Part 7
Rabbits, which form so large an article of consumption with us, are not much esteemed as an article of food by the negroes in the West Indies, resembling, in their idea, the cat. Thus, a black who is solicited to buy a rabbit by an itinerant vendor, would indignantly exclaim, ‘Rabbit? I should just like to no war you take me for, ma’am? You tink me go buy rabbit? No, ma’am, me no cum to dat yet; for me always did say, an me always will say, dat dem who eat rabbit eat pussy, an dem who eat pussy eat rabbit. Get out wid you, and your rabbit?’
And yet, with all this mighty indignation against rabbits, they do not object, as we have seen, to a less dainty animal in the shape of the rat.
Although the negroes in the West Indies do not care for rabbits, yet their brethren in the American States are by no means averse to them. A field slave one day found a plump rabbit in his trap. He took him out alive, held him under his arm, patted him, and began to speculate on his qualities. ‘Oh, how fat. Berry fat. The fattest I eber did see. Let me see how I’ll cook him. I’ll broil him. No, he is so fat he lose all de grease. I fry him. Ah yes. He so berry fat he fry hisself. Golly, how fat he be. No, I won’t fry him--I stew him.’ The thought of the savory stew made the negro forget himself, and in spreading out the feast in his imagination, his arms relaxed, when off hopped the rabbit, and squatting at a goodly distance, he eyed his late owner with cool composure. The negro knew there was an end of the stew, and summoning up all his philosophy, he thus addressed the rabbit, at the same time shaking his fist at him, ‘You long-eared, white-whiskered rascal, you not so berry fat arter all.’
I need not here touch upon hare soup, jugged hare, or roasted hare, from the flesh of our own rodent; but the Arctic hare (_Lepus glacialis_) differs considerably from the English in the colour and quality of its flesh, being less dry, whiter, and more delicately tasted; it may be dressed in any way. When in good condition it weighs upwards of 10 lbs.
The capybara, or water hog (_Hydrochœrus capybara_), an ugly-looking, tailless rodent, the largest of the family, is hunted for its flesh in South America, and is said to be remarkably good eating. It grows to the size of a hog two years old.
The flesh of the guinea pig (_Cavia cobaya_, Desm.) is eaten in South America, and is said to be not unlike pork. When he is dressed for the table his skin is not taken off as in other animals, but the hair is scalded and scraped off in the same manner as it is in a hog.
The white and tender flesh of the agouti (_Dasyprocta Acuti_, Desm.), when fat and well dressed, is by no means unpalatable food, but very delicate and digestible. It is met with in Brazil, Guiana, and in Trinidad. The manner of dressing them in the West Indies used to be to roast them with a pudding in their bellies. Their skin is white, as well as the flesh.
The flesh of the brown paca (_Cœlogenus subniger_, Desm.), a nearly allied animal, is generally very fat, and also accounted a great delicacy in Brazil.
Another South American rodent, the bizcacha, or viscascha (_Lagostomus trichodactylus_), is eaten for food. It somewhat resembles a rabbit, but has larger gnawing teeth, and a long tail. The flesh, when cooked, is very white and good.
EDENTATA, OR TOOTHLESS ANIMALS.
Wallace, in his travels on the Amazon, tells us that the Indians stewed a sloth for their dinner, and as they considered the meat a great delicacy, he tasted it, and found it tender and very palatable.
Among other extraordinary animals for which Australia is proverbial, is the _Echidna hystrix_, or native porcupine, which is eaten by the aborigines, who declare it to be ‘cobbong budgeree (very good), and, like pig, very fat.’ Europeans who have eaten of them confirm this opinion, and observe that they taste similar to a sucking pig. There appear to be two species of this animal, the spiny echidna and the bristly echidna; the first attains a large size, equalling the ordinary hedgehog. It has the external coating and general appearance of the porcupine, with the mouth and peculiar generic character of the ant-eater.
The flesh of the great ant-eater (_Myrmecophaga jubata_, Linn.) is esteemed a delicacy by the Indians and negro slaves in Brazil, and, though black and of a strong musky flavour, is sometimes even met with at the tables of Europeans.
The armadillo, remarkable for its laminated shell, when baked in its scaly coat is a good treat, the flesh being considered delicate eating, somewhat like a rabbit in taste and colour. The flesh of the large twelve-banded Brazilian one (_Dasypus Tatouay_) is said to be the best of all. In South America there are several species of armadillo, all of which are used for food when met with.
Mr. Gosse states, that this animal feeds upon soft ground fruits and roots, and also on carrion, whenever it can find it; and a large proportion of the sustenance of this, as well as of other species, is derived from the numberless wild cattle which are caught and slaughtered on the Pampas for the sake of their hides and tallow, the carcases being left as valueless to decay, or to become the prey of wild animals. Notwithstanding the filthy nature of their food, the armadillos, being very fat, are eagerly sought for by the inhabitants of European descent, as well as by the Indians. The animal is roasted in its shell, and is esteemed one of the greatest delicacies of the country; the flesh is said to resemble that of a sucking pig.
PACHYDERMATA, OR THICK-SKINNED ANIMALS.
What do our African brethren consider tit-bits? Ask Gordon Cumming. He will enumerate a list longer than you can remember. Study his ‘Adventures,’ and you will become learned in the mystery of African culinary operations. What are sheep’s-trotters and insipid boiled calves’ feet compared to baked elephants’ paws?
Listen to his description of the whole art and mystery of the process of preparing them:--
‘The four feet are amputated at the fetlock joint, and the trunk, which at the base is about two feet in thickness, is cut into convenient lengths. Trunk and feet are then baked, preparatory to their removal to headquarters. The manner in which this is done is as follows:--A party, provided with sharp-pointed sticks, dig a hole in the ground for each foot and a portion of the trunk. These holes are about two feet deep and a yard in width; the excavated earth is embanked around the margin of the holes. This work being completed, they next collect an immense quantity of dry branches and trunks of trees, of which there is always a profusion scattered around, having been broken by the elephants in former years. These they pile above the holes to the height of eight or nine feet, and then set fire to the heap. When these strong fires have burnt down, and the whole of the wood is reduced to ashes, the holes and the surrounding earth are heated to a high degree. Ten or twelve men then stand round the pit and take out the ashes with a pole about sixteen feet in length, having a hook at the end. They relieve one another in quick succession, each man running in and raking the ashes for a few seconds, and then pitching the pole to his comrade, and retreating, since the heat is so intense that it is scarcely to be endured. When all the ashes are thus raked out beyond the surrounding bank of earth, each elephant’s foot and portion of the trunk is lifted by two athletic men, standing side by side, who place it on their shoulders, and, approaching the pit together, they heave it into it. The long pole is now again resumed, and with it they shove in the heated bank of earth upon the foot, shoving and raking until it is completely buried in the earth. The hot embers, of which there is always a great supply, are then raked into a heap above the foot, and another bonfire is kindled over each, which is allowed to burn down and die a natural death; by which time the enormous foot or trunk will be found to be equally baked throughout its inmost parts. When the foot is supposed to be ready, it is taken out of the ground with pointed sticks, and is first well beaten, and then scraped with an assagai, whereby adhering particles of sand are got rid of. The outside is then pared off, and it is transfixed with a sharp stake for facility of carriage. The feet thus cooked are excellent, as is also the trunk, which very much resembles buffalo’s tongue.’
Elephants’ petit(?) toes, pickled in strong toddy vinegar and cayenne pepper, are considered in Ceylon an Apician luxury. As soon as it is known that an elephant has been killed in Africa, every man in the neighbourhood sets off with his knife and basket for the place, and takes home as much of the carcase as he can manage to carry. The flesh is not only eaten when fresh, but is dried and kept for months, and is then highly esteemed.
The manner in which the elephant is cut up is thus described by the author and sportsman I have already quoted:--‘The rough outer skin is first removed, in large sheets, from the side which lies uppermost. Several coats of an under skin are then met with. The skin is of a tough and pliant nature, and is used by the natives for making water-bags, in which they convey supplies of water from the nearest _vey_, or fountain (which is often ten miles distant), to the elephant. They remove this inner skin with caution, taking care not to cut it with the assagai; and it is formed into water bags by gathering the corners and edges, and transfixing the whole on a pointed wand. The flesh is then removed in enormous sheets from the ribs, when the hatchets come into play, with which they chop through and remove individually each colossal rib. The bowels are thus laid bare; and in the removal of these the leading men take a lively interest and active part, for it is throughout and around the bowels that the fat of the elephant is mainly found. There are few things which a Bechuana prizes so highly as fat of any description; they will go an amazing distance for a small portion of it. They use it principally in cooking their sun-dried biltongue, and they also eat it with their corn. The fat of the elephant lies in extensive layers and sheets in his inside, and the quantity which is obtained from a full-grown bull, in high condition, is very great. Before it can be obtained, the greater part of the bowels must be removed. To accomplish this, several men eventually enter the immense cavity of his inside, where they continue mining away with their assagais, and handing the fat to their comrades outside till all is bare. While this is transpiring with the sides and bowels, other parties are equally active in removing the skin and flesh from the remaining parts of the carcase.
‘In Northern Cachar, India, the flesh of the elephant is generally eaten. The Kookies encamp in the neighbourhood of the carcase until they have entirely consumed it, or are driven away by the effluvia of decomposition. Portions of the flesh that they cannot immediately eat are dried and smoked to be kept for future consumption.
‘Fat of any kind is a complete godsend to the Bechuana and other tribes of Southern Africa; and the slaughter of an elephant affords them a rich harvest in disembowelling the carcase, and mining their way into the interior of the huge cavity to remove the immense layers furnished by such a large animal if in good condition.’
Galton, the African traveller, in his hints for bush cooking, tells us:--
‘The dish called _beatee_ is handy to make. It is a kind of haggis made with blood, a good quantity of fat shred small, some of the tenderest of the flesh, together with the heart and lungs of the animal, cut or torn into small shivers, all of which is put into the stomach and roasted, by being suspended before the fire with a string. Care must be taken that it does not get too much heat at first, or it will burst. It is a most delicious morsel, even without pepper, salt, or any seasoning.’
In all the large rivers of Southern Africa, and especially towards the mouths, the hippopotami abound. The colonists give them the name of sea-cows. The capture of one of these huge beasts, weighing, as they sometimes do, as much as four or five large oxen, is an immense prize to the hungry Bushman or Koranna, as the flesh is by no means unpalatable; and the fat, with which these animals are always covered, is considered delicious. When salted it is called zee-koe speck, is very much like excellent fat bacon, and is greatly prized by the Dutch colonists, not only for the table, but for the reputed medicinal qualities which are attributed to it. In Abyssinia, hippopotamus meat is commonly eaten.
The hog is one of those animals that are doomed to clear the earth of refuse and filth, and that convert the most nauseous offal into the nicest nutriment in its flesh. It has not altogether been unaptly compared to a miser, who is useless and rapacious in his life, but at his death becomes of public use by the very effects of his sordid manners. During his life he renders little service to mankind, except in removing that filth which other animals reject.
A delicate sucking pig, a Bath chap, or a good rasher of bacon are, however, tit-bits not to be despised.
Lord Brougham hoped to see the day when every man in the United Kingdom would read Bacon. ‘It would be much better to the purpose,’ said Cobbett, ‘if his lordship would use his influence that every man in the kingdom could eat bacon.’
In British India, only Europeans and the low Hindoos eat pork, but wild hogs are very abundant, and afford good sport to the hunter. The avoidance of pork arises as much from religious scruples as the deep-rooted aversion to the domestic swine all must imbibe who have only seen it in the East, where it is a tall, gaunt, half famished, and half ferocious-looking brute, which performs the office of scavenger.
The legend which ascribes to the eating of human flesh the origin of one of the most loathsome of diseases, scarce offers a more horrible picture to the imagination than is presented by a letter recently published in the _Ceylon Examiner_. The beautiful islands of Mauritius and Bourbon are largely supplied with pork from Patna, a province of Hindostan that has been over-run by the cholera. Both there and at Calcutta the bodies of the natives are consigned to the Ganges, instead of being interred. ‘Let any person,’ says the writer in the Ceylon paper, ‘at daybreak start from the gates of Government House, Calcutta, and, whether his walk will be to the banks of the river or to the banks of the canals which on three sides surround the city, he will see pigs feeding on the dead bodies of the natives that have been thrown there during the night. During the day the river police clear away and sink all that remains of the bodies. Bad as is the metropolis of India it is nothing compared to Patna. Hundreds upon hundreds of human corpses are there strewed along the strand; and fattening, ghoule-like, upon these are droves upon droves of swine. These swine are slaughtered, cut up, and salted into hams, bacon, and pickled pork, and then despatched to Calcutta.... The great market for this poisonous swine produce is the Mauritius and Bourbon, where it is foisted on the inhabitants as the produce of Europe. Moreover, as these swine are sold in Calcutta at 3s. or 4s. each carcase, it is stated that the inferior class of homeward-bound vessels are provisioned with them, and thus this human-fed pork is introduced into Europe and America.’
Pork-eaters may believe as much of the following remarks as they please. ‘It is said that the Jews, Turks, Arabians, and all those who observe the precept of avoiding blood and swine’s flesh, are infinitely more free from disease than Christians; more especially do they escape those opprobria of the medical art, gout, scrofula, consumption, and madness. The Turks eat great quantities of honey and pastry, and much sugar; they also eat largely, and are indolent, and yet do not suffer from dyspepsia as Christians do. The swine-fed natives of Christendom suffer greater devastation from a tubercular disease of the bowels (dysentery) than from any other cause. Those persons who abstain from swine’s flesh and blood are infinitely more healthy and free from humors, glandular diseases, dyspepsia, and consumption; while in those districts, and among those classes, of men, where the pig makes the chief article of diet, tubercle in all its forms of eruptions, sore legs, bad eyes, abscesses, must prevail.’
These are the remarks of an American journalist, which, however, have not, I conceive, the shadow of foundation.
‘It appears somewhat singular,’ remarks Mr. Richardson, in his history of the pig, ‘that the flesh of the hog was prohibited in the ceremonial of the Jewish law; the same prohibition being afterwards borrowed by Mahomet, and introduced into the Koran.’ Great difference of opinion prevails as to the cause of this prohibition; some alleging that this food was unsuited to the land inhabited by the Jews. As, however, the kinds of food to be eaten and rejected--doubtless to prevent that luxurious epicurism unsuited to a growing and prosperous nation--were to have a limit, this limit was fixed by two distinctive marks: they must ‘divide the hoof, and chew the cud;’ that principle of restriction admitting only a limited range to the food permitted. The pig, the horse, and the camel were excluded. It was only in a state of low nationality, or in times of great degeneracy, that the Jew ever tasted pork.
The food of the hog varies in different localities, and probably materially influences the flavour of the meat. In the River Plata provinces they feed them on mutton. After describing the purchase--8,000 at _eighteen-pence per dozen_ (?)--by a Mr. M. Handy, a traveller adds, ‘As soon as the sheep became fattened on his own lands, he killed about a thousand, sold the fleeces at five shillings per dozen, and with the mutton he fed a herd of swine. Mentioning this fact to a large party of Europeans, at the dinner table of Lord Howden, when in Buenos Ayres, my statement was received with a murmur of scepticism; but I offered to accompany the incredulous to the pastures, where the remainder of the sheep were then feeding.’--(_Two Thousand Miles’ Ride through the Argentine Provinces._) But the Yankees beat this, according to a late American paper. In North America they generally feed them on maize, but in some of the States, apples form a principal portion of their food, and the ‘apple sauce’ thus becomes incorporated with the flesh. A gentleman travelling down East, overtook a farmer dragging a lean, wretched-looking, horned sheep along the road. ‘Where are you going with that miserable animal?’ asked the traveller. ‘I am taking him to the mutton mill, to have him ground over,’ said the farmer. ‘The _mutton mill_? I never heard of such a thing. I will go with you and witness the process.’ They arrived at the mill; the sheep was thrown alive into the hopper, and almost immediately disappeared. They descended to a lower apartment, and, in a few moments, there was ejected from a spout in the ceiling four quarters of excellent mutton, two sides of morocco leather, a wool hat of the first quality, a sheep’s head handsomely dressed, and two elegantly-carved powder horns.’
In America they speak of hogs as other countries do of their sugar, coffee, and general exportable staple crops; and even when packed and cured they occasionally compute the produce by the acre. Thus, the _Louisville Courier_ stated recently, that there were five or six _acres_ of barrelled pork piled up three tiers high, in open lots, and not less than six acres more not packed, which would make eighteen acres of barrels if laid side by side, exclusive of lard in barrels, and pork bulked down in the curing houses, sheds, &c. Besides the above slaughtered hogs, there were five or six acres more of live hogs in pens, waiting their destiny.
In the Western States pork is the great idea, and the largest owner of pigs is the hero of the prairie. What coal has been to England, wheat to the Nile or the Danube, coffee to Ceylon, gold to California and Victoria, and sheep to the Cape and Australia, pork has been to the West in America.
The phrase, ‘Going the whole hog,’ must have originated in Ohio, for there they use up the entire carcases of about three-quarters of a million of pigs, and the inhabitants are the most ‘hoggish’ community of the entire Union. What crocodiles were in Egypt, what cows are in Bengal, or storks in Holland, pigs are in Cincinnati, with this trifling difference, their sacredness of character lasts but as long as their mortal coil; and this is abbreviated without ceremony, and from the most worldly motives. In life, the pig is free, is honored; he ranges the streets, he reposes in thoroughfares, he walks beneath your horse’s legs, or your own; he is everywhere respected; but let the thread of his existence be severed, and--shade of Mahomet!--what a change! They think in Cincinnati of nothing but making the most of him.
Historically, socially, gastronomically, the pig demands our careful attention. The connection with commerce, with the cuisine, and even with the great interest of fire insurance, have all made him an object of particular regard. In the early days of the Celestial Empire--as we learn from the veracious writings of the witty and voracious essayist, Charles Lamb--a wealthy Chinaman was so unfortunate as to have his dwelling destroyed by fire. Prowling around the smoking ruins, and seeking to save some of his valuables which the conflagration might have spared, his hand came in contact with the smoking remains of a poor pig which had perished in the flames; instantly, smarting with the pain, he carried his hand to his mouth, when a peculiar flavour greeted his palate, such as the gods (Chinese ones I mean, of course,) might in vain have sighed for. Regardless of pain he applied himself once more, and drew forth from the smoking cinders the remains of the pig. Carefully brushing off the ashes, he regaled himself with the feast before him, but closely preserved the secret he had learned. In a few short months, however, the taste for roast pig came back so strong, that John Chinaman’s house was burned down again, and again was a pig found in the ashes. This was repeated so often that the neighbours grew suspicious, and watched until they ascertained that the reason for the conflagration was the feast that invariably followed. Once out, the secret spread like wildfire; every hill-top shone with the flames of a burning habitation--every valley was blackened with the ashes of a homestead; but roast pig was dearer to a Chinaman than home or honour, and still the work of destruction went on. Alarmed at a course which bid fair to ruin every insurance office in the empire, the directors petitioned in a body to the General Court of China, for the passing of an Act that should arrest the evil and avert their threatened ruin; and a careful examination of the revised statutes of China would probably show stringent resolutions against the crime of burning houses for the sake of roasting pigs.
Since the invention of the modern cooking stove, however, although incendiarism has decreased only in a slight degree, still it has ceased to be attributed to this cause, and a juicy crackling is no longer suggestive of fallen rafters, or a houseless family.