fact that Koreans, like other Asians, will give up dog meat in the near future is unlikely, Korean experts say. Today, dog meat is a festive food, not included in the daily diet.
“Koreans have long reacted to these accusations like this: “This is our national tradition. Nothing can be done about it." If during the 1988 Olympics, when the Koreans were more dependent on external opinion, they renamed dog soup "longevity soup" and removed such restaurants from the streets, placing them inside alleys and not on big streets, now the Korean position boils down to this: “We don’t drive anyone, we don’t do anything with particular cruelty, we don’t include this food in the mandatory. Whoever wants to be offended, let him be offended, but we are not going to look back at anyone.”
The tradition of eating dogs comes from Korea. Everyone knows that Koreans eat dogs. But the dog is food for festive occasions. All sorts of talk that the Koreans will slip you dog meat under the guise of pork is the same as suggesting that they will cook sturgeon for you and pass it off as pollock. Dog meat is not a daily diet food - it is an elite food for special occasions. But this meat is not very expensive.”
Today, dogs are eaten less in Korea, and the topic itself often becomes a litmus test for the media and the public. Korean society is not aggressive in discussing this issue. Used to.
All these things are connected with the fact that, firstly, a more Europeanized generation has appeared, for which a dog is not food, but an object for “usi-pusi”, and secondly, a generation has left that remembers what it is like to live in a village and to slaughter livestock there. Young people are used to the fact that sausage is miraculously produced in their refrigerator. Also, since the Korean public opinion is not very aggressive in this direction, it is a good way to score points on a topic that you can bring up without significant risk. That is why this scandal is not really a scandal. On the one hand, animal rights activists have something to worry about, but on the other hand, have you seen a lot of demonstrations for the rights of French frogs? Please note that in relation to China or Korea, animal rights activists are foaming, and for some reason they forget about other countries where dogs are also eaten.
Dog killing bans have been introduced in the Philippines, Singapore and Hong Kong, but experts say the ban has no practical application. Dogs have been killed and are being killed. But there was room for socio-political maneuver and the work of black markets, which are not few, and their activities can no longer be regulated. In Vietnam, even more dogs are killed than in Korea - about five million a year, while even stolen dogs are often used there for meat. The level of dog consumption has continued in Cambodia.
When experts talk about the lack of ritualism in eating dog meat, they still miss one important event that takes place in China. Every year in the city of Yulin, from June 21 to June 30, the summer solstice is celebrated, the most important tradition of which is eating dog meat. For 10 days, city residents slaughter about 10-15 thousand dogs, believing that dog meat dishes drive away the heat of the summer months.
In June 2015, a petition was prepared in the UK demanding a ban on the festival, the initiative collected three million signatures. The Chinese government even went to meet the public and banned the bloody holiday. However, this led to the fact that citizens accused the state of complicity with European influence on the country. The government quickly abandoned the ban, arguing that the Yulin festival was too old a national tradition and that dogs were killed humanely these days. However, footage that occasionally appears online from the Yulin Festival suggests otherwise. Joyful Chinese sit at tables and watch the dogs being killed.
For a long time, South Koreans have resented the desire of Western animal rights activists to take away their right to eat dog meat. They made strong arguments for the normality of their tastes. But now the tradition is disappearing by itself
Animal rights activists from the groups Animal Liberation Wave and Last Chance for Animals are protesting against the dog meat trade. Seoul, July 2018 Photo: Ed Jones / AFP
On Thursday, November 22, Korean authorities began dismantling the country's largest dog slaughter complex, located in the city of Seongnam. Under pressure from animal rights activists, the area, which previously housed six slaughterhouses that slaughtered dogs to serve special cafes and restaurants, will soon be cleared of the relevant structures and equipment, and in their place the municipal authorities plan to lay out a park.
Last year, in the same Seongnam, artisanal dog slaughterhouses were destroyed, which operated on the territory of the local Moran market, considered one of the main centers for selling dog meat in South Korea. Despite such measures, the sale of dog meat itself is still considered acceptable. Merchants were forbidden only to exhibit live dogs for customers to choose from, which, after purchase, are slaughtered and butchered on the spot. Just as the current closure of the slaughterhouses that served dog meat restaurants does not mean that the restaurants themselves are automatically closed. Dog meat is now in the gray zone in Korea - it is not forbidden to eat it, but it is increasingly accepted to be ashamed of it. Moreover, this status of dog meat was determined in the last decade. And this makes us think about whether there are any unshakable customs and habits in our world, and whether the protection of traditions always justifies the efforts made.
If you ask a resident of Russia in which country they eat dogs, the answer will almost certainly be Korea. Despite the fact that dog meat is quite acceptable in the cuisine of some regions of China, and is also eaten in Southeast Asia, it was Korea that turned out to be the place on Earth with which the "enlightened world" has a strong association with eating dogs. And this is due not least to how the Koreans themselves have treated their culinary tradition for at least the last 30 years. Although there had been debate over the extent to which it was permissible and acceptable to eat dogs in previous years, one of the important turning points in its time was the country's preparations for hosting the Seoul Olympics in 1988. Then, preparing to receive delegations from all over the world, the authorities especially tried to eliminate everything that could negatively affect the country's reputation in the eyes of foreign guests. It was then that restaurants and eateries serving dog meat were decided to be removed from the main city streets and moved somewhere in the back. Then the decision of the authorities was met with indignation. Defenders of traditional values considered that the authorities were showing unacceptable servility to foreigners and that there was no need to rush about the feelings of the guests when it came to ordinary national food. However, worried about the country's reputation, the authorities went even further, declaring the breeding of dogs for slaughter and the production of dog meat illegal in 1988. However, there was no penalty for violating this law. The actions of officials, as it were, emphasized that the state experiences some embarrassment from the existence of custom, but will not act with direct prohibitions.
A Seoul restaurant waitress serves dog meat to French Lyceum students on April 12, 2002. French activists have condemned the consumption of dog meat in Korea and stepped up their campaign ahead of the World Cup finals.
Photo: Kim Jae-Hwan / AFP
The first reaction to the bans was outrage. At the same time, criticism from foreigners, of course, caused particular irritation. For a long time, the campaign against the slaughter of dogs for meat in Korea was led by Brigitte Bardot, who, after leaving the film industry, devoted herself to protecting animal rights. She publicly called the tradition "barbaric". In response, Bardo began to receive thousands of indignant letters, the senders of which did not advise the representative of the country where they eat snails and frogs, to discuss someone's culinary traditions.
When in 2002, South Korea, along with Japan, was supposed to host the World Cup, FIFA appealed to the republic to ban the sale of dog meat and dog dishes in order to respect the feelings of the championship guests. In response, a group of Korean parliamentarians took the initiative to immediately return the legal status of the sale of dog meat as a protest against shameless interference in the country's affairs.
Of course, indignation at foreign criticism, an indication of the hypocrisy and hypocrisy of representatives of Western countries, lamenting the fate of Korean dogs, was not the only one. In Korean society in those days, there were opponents of eating dog meat, who were skeptical about the value of this custom. Nevertheless, the voice of the defenders of tradition was strong. After all, they could be understood. Eating dog meat is no worse than any other. Moreover, in Korea, a special type of dog is used for food, close to spitz, which were traditionally bred specifically for subsequent slaughter - they do not establish personal relationships with these dogs, they are not members of anyone's families. It is difficult to say what kind of character and intelligence a dog has, which for generations was selected only for the quality of its meat.
However, with all of these perfectly valid arguments that could allow anyone who wants to continue to eat dog meat while feeling like sane traditionalists, something in Korean society has begun to change on its own.
As Korea prepared for a major new sporting event, the Pyeongchang Olympics, the organizers preferred to talk about eating dog meat as a dying tradition. The chairman of the Pyeongchang 2018 organizing committee, Kim Jin Son, answered the relevant question asked during the Sochi Olympics that this time he does not expect any protests about eating dogs, since no one eats dog meat in the country now. In any case, he does not know any such person in his environment. Of course, the frank cunning of an official does not require exposure. And yet, even for such a denial of the obvious, there are some grounds. Koreans are indeed eating less and less dogs and tend to listen to the arguments of those who ban dog meat. According to a 2015 survey, 37 percent of South Koreans reported eating dog meat. This is significantly less than in previous years. In 2017, already 70 percent of those surveyed claimed that they did not eat dogs. At the same time, among adolescents, the proportion of those who refused dog meat reached 80 percent.
Not all of those who have ceased to consider dogs as a source of food consider it necessary to completely ban dog meat. Nevertheless, a sharp drop in interest in this aspect of the national cuisine is really noticeable. This is explained primarily by the fact that Korea itself has changed. The dog became a common pet in the country; Previously, due to tradition and living standards, dogs were rarely kept at home. This means that the psychological attitude to eating their meat has changed. But most importantly, Korea has become an economic giant, widely embedded in the global economy, its young people, at least the educated part of it, see themselves on the global agenda. She simply does not need to hold on to an extremely controversial culinary custom that causes bewilderment or, conversely, unhealthy interest among foreign interlocutors. Now the reluctance to kill dogs in order to eat them is not some stereotype imposed on them from the outside, but simply a normal part of the beliefs of an educated city dweller. In addition, the semi-legal status of dog meat also affects the way it is sold in less prestigious markets and specialty restaurants. Which can also work as a limiter. One way or another, the owners of such restaurants themselves say that the demand for dog dishes is constantly decreasing. It turns into a specific treat for older people who are not ready to give up old habits.
In defense of any ambiguous tradition, one can find serious arguments. They can be sentimental or extremely rational. If such a tradition is criticized by an outsider, it causes an instinctive protest. And there is also a reason for such a protest: an outsider may turn out to be a hypocrite or simply not very smart. However, all this is by no means a reason to hold on to such braces forever. Sometimes you can just become a little richer, look at the world a little more broadly, and you yourself will not want to eat dogs. Every culture has enough of these "dogs".
Sports news. Behind the scenes of sports
People still eat dogs in Korea
Our correspondent visited South Korea, where the Winter Olympics will be held in a year, and now he is sharing his impressions of this amazing country with you.
The reason for the visit was that the Russian national ice hockey team played against the South Korean national team for the first time in history. It was thought that the score would be 48:0 in our favor. But it turned out that the Asians are not so clumsy. They have naturalized seven North Americans, are doing well in the Asian Games, and their coach is a two-time Stanley Cup winner.
Russia still won - 4:3 and 5:2, but you can't call it a cakewalk. By the way, the South Korean team will compete at the Olympics in Pyeongchang as a hostess and has already got into the same group with Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Canada.
Koreans are absolutely obsessed with food. This cult comes from famine times, when the country was agrarian and crop failure led to the death of entire families. Even if it's a war, you can't force a Korean to work at lunchtime. They eat a lot, all sorts of things, they love spicy food. In Europeans, from such food, the stomach begins to twist. At the same time, dishes in South Korea are low-fat and not overcooked, so tourists lose weight at first (although they eat very often).
This tradition is slowly dying out, like bullfighting in Spain. That is, Koreans still eat dogs (they generally eat everything, give them a bowl of nails - they will eat too). But already in specialized restaurants. And dogs of only one special breed. Such a dog, according to a culinary recipe, needs to be beaten with a stick so that its meat is more tender. It's hard for us to imagine, but in South Korea they haven't completely got rid of this tradition.
Very respectful and respectful. A Korean would rather jump off a roof than push or make someone feel uncomfortable.
A vivid example is how interviews are taken in Korea. Here in Europe it is customary to prepare sharp questions in advance and gut your interlocutor in order to extract a juicy texture from him. And in South Korea, you must send questions in advance, they will be agreed and edited. The Korean will write the answers and come to you for a conversation. You will read the questions, he will read the pre-prepared answers. It looks crazy to us, but to Koreans, it's normal.
The influence of the Americans is very felt in the country, because there are a lot of US bases in South Korea. Therefore, baseball, golf, football are very popular. Hockey is somewhere in the tenth roles. Although there are rich businessmen in the country who are ready to invest in hockey. In general, the most popular winter sports there are speed skating, figure skating and short track (hello to Viktor An).
All facilities were built a long time ago, because Pyeongchang claimed the Games back in 2010, and then in 2014. Both times they rolled Korea, but then they decided that it was always indecent to do so. Of course, Pyeongchang will not have the scale of Sochi or Beijing 2022. But a bad Olympics will not come out for sure. Compact and neat Games - that's what awaits us.
Stepan Stroev
TASS/AP,
