RP280 Food Taboos

 RP280 Food Taboos

Which sounds tastier: a rat, a pig, or a cricket? Chances are one of those foods is something you eat often, and another is something you wouldn't swallow unless you absolutely had to.

All of the animals listed above are fine sources of nourishment. It's only our cultures that insist one is a meal while another is a crime. In Southeast Asia, insects often show up on people's plates. Besides being tasty, they provide protein and other nutrients, and they' re perfectly normal part of a meal. A ham sandwich is a common lunch in the West, but it's absolutely taboo for many Muslims and Jews. A juicy steak? Don't serve that to guests in India. Chances are more than one will be Hindu and would be horrified at eating beef. Dogs are man's best friend in North America and Western Europe. Most people living there would rather survive on shoe leather than eat their dogs. In parts of Africa, Asia, and the Pacific, however, eating dogs is no big deal.

Some taboos cover body parts rather than whole animals. Fish eyes are eaten with delight in Thailand, but removed from most restaurants in the USA. Argentines are happy to barbecue and eat bulls' testicles, but they would make many Americans squeamish. Pigs' and chickens' feet are eaten in many parts of the world, but in almost as many, the idea of eating the part of an animal that touched the ground is disgusting or even insulting.

Non-meat foods can also be taboo. In many cultures, fungus are an expensive delicacy. Because they grow at night, though, they are banned by some schools of Hinduism and Buddhism. Some Hindu and Buddhist sects also forbid garlic, onions, peppers, and other strong spices, believing that strong flavors incite strong passions they want to avoid.

There are no universal laws when it comes to food. If it can be chewed, swallowed, and digested, somebody out there is eating it and probably enjoying it.