A Biblical Travesty: the Slandering of the Pig

(Does this guy look familar? Then keep it to yourselves, please.)

The world’s most famous cookbook, the Old Testament, is pretty darn specific about what animals the chosen people could and could not eat. This was quite a list, as can be seen in the book of Deuteronomy;

3 Do not eat any detestable thing. 4 These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5 the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep. ^[a] 6 You may eat any animal that has a split hoof divided in two and that chews the cud. 7 However, of those that chew the cud or that have a split hoof completely divided you may not eat the camel, the rabbit or the coney. ^[b] Although they chew the cud, they do not have a split hoof; they are ceremonially unclean for you. 8 The pig is also unclean; although it has a split hoof, it does not chew the cud. You are not to eat their meat or touch their carcasses.

9 Of all the creatures living in the water, you may eat any that has fins and scales. 10 But anything that does not have fins and scales you may not eat; for you it is unclean.

11 You may eat any clean bird. 12 But these you may not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture, 13 the red kite, the black kite, any kind of falcon, 14 any kind of raven, 15 the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, 16 the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, 17 the desert owl, the osprey, the cormorant, 18 the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.

19 All flying insects that swarm are unclean to you; do not eat them. 20 But any winged creature that is clean you may eat.

And Leviticus adds a few more to the untouchable smörgåsbord:

20 ” ‘All flying insects that walk on all fours are to be detestable to you. 21 There are, however, some winged creatures that walk on all fours that you may eat: those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground. 22 Of these you may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket or grasshopper. 23 But all other winged creatures that have four legs you are to detest.

29′Of the animals that move about on the ground, these are unclean for you: the weasel, the rat, any kind of great lizard, 30 the gecko, the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink and the chameleon. 31 Of all those that move along the ground, these are unclean for you.

(Why kidney stew, canned salmon and menudo weren’t considered destable is one of God’s mysteries.)

Most of the Mosaic laws were guidelines to help this fledgling people maintain their sense of civility as well as their good health. The proscribed animals are almost all carrion eaters or animals that ate these carrion eaters. Long before anyone had ever thought of animal hygiene or nutritional safety, the Jews had a system in place that would protect them from most of the parasites and poisons that plagued the remainder of the primitive world, even to this day.

Unless one is a practicing Jew or Muslim, most of these animals are no longer on the naughty list. We can thank Peter for sharing a dream he had in which all kinds of animals, including reptiles, were presented to him as acceptable fare. (I wonder what he ate before going to bed that night?) Most of these creatures the typical Westerner would never deign to eat, even with divine invitation. (Insects and reptiles are considered quite tasty throughout most of the world.) Those scrumptious bottom dwellers and carrion eaters we have developed a taste for (shrimp, oysters, crabs, lobsters, clams, crayfish and catfish) pose relatively little health problems (with the exception of oysters and crabs pulled from polluted waters.) One of the scale-less fish, however, is the shark. What’s so dangerous about shark?

So the stigma has been lifted from most of these animals. Except for one, arguably the most nutritious and tasty animal on the list. The king of meats, our own smooth pygmy buffalo, good from the snout to the tail – the pig, Sus Scrofa. Hams, bacon, chops, ribs, cracklin’, loin, roasts – succulent pork is the most versatile and adaptable of all the animal flesh that the human carnivore consumes.

Up until recently, if one was served pork it was usually overcooked, as everyone was well aware of the nasty parasite that might be found embedded in it’s muscle, Trichinosis. As described in Wikipedia:

Trichinosis, also called trichinellosis, or trichiniasis, is a parasitic disease caused by eating raw or undercooked pork and wild game products infected with the larvae of a species of roundworm Trichinella spiralis, commonly called the trichina worm. The few cases in the United States are mostly the result of eating undercooked game (an acceptably clean or kosher animal!)or home reared pigs. It is most common in the developing world and where pigs are commonly fed raw garbage.

Today we are fortunate to be able to enjoy pork cooked medium rare, tender, moist and much more flavorful than beef or chicken. And much leaner than both of those as well. Of course, the residents of Europe, Central and South America and our own Southern states have been serving up delicious renderings of our porcine friend for some time now and when they are finished there is little of him left unconsumed.

But I have been consistently plagued by people who refuse to eat the most minuscule piece of pig, claiming that it is dirty and unclean. Now, these gustatorial complainers do not hail from the Jewish or Muslim camps, but there is nevertheless an almost religious fervor in their denunciation of pork. After determining that it is not a dearly held religious custom that generates this response, I will usually endeavor to educate them on the silliness of their fears. (I am not constrained by any unnecessary political correctness. Culinary ignorance is not protected by the Constitution.)

I explain that pork is completely safe, even when served rare but definitely (since time immemorial) when cooked well done. The parasite is not even present when the pigs are fed properly and for over 40 years all commercially raised hogs have enjoyed a very safe and healthy diet. Not only do these malcontents refuse to be edified, they will often resort to insults, referring to our tasty friend as ’swine’ (as if that was a more derogatory term than ‘pig’). It is difficult for me to not take offense as well, since I am a devoted fan of said ’swine’, in all it’s various culinary manifestations.

These folk, as I’ve said, seem to have no religious reservations (the vast majority seem to be Protestant) but they almost always hail from a Northeastern urban background (no Southerner or farm raised Amercian would look down his nose at slow cooked pork shoulder or braised and broiled loin ribs). Upon further interrogation, some will grudgingly admit to a penchant for catfish, crabs and shrimp, all formerly proscribed by the Bible and arguably much more ‘unclean’ than our piggy friends. (Many that I have met, though they may not smoke pork, will smoke cigarettes. So much for the X factor.)

From where does this misguided nutritional vigilantism spring forth? Over the years I have discovered a pattern. I mentioned that the vast majority of these folk were Protestant. More specifically, they tend to belong to conservative denominations that strive on taking the words found within the Bible very literally. Like most literalists, they tend to ‘proof text’ scripture, clinging tightly to some passages, conveniently forgetting others. Taking the Biblical injunction against pork seriously (the one dietary law that for some reason has overshadowed all others in the public eye) they take fair pride in not fouling the pristine temple of their bodies with this beast that God has chosen to loathe.

Their loss. Can someone please pass the barbecue?

The Wine Minister

Oh, boy. Have I found a treasure while hunting on the web.  Here is a fellow who has envisioned a ministry that uses the best that God has given us; good wine. He calls his site:

WineMinistry

Wine, Friends, Food and Theological Musings

http://wineministry.wordpress.com/

There is a pretty good article he just wrote about how just as a wine label can reveal nothing of the wine’s character, the same can be said of people. http://wineministry.wordpress.com/2007/09/06/theology-buying-wine-by-the-label/

I also like this one about how wine can encourage and enhance the celebration of community ;  http://wineministry.wordpress.com/2007/07/

If you like good wine (or, as in my case, good cheap wine) go check him out.  (No wonder I didn’t make it very long as a Methodist.)

But for those of my friends who are doing the 12 Step he also has another site, RevJavaDude’s Cafe:

http://www.revjavadude.com/

Either (or both ways) enjoy.

Umami Knows Best (More Food for Thought)

What a brainstorm! I have just discovered why Americans struggle with obesity….it’s all about umami. No, not your mommy, but umami. Umami is the fifth taste sensation, isolated by Kikunae Ikeda, a food scientist at the University of Tokyo, in 1908. The other four taste sensations are; sweet, sour, salt and bitter.

“

Umami is a Japanese word meaning “savory” or “meaty” and thus applies to the sensation of savoriness—specifically, to the detection of glutamates, which are especially common in meats, cheese and other protein-heavy foods. The action of umami receptors explains why foods treated with monosodium glutamate (MSG) often taste fuller. Inasmuch as it describes the flavor common to savory products such as meat, cheese, and mushrooms, umami is similar to Brillat-Savarin’s concept of osmazome, an early attempt to describe the main flavoring component of meat as extracted in the process of making stock.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umami

I’ve spent over 20 years in the restaurant business and now teach culinary arts to high school students. During this time I have conducted a passionate love affair with food but I have been far from monogamous. Embracing the French homage to a life well lived; “Viva la difference!” I have allowed myself to be seduced by cuisines hailing from the haute as well as the street.

A challenge I’ve faced over the years has been feigning enthusiasm for offerings that were boring or formulaic, yet much in demand by my clientèle. We find these food preparations on the menus of our great national restaurant chains. With few exceptions, this type of food is conservative, inoffensive and unremarkable. It is very safe.

But if you leave the confines of our sprawling cosmopolitan areas you will find foods that challenge the typical house-broken imagination and its domesticated palate. Channel cats, raw beef, crayfish, chitlins, brain sandwiches, sause, fried rattler, pickled pigs feet, barbecued armadillo, Virginia ham, squirrel pie and prairie oysters. Venture beyond the borders of our country and the possibilities are staggering, if not at times frightening. It seems that the Native American was not the only gourmand that ate everything, including the squeal.

But there are culinary treats that are socially acceptable to the American mindset yet fall into the category of being ‘acquired tastes’; caviar, foie gras, raw shellfish, single malt scotches, good wines, grappa, snails, blood sausage, wild mushrooms, truffles, prosciutto, cold smoked salmon, sashimi, over ripe cheeses….delectables that would stimulate the gag reflexes of many an American consumer. I found it to be very amusing as I watched my students screw up the courage to sample Blinis Demidoff, as they saw in the movie “Babette’s Feast” - and like it!

What is it that the obscure regional favorites of our nation’s backwaters have in common with the commonly held unpalatable fare from abroad? Umami. They are all variously salty, bitter, sweet or sour. Some are spicier than others, some more peppery. Served hot or cold, raw or cooked they all share this distinctive mouth filling quality that the ingenious Japanese have known about for so long.

This aversion to umami on the part of most Americans is in not without chinks in its armor. One reason why ketchup is so popular is that it is full of the glutamates that produce umami. (Funny that those who have allergies to MSG have no problem with this common condiment.) Even more so is good Parmesan cheese, and when combined with other foods high in glutamates (such as tomato sauce and Chianti) the result is far beyond the sum of its parts. Another favorite source of umami is Blue Cheese, but usually cut with mayonnaise and served as a counterpoint to hot sauce. Good chocolate that has not been too adulterated with sugar, milk and lecithin is also high on the umami scale. This all being said, the foods that have the most umami are not the foods that we typically find on the shelves at Super Fresh or Food Lion.

One of the qualities of umami is that it is intense, which is why it is so prevalent among aged cheeses, cold smoked meats and fish, pickled foods and sun dried vegetable and fruits. Bacteria at work in the fermentation process create chemical combinations that result in flavors unique to the host, the bacteria and the terroir. As the water in the food is removed what is left is a higher concentration of this distinctive natural flavoring. This concentration can be so intense, so mouth filling, that little of it is required to sate the appetite of the typical gourmand, occasional gluttonous behavior aside. (No, glutton and gluten are not etymologically related. I looked it up.)

So, since the typical American deliberately removes these intensely flavored foods from his or her diet they tend to eat more of what is aesthetically much less. Quantity is sought to quench the hunger for quality. Could this be one reason why Mediterranean people enjoy ‘fattening’ foods such as cheese, meats and various oils at each meal and yet they seem not to suffer from our dietary afflictions?

What, you may wonder, is an article like this doing on a blog like this? Well here it comes; I will suggest that rampant Protestantism, with its distinctive American puritanical streak, has waged a vicious battle with good food for over 250 years. The weapons of mass digestion employed in this unholy war are despicable and inhumane; tuna casseroles, Jello molds, creamed peas and asparagus, white bread, pasteurized American cheese food, pasteurized everything, potted meat, overcooked pork and fish, mayonnaise, margarine – the list goes on but I can not. It is too painful.

In their attempt to eradicate all things sensual the Puritans in our midst have created a monster in its place. This is an obsession with sugar and carbohydrates that can never satisfy, and a world conquering yet unsavory ‘cuisine’ that threatens to smother the culinary world. Even as we speak the power hungry bureaucrats at the FDA, USDA, AMA and your local health department are conspiring to eradicate those foods that are the most flavorful and perhaps the most healthy. (Why the Europeans, South Americans and Asians are not all dropping dead due to a diet consisting of whole milk cheeses, air dried meats and fish, raw shellfish etc remains a mystery.)

So culinary adventurers everywhere, if you want more out of life than pasteurized cheese product, overcooked meat, faux Peking duck and salty caviar then unite in a common cause. Listen to Umami! And Bon Appetit!