[Sca-cooks] Oxen and steers

[Ron Carnegie]

    Ours at work are Brown Devon or milking shorthorns.  In an attempt to
return this to foodways, they were also eaten, though this would be at the
end of their usefulness (and therefore long past it's tastefulness). The Ox
lives longer than it was designed to and gets to big and heavy for its own
legs.  This always struck me as sad and possibly cruel, but they do tend to
live about 4 to 8 times the length of their non-working brethren.

   They are amazing to watch work as well.  They follow verbal commands, and
only those meant for them.  The Ox driver will proceed his command with
their name if it is only meant for one.

Ranald de Balinhard,
>
>
> It looks like the word "Ox" is not very tightly defined.
>
>  From http://www.ruralheritage.com/ox_paddock/ox_whatis.htm
>
> "To be culturally and historically accurate when defining an ox, we
> must use the "right" definition as provided by the Random House
> Dictionary, which says that an ox is "The adult castrated male of the
> genus Bos used as a draft animal and for food."
>
> "Although, by United States standards, this definition is correct
> culturally, historically, and scientifically, it has its problems. Only
> two species in the genus Bos used for work are called "oxen"—Bos
> indicus (Zebu-type cattle with humps) and Bos taurus, the European
> breeds (no humps). Other species in the genus Bos, such as yaks, may be
> worked, but are not called "oxen."
>
> "To define the word "ox" as encompassing all animals in the bovine
> family would include a lot of species that are not even domesticated.
> And it would include both males and females. This might be acceptable
> in some broad, casual context, but not if scrutinized by ox teamsters
> and agricultural historians in the United States."
>
>
> The site goes on in amazing detail.
>
> - Doc
>
>
> --
> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
>   Edouard Halidai  (Daniel Myers)
>   http://www.medievalcookery.com/
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>
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