Koreans: Is dog meat really a staple of their diet? And if so, why do we criticize?

[orange]

First an article...

http://www.hankooki.com/kt_op/200205...6492748110.htm

By Park Moo-jong
Chief Editorial Writer
Whenever big international events, like the Olympics or the World Cup, are held in this part of the planet, people in the United States and some European countries have raised their objections to a certain Korean culinary tradition.

Since Korea and Japan won the right to co-host the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals, which will finally open on May 31 in Seoul, Koreans' eating of dog meat has been a major target of criticism by some people in those countries.

A year ago, some self-proclaimed animal rights activists protested in front of the Korean embassies in London and Mexico City, threatening to launch a boycott campaign against Korean goods unless the government banned the ``barbaric'' eating of dog meat ahead of the World Cup. There have been no further reports about their next action.

Recently, a folk scholar, Ju Kang-hyon, 47, published a book titled ``Dog Meat and Cultural Imperialism,'' depicting the clash between eating dog meat in Korea and keeping dogs as pets in Western countries.

In conclusion, Ju asserted, ``The fact that dog meat becomes an issue is itself something like a @#$%.''

Weeks ago, the BBC reported that Koreans eat dog meat thrice a day, and a year ago, retired French actress Brigitte Bardot, known as an ardent supporter of animal rights, said that eating dog meat is a savage custom.

The Korean scholar described such biased views as the product of an imperialistic refusal to recognize other cultures, asserting that the Western media's criticism is intended to increase the consumption of beef.

Ju said that residents in most regions of China, the Philippines, Senegal and Polynesia enjoy dog meat, and showed a picture of a French placard hung at a dog butchery in Paris around 1910, proving that the French ate dog meat at that time.

Three weeks ago, I traveled to Beijing to see how the Chinese authorities were fighting the uninvited guest of spring, Asian dust, dubbed here as ``yellow sand.'' I stayed at the Telecom Hotel, a brand-new 23-story building, which was at a four or five-star level. Upon checking in, I found to my surprise a Korean restaurant in the lobby, and a woman clad in beautiful chima and chogori, traditional clothes of our country, standing in front of it to welcome customers.

Adding to my astonishment was a menu board on which ``dan gogi soup'' or sweet meat soup, was written. Dan gogi is the North Korean way of saying dog meat for its sweet taste. Needless to say, the hotel is an international facility, and I even encountered some German and American tourists in the lobby.

For a moment, I was envious of such a ``dignified'' Chinese approach toward selling dog meat in such an international place in its capital city, and soon became angry with the way our government has coped with the foreign criticism of our traditional culinary practices. My colleagues were no exception.

The Western press does not take issue with Chinese eating dog meat, but raises objections when Koreans are involved. Why?

We deserve criticism because we did not respond properly. Ironically, the sale and consumption of dog meat is illegal in Korea. The government introduced the ban just before the 1988 Seoul Olympics, concerned about the country's international image, designating it as ``disgusting food.''

Dog meat lovers argued that the government was currying favor with foreign dog lovers and obsessed with the idea of staging the Olympics successfully, without paying respect to a historical fact: dog meat soup, or ``posintang,'' is a traditional Korean food, particularly for the summer season.

As a result, we reluctantly found it necessary to change the name of dog meat soup to something more poetic, like ``sacholtang,'' meaning ``soup of four seasons," or to something more in the spirit of the event, like ``yongyangtang'' which means ``nutrition soup.'' Most dog meat restaurants even moved to back alleys, lest foreigners recoil in shock at the thought of their beloved pets being broiled or served in soup.

Former Korea Times food and wine columnist Betsy O'Brien described a dog meat restaurant in her book, ``The Seoul Food Guide,'' published in 1994: ``To get under the skin of Korean culture properly, you should really do what lots of Koreans do in the hottest period of the year - visit a restaurant which serves dog meat.

``Beliefs about this meat are widely held here in Korea. It is particularly prized as being easily digestible and endowed with properties to help the eater through the hot weather..So this is a uniquely Korean cuisine.''

According to ``Dongui-Bogam,'' the bible of Oriental medicine written by royal physician Hoh Jun (1546-1615) in 1613, dog meat comforts the five visceras, controls blood vessels, strengthens intestines and the stomach, fills bone marrow, warms the waist and knees, and increases the strength of the body in general.

Statistics show that dog is the fourth most popular kind of meat in Korea after pork, beef and chicken. Dog meat has been eaten for more than 1,500 years. Koreans raised dogs from ancient times, just as they did cattle and pigs. Dogs guarded their homes and later were used for food to supply protein, which most of them lacked, since cattle were required for farming. Dog meat does not differ all that much from beef, pork or mutton, since it is also animal flesh.

The foreign critics should understand the fact that Koreans do not eat pets. They do not cook Poodles, Dalmatians, Yorkshire Terriers, Greyhounds, Saint Bernards, Spitzes, Bulldogs, Colies, Chihuahuas, Shunauzers or Spaniels. Ranchers breed the dogs used for food in the same way that cows, pigs and sheep are raised for slaughter.

Koreans who slaughter dogs with electricity might be more civilized than those French who use pipes to force food into the throats of geese, making their livers bigger and more delicious for ``foie gras,''

After Beijing was chosen at last as the venue of the 2008 Summer Olympics, the Chinese authorities, in a gesture of strong support for their culinary customs, invited some 30 journalists from Western countries to a dinner and provided them with a chance to try dog meat. It was a success. Few took issue with it later.

The previously mentioned BBC report was incorrect. Few Koreans eat dog meat for three meals a day. Dog meat is not that cheap. It is more expensive than other meats. Koreans mostly enjoy it as a special dish at restaurants, not at home.

Ju, the Korean folk scholar, said in his book that he likes dogs but eats dog meat, and although people should not eat snakes or frogs because they are wildlife, dog meat is edible because dogs are livestock.

Culture differs from country to country and those differences should be respected.

The west views dogs as a household pet, which is why I'm assuming most people view it as horrible to eat dog meat, but really - what is the difference between that and cow, lamb, chicken, the philippine delicacy off half born duck zygotes, snails, insects, or any other delicacy.

Should we view the consumption of dogmeat as a horrible thing, or are we just being close minded and ethnocentric?

And do Koreans actually consume dog meat regularly? I don't mean to offend, I really don't know.

[DinoDoc]

I wonder if Ming will let this one live.

[Tuberski]

Alot of jokes I could use here, but no this won't last long.

[orange]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
I wonder if Ming will let this one live.

As I said on ICQ, I was unaware of the previous threads...i don't think this is related...so let's stay on topic

[OneFootInTheGrave]

Consumption of any meat is not really moral, so why start a habit when it is not there already.

Let the dogs live. You could just as well start a debate on kannibalism.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

What if the Papuans ate people, would we approve it? (just an example) and start eating too just to broaden our horisons, certain acts are not really enlightening, one of these could be using dogs as food.

[orange]

OFitG - while I don't agree that consumption of meat is immoral, I do agree that if you're going to complain about one kind, might as well complain about them all...

I mean what makes Dog and Horse different from duck and cow?

It would be like Indians shunning the West for how much beef we eat. Different cultures, different beliefs, different foods

[OneFootInTheGrave]

True, but while I eat meat, you have to acknowledge that animals suffer while we use them for meat. Cows, horses, dogs, so if you have in your culture a good habit of avoiding to eat dogs, keep it up. Are you going to gain something by trying dogmeat?

Nah, just think about a little puppy being killed... well that is true we are just not raised up to think that all animals are alive and while we eat them their life ends. And not really that we have to eat meat to survive.

hey I still eat it, but when thinking a bit more, I wouldn't mind being a vegeterian, hovever I know myself and breaking the burger habit for me would be a bit to much to ask

[notyoueither]

Cultural Imperialism?

A very good description for the 'my way or nothing' attitudes of a lot of people in the west.

Ironically, these same people would most often identify themselves as liberal or left wing. Pfff.

[MOBIUS]

Live and let live IMO, many cultures find eating beef wrong, Jews don't eat Pork but we don't hear the self-righteous masses banging on about how wrong it is for Westerners to eat beef or pork...

We in the West seem to have this assumed superiority when it comes to dealing with those we perceive as less 'civilised' as us. This stinks!

Just because we can afford to have the trappings of wealth doesn't mean we have a right to preach our opinions (something we've been doing since the missionaries!)...

While I probably won't be eating Dog on a regular basis (probably more due to cultural conditioning than anything else), I may try it if I get the opportunity.

[DanS]

I don't see anything wrong with eating dog meat. The practice is mainly criticized because of the way they slaughter the dogs to make the meat taste better. This is only elliptically referenced in the article. As I understand it, there are several methods of slaughter, with the most cruel making the meat the tastiest.

[Lord Merciless]

We are all filthy pork-eaters in the eyes of Muslims.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

Nooo we are just like a bunch of carnivorus animals with no sense for the weak.

Anyway, if you are preconditioned by your culture not to eat dogs why would you? The same if you are Indian and preconditioned not to eat cows?

You have a good habit, keep it up, that's all.

[orange]

OFitG - I'm not saying we should all try dog meat, i'm just saying that we shouldn't shun another culture if they do eat dog meat...i'd probably never try dog...as I'd also never try snails and probably wouldn't try insects...i just don't find it appetizing, even if it may in fact taste good...i've grown up eating beef and chicken and pork, so I don't think of it as evil when I consume these things...the Koreans that do eat dog probably don't feel that way when they eat it, which is why I'm saying we shouldn't criticize them for it.

Mobius

[Ming]

Originally posted by orange
As I said on ICQ, I was unaware of the previous threads...i don't think this is related...so let's stay on topic

And that is the reason while it will stay open (unless it turns into a spam fest)

You were unaware of the previous threads. The other two threads were started with knowledge that the last one had been closed. It's a matter of intent.

Carry on...

[OneFootInTheGrave]

Well eating dogs is the same as eating all other animals. What else? Petty much as eating humans too, but humans are our own species so we can visualise that much better, and that is now rejected across most cultures, even though it was present in some of them until recently.

No reason to shun the culture, but a good point to think what do we do when we eat something that was alive a few days before. Actually when you think of it all that mass production of animals is horrible. killing a wild animal and eating it has some honor, or at least the animal lived while it did, but mass producing chicken and other animals in the cages filling them with antibiotics to grow faster - well that is degrading.

Ah well maybe one day I stop eating all that, if the force grows strong with me

[Alexander's Horse]

Over half the Korean population has eaten dog and about 40% have it regularly according to reports I saw. They breed dogs for eating and have dog restaurants. Nobody In Korea sees a big problem with it. In fact they were going to promote dog eating as a toruist attraction at the World Cup until someone explained to them what much of the rest of the world thinks about it.

Dogs are eaten in many Asian countries. The Chinese eat just about anything. I've eaten fried locusts - they go very well with beer - sea slugs, bird's nests, you name it.

In Thailand there is a province which is well known for dog eating and if you come from that province people always bring it up and make jokes about it.

Dog eating is nothing compared to say eating the brain of a live monkey, which can be sampled at restaurants in Southern Thailand/Northern Malaysia.

[orange]

i agree, it is sickening...i have a lot of friends who are vegans, a lot of what they say makes sense, but I don't ignore the fact that animals are meant to eat other animals that are lower on the food chain...the way in which we mass produce animals also provides more food for more humans...so it seems like a vicious cycle...

[OneFootInTheGrave]

Eating the brain of a live monkey

What is that a Hannibal Lecter eXPerience park?

[orange]

no, that's a real thing too...

[Alexander's Horse]

Originally posted by OneFootInTheGrave
Eating the brain of a live monkey

What is that a Hannibal Lecter eXPerience park?

No just a Chinese restaurant - most of the ghoulish stuff is because Chinese, who are spread all over East Asia believe the dish has an aphrodisiac effect. In this case they are probably trying to get the spirit of Hanuman, the monkey king in the Ramayana into their body- a very virile character - and hence the monkey must still be alive. Chinese are weird about food.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse


No just a Chinese restaurant - most of the ghoulish stuff is because Chinese, who are spread all over East Asia believe the dish has an aphrodisiac effect. In this case they are probably trying to get the spirit of Hanuman, the monkey king in the Ramayana into their body- a very virile character - and hence the monkey must still be alive. Chinese are weird about food.

And I thought that they have bad food here in UK

Ha who knows what kind of super adrenalin is concentrated in monekey's brain while they eat it ALIVE so this might be giving them some super special kick. Good that you don't get addicted

[orange]

i thought you were a croat?

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by orange
i thought you were a croat?

That doesn't preclude him living in the UK.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

Both are true

A Croat on a extended stay in the UK...

[Alexander's Horse]

Originally posted by OneFootInTheGrave

Ha who knows what kind of super adrenalin is concentrated in monekey's brain while they eat it ALIVE so this might be giving them some super special kick. Good that you don't get addicted

Oh I haven't eaten it myself.

What they do is they serve the monkey at a table with a hole in the middle. The monkey is strapped under the table with the top of its skull poking through the top. Then the monkey's skull cap is sliced off and the diners dig in. The monkey dies of course so they devour the monkey brain as fast as they can.

[orange]

I thought UK had a strict no croat policy?

kidding of course

[Jac de Molay]

I would eat it (dog). Hell, considering the hormones and crap they stuff into cows and chickens in the West, it's probably better for you, anyway. I didn't get a clear picture from the article what it exactly tastes like, though.

[*End Is Forever*]

I thought UK had a strict no croat policy?

kidding of course

You're just jealous that you can't live here.

[Alexander's Horse]

Originally posted by orange
I thought UK had a strict no croat policy?

It may explain why half of Croats in the world are living down here in Australia

Nice people though