Dog Crazy in Asia

SFGate's Jeff Yang writes about how the rising affluence and aging demographics of East Asia are contributing to a rise in dog ownership which is rapidly eclipsing old stereotypes about Asians and dog-eating. The thing is, as Yang points out, the stereotypes are indeed true, at least where Korea and China are concerned (the Japanese, as far as I know, have never gone in for dog meat), with an alleged 6,000 restaurants in Korea still serving dog-based cuisine.

To be honest, I don't see what there is to be apologetic about on the part of those who eat dogs, as doing so isn't intrinsically any worse than eating cows, horses or pigs, and those Asians who feel a need to apologize for or downplay this aspect of their native culture seem to me to be suffering from a serious cultural cringe - and I say all of this as someone who actually likes dogs, for the most part (no Staffordshire Terriers, Pit Bulls, Rottweilers or other thug-favored breeds for me).

Comments

[dsquared]

On various subjects:

French eating horses: Radek's hypothesis is plausible, but I dimly remember from some cookbook or other during some siege of Paris or other they were so stuck for food that they had to eat horses, and either they liked the taste or (I think more plausibly) it became politically significant for a while.

People not drinking milk: Milk is pretty yacky and not very nutritious stuff unless it has a high fat content, and it doesn't have a high fat content unless the cows get a lot of nutritious food. Which means that unless your fields look like those of Jersey, Friesia or Holstein, you're unlikely to regard milk as all that special.

Eating dogs: I don't know much about Korea, but in Vietnam eating dog meat is more to do with traditional medicine that cuisine. In particular, the dog restaurants are only open during a waxing (or possibly waning, I can't remember) moon, because dog meat is only good for you if eaten under the right moon.

Eating carnivores in general: Unless you castrate them, omnivores have a really strong taste (I've eaten uncastrated goat and it's vile). I suspect that this might be an acquired taste to say the least, explaining the general unpopularity of the meat.

[Jim]

"omnivores have a really strong taste"

It must depend on the species, because pork taste pretty passable even when the pigs run loose and eat whatever. The reports on human flesh rate it pretty high, regardless of steer status and diet. Come to think of it, that may be the one sensible reason to castrate the males other than the desiganted herd bull. It also cuts down on troublesome dominance struggles.

Cows do need good pasture to give good milk, and that makes the output seasonal more than anything. Thank God for sheep and goats or we would have starved all those centuries.

[dsquared]

Pigs are nearly always castrated for eating.

[Jim]

Makes sense. TThey are dangerous enough even without.