[Sca-cooks] NOT from the NY Times food section, but...

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Aug 5, 2008, at 1:00 AM, S CLEMENGER wrote:

> *Live* turtles? What, uhm, possible culinary edge does vivisection  
> give to a
> dish containing live turtles? I don't feel at all squeamish about the
> shark's fin, although I'd probably avoid it because of mercury
> contamination.....
> --Maire's admittedly western mind is boggling at that one....

I expect the turtles are as "live" as all that fish in the fish sauce  
is "rotten", or that potted Moroccan meat is "putrid".

I've never seen instructions in a Chinese recipe for turtle that  
differed significantly from Western ones, except for the other  
ingredients. In virtually all cases, the turtle is first killed by  
having its head nailed to a board, then decapitated, then bled from  
the neck, then scalded, partially skinned (feet, etc.), and _then_ cut  
up.

If it's still moving after all that, I think a pretty darned strong  
case can be made for shrinking tendons and/or random nerve impulses.

There may be some very specific recipes for something like a soft- 
shelled terrapin to simply be chopped up while alive, but this would  
probably be for some sort of medicinal soup, and not common practice.

Adamantius




"Most men worry about their own bellies, and other people's souls,  
when we all ought to worry about our own souls, and other people's  
bellies."
			-- Rabbi Israel Salanter