VERY VERY OT:

Chinese medicine uses many "interesting" ingredients. And is considered by some to be the root cause of much wildlife poaching.

Cheryl

LOL! Well Jane and Peter aren`t poachers, fortunately! They`re official deer cullers.

Pat P

Chinese medicine also uses bear gall bladders, tiger penises and rhino horn. In my book, they can take all the deer they want, but please, not the bears.

Cheryl

That's like people eating Rocky Mountain Oysters! Yuck!! Carol In WI

Deer "pizzles" are a medicinal food popular with some Asian men. I don't think I need to spell out the reason. As Cheryl said, tiger penises and rhino horn serve the same purpose. There is a strong tradition for this practice in Chinese medicine. I suppose it's really a kind of sympathetic magic, but if a man thinks it's really going to help, then it just might. Good old placebo effect.

Thanks, Jo - much as we suspected! Oh well, that will be an unexpected bonus for them next time they shoot a buck!!! Sounds like they have a ready market for them!!! LOL! The things we discover on this group. Jane did say it was causing much hilarity amongst the women at the Chinese restaurant - none of which she could understand, of course!

Just passed the info on to Jane, and forgot to ask why they`d want the top part of the antlers? Same reason? From what Jane said, the Chinese ladies said it kept you warm. I hate to think how!!!

Pat P

Spew!

Poor John if you can't figure that one out! ;)

"Cheryl Isaak" wrote >>>>

Nor the tigers - PLEASE! I had someone (in America!) ask me for recipes for cooking Elk, which Jane and I found highly amusing, as over here we only see them in zoos! In case anyone else is interested there are loads of recipes at

In deed! but there is NO ONE poaching tigers in the US. However, I heard of a local black bear found dead with three organs removed. No guesses allowed.

Cheryl

And where in the US do you propose we *find* a tiger to poach?

(Got lots of mountain lions here, though.)

At a private game farm - there is one in one of the Carolinas. Not sure where, not going looking either! Cheryl

One small wild cat sanctuary just closed in the town next to me. They had major damage during the hurricanes and apparently the lions and tigers were traumatized so they moved further North. I think they moved to the Carolinas so maybe that's who you read about.

We have an occasional panther sighting, but I don't want to eat it and I think I'm too big for it to eat me. But they have been known to take very small kittens or puppies so they need to be watched for. Apparently their habitat is being invaded to a major extent for housing and they're getting a little less shy and more aggressive.

Personally I won't eat anything that isn't wrapped in cellophane and sitting in a plastic dish in the refrigerated case in the supermarket.

Lucille>

I would love to but the few private butcher shops that I tried in this area were lots more money, but not much better than the market, so why bother. I guess people want very lean meat and I don't think that can ever be as good as a well marbled cut of meat.

I also want to state that I will never deliberately kill or eat anything that's been killed for fun and I believe that as long as food is available in markets there's no need to go out hunting it. If the herd needs to be thinned there's got to be a better way than a gun or a bow and arrow in the hands of an inexperienced hunter. I'm sorry if some people find that statement offensive, or they don't agree with me, but that's the way it is.

Lucille

I loved that line! As an aside: Don't you ever go to a meat market? I love our local one, but it was just bought out and I'm not sure the new owner understands that I don't want meat run through a tenderizer, I want tender meat!

Dianne

Oh dear - that would make me wonder about the new owner too.

When my parents lived in Saudi, my mom would use the local butcher for chicken. Imagine my dismay when I discovered how they "advertised" the fresh meat of the day, lamb or goat, with heads outside the stalls.

Cheryl

I have a sneaking suspicion that something like that would make me a vegetarian. I remember when my grandmother used to buy chickens in a live chicken market and even as a very little kid I'm told I refused to eat it because I had seen it alive.

I'm silly enough to be able to put aside any thoughts of my food having lived if I don't see it move. Slightly irrational, but honest.

Lucille

Same in California. There was a butcher shop near one of my offices, and one day when I didn't have time to go to the grocery after work, I popped in -- they were charging more for hamburger than the grocery was charging for steak.

I suppose if I ever needed something (like a Crown Roast) that the grocery doesn't carry, I'd try a butcher shop, but how often do I throw a fancy dinner party where I need something like that?

I gladly ate chicken, because it meant I was getting the ultimate revenge on the little that pecked at me while I was feeding it.

I agree with you there, Lucille - over here Peter (Jane`s other half) had to take several courses on deer management before getting his permit to cull deer. They don`t let just anyone take out a gun and take potshots!

Totally lean meat doesn`t have half the flavour of well marbled, well hung meat, does it?

Pat P