[Sca-cooks] OOP? Raw meat...

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach Harris Mark.S-rsve60:
>Angharad replied to Adamantius with:
>>raw kibbe (lamb) in places like Lebanon,
>
>This one surprised me a bit because of Muslim [and Jewish] prohibitions
>against raw meat.  There are many Christians in Lebanon, so it is possible
>the raw lamb is prepared by Christians and eaten by Christians.  I cant
>picture Muslims eating any raw meat.
><<<<<<<<<<
>
>Interesting. Although we've talked about both Jewish and Muslim food 
>restrictions before, this is the first that I can remember the 
>subject of raw meat coming up.  Is this a restriction on eating all 
>types of meat raw? How is "raw" defined?

I assume raw is not touched in some way, literally or symbolically, 
by fire, and since one way of kashering meat seems to involve 
broiling it in the form of steaks or slices, I imagine that rare or 
raw meat is assumed to contain blood, which is pretty much the 
supreme no-no for both Halal and Kashrut.

>  Does smoking raw meat get around this restriction?

You probably should distinguish between cold-smoked and hot-smoked 
foods: lox are pretty much raw, from a textural standpoint, while 
things like kippered salmon (unlike kippered herring), is hot-smoked 
until cooked fully through. Some would probably argue that if it's 
smoked, the smoke came from a fire and the food is cooked, in nomine 
patris... (oops, wrong religion!), period. Others would argue that 
the emperor has no clothes and that this fish is raw.

>  What about pickling in something like ceviche(sp?)? Yes, I know 
>that this often has shellfish in it but I believe there is some that 
>is just fish.

Correct. I don't know whether ceviche, even assuming it is made from 
the proper fish, is considered "cooked" in the kosher sense. Again, 
it may be a matter for interpretation.

Adamantius