HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1973-02-14, Page 2Sugar and Spice
. by Bill Smiley
As many a sage has remarked, man is
a curious animal. He is the only species
that will kill others of his own type in.
either hot or cold blood. And he is
the only animal, including the much-
maligned hog, that will eat anything and
drink practically anything.
Carnivores eat meat. Herbivores eat
herbs. A few species like to vary the
diet with some nice, ripe carrion. But
man. will eat anything that groWs, walks,
swims or flies, including himself, if
he's hungry enough.
ThUS we haVe a prOliferation of such
'delicacies as seal flippers, cod's tongue,
canned snake, fried grasshoppers, frogs'
legs, beeS and ants in chocolate. What
other spiecies could stomach birds'
nest soup or year-old eggs? Not to
mention haggis.
Prince Hamlet said: "What a piece of
work is man! how infinite in faCulties!
in form and moving hOW express and
adMirabler in action hoW like an angel,
n in apprehenSiOn how like a god! the beauty
Of the WOridl the paragon of animals!"
What a piece of work indeed! Man will
eat anything from guts to nuts.
For many, there's nothing tastier than
fried liVer, ba ked stuffed heart ; kidney
pie and - almost unbelievable - tripe,
that exotic dish made froin the lining of
a cow's stomach. not hard to figure
out where the expression "That's a lot
Of tripe" came from.
Those are just a few categories in
the guts department. At the' Other end
of the scale ; among the nuts, are such
things as hiCkOky,. hazel, Cheat; wal, pea
and sweetbreads,
No self=respecting gat would eat and
drink Seine of the things the "paragon of
animals" StUffS, into his quivering, re=
inetant stomach, Dill pickles, kiPpered
herring,, cold tongue, hot, tufty. Never
mind the juice of fermented grapes) and
cheese crawling with maggots. No wonder
we smell pediiiiar to Other animals. Ever
noticed hoW dogs and cats sniff us and
walk away with a disgusted leek?'
bow cavalierly we treat those tong,.
suffering ttonikdlis, of whidli,We are issued
Only one for the duration,
breikidst. What a way to start a day!'
A glass of icy Orange -nice; f011eWed by
scalding coffee. Then some cereal, the
rougher the better. Then a few slices off
a pig's bum, accompanied by a couple of
hens' • children. Toss in a couple of
vitamin pills, with dear-only knows what
poisons in them, and we're ready to face
the world. No wonder the world looks
pretty grim.
When I was in prison camp, there were
rats about. The Germans kept quite a
few cats around to control the ratpopulat-
ion. One day the camp commander, who
had' a sense of humour, posted a notice in
each barracks: "AnybOdy caught eating
long-tailed rabbits will be severly punish-
Yep. The boys were eating the cats.
The French have horse-meat butcher
shopt. SoMe Asians consider there's
nothing sweeter than boiled, baked or
fried dog. Some Arabian tribes cook a
whole sheep, and the most succulent
part' of 'the meal . is sucking out the:
eyes. An Eastern version' 'of oysters
on the half-Shell.
Of course, Canadians would never
touch such things. We confine ourselves
to such treats as shepherds' pie, con-
sisting of ground-up, uSed-Up shepherds;
toe nails and all. At least they seem
like toe nails When you crunch down on
one.
This may all seem irrelevant to the
great issues of the day, and it is. But
giti'ans c, ae lot deeper than it seems first
I began thinking of man as guts when
Somebody' told me a chap had spent 32
daYS' or something in a cabin Up north
and had survived by eating mice. It
was an intriguing thoUght.
Can't you see him sitting there ; dr.°,
tiling, as he turned a mouse on ,a spit?
Can, you. understand him deciding to haVe, ,
a cold lungh of haunch of mouse; with
a salad Of pine needle8 and cedar buds,
served On birCh bark?
Can you see, him muuching a mouse
drumstick for a: bed-time snack?
Or worrying i like any perplexed
housewife, about Whether to have a rump
reaSt of mouse, or a standing rib roast,,
Or hot sliced mouse tongue?
And-, debidihgthe hell with it, he
was 0114 to splurge tonight and have
filet of thouset It boggles the
ESTABLISHED
1672
gBrussels Post
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1973
-Serving Brussels and the surrounding community
published each Wednesday afternoon at Brussels, Ontario
by McLean Bros. Publishers, Limited.
Evelyn Kennedy - Editor Tom Haley - Advertising
Member Canadian Community Newspaper Association and
Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association. ,
Subscriptions (in advance) Canada $4.00 a year, Others
$5.00 a year, Single' Copies 10 cents each.
Second class mail Registration No. 0562.
Telephone 887-6641.
A flock of beef
lust flew over
High-flying beef on the hoof
from Western feedlots to the tables
of Eastern restaurants?. It may not
be far off if current tests prove
successful, The Financial Post says.
There is nothing new about
moving livestock by aircraft. Pure-
bred horses and high-priced purebred
cattle have been getting that kind
of VIP treatment for a number of
years. But before long, there may
be a considerable amount of com-
mercial cattle shipped by air for
domestic markets, and perhaps even
more overseas. According to Charles
Leask of Regina, director of the
Saskatchewan Wheat Pool's livestock
division, volume air transport of
cattle will be a paying proposition
just as soon as some hitches can be
'ironed out of crating problems.
What was believed to be the
first air shipment of commercial
cattle in Canada took,place last
year when the pool flew 90 head of
feeder steers from Saskatoon to
Toronto on an Air Canada DC-9.Asses-
sment of the test now has been com-
pleted, and although it showed it
was more expensive for', that first
trip than if the cattle had been
sent by rail, air will be cheaper
when ways are found to improve crat-
ing.
In the tests, bulky wooden
crates were used. Now being .con-
sidered are collapsible aluminum
crates that would allow the cattle
to be walked onto the aircraft,
rather than hauled on in the. wooden
crates. It costs about $4,600 to
ship 90 head by air, vs only $1,450
by rail. The rail Saving has a
price tag: loss of cattle weight.
During the four-day rail trip, the
cattle lose from 6 per cent to 12
per cent in weight. Shrinkage is
almost nil by air.
(St. Marys Journal-Argus)