Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Mastadon and Merlot

Scrapple is beautiful. Here in the Mid-Atlantic it is one of our most traditional foods. Created by the colonists as a way of using up the parts of the pig that weren't fit for sausages. REAL scrapple is made with bits of the meat that is boiled off the head of the pig, the liver, and all the other un-pretty parts that most people these days would never consider eating. "From tooter to snooter", any part not previously used, goes into scrapple. According to stories, It was the first solid food I would eat, and aside from that brief flirtation with vegetarianism in college to impress some girl, I've never stopped eating it. Not limited to scrapple, I eat chicken livers, turkey gizzards, hearts, tongues, sweet breads, and brains. I've hunted, killed, gutted, skinned and eaten animals. I'm not bragging, Its just that I get such a kick out these modern day carnivores who profess to eating like a caveman by going to a grocery store, buying a roast and putting it a crock pot. This whole train of thought was precipitated by a recent exchange on one those Internet boards where such things are "discussed". While there, I was to learn that mans real diet was meant to be steak. So, being me, I inquired as to the disposition of the remainder of the animal, and was summarily informed that people don't eat those parts. Imagine my surprise to learn that people eat steak, or roasts, and that those other parts were just too gross. I sat, head in hands, blinking in disbelief, trying to fathom where this belief came from. I made myself some scrapple to reaffirm reality, people do and have eaten those parts for a long long time. But the question still remained in my mind as to why, and from where did this idea originate. Being familiar with Cordains association with the Eades' who wrote protein power, I googled him. Low and behold, right up top there on his web site is "Lean Protein". I spent several hours surfing thru his site and not one mention anywhere of eating the whole animal. Does anyone besides me really question if this is even a remotely accurate view of what constituted a paleolithic diet? I mean, did caveman Bob really eat "Trout Simmered in wine sauce"? Wine after all is a product of Agriculture. Do I think, he presents one version of a healthy diet, yes. Do I think Its a paleo diet, not just No, but HELL NO.

3 comments:

. said...

Does anyone besides me really question if this is even a remotely accurate view of what constituted a paleolithic diet? I mean, did caveman Bob really eat "Trout Simmered in wine sauce"? Wine after all is a product of Agriculture. Do I think, he presents one version of a healthy diet, yes. Do I think Its a paleo diet, not just No, but HELL NO.

OK - I had to laugh....as I often do when I read some of the comments on the "carnivore" forums and sites out there, especially when they talk about acculturation to eat vegetables and the like and then fail to recognize their own acculturation when it comes to the cuts of meat, types of fat or parts of an animal they'll eat!

There is no way our ancestors tossed aside any edible part of an animal, rich with calories and nutrients - they ate it all - every last scrape of edible portions - right down to the marrow inside the bones, the brain, the eyes, the organs, the tongue - it was ALL good - and it was all gone when they were done!

When you pick and choose you wind up deficient for nutrients because some of the very parts no one today wants to eat is exactly what makes a meat-only diet possible - once you toss aside a part once consumed and think you'll manage to get all your nutrients, it's delusional - if you're going meat-only, you have to go meat-fat-organs-marrow-bone broths-brains-etc. to get all nutrients required. Not many are willing to do that - and in the long term I can only hope they figure out why they either have to or at least add in foods to provide the nutrients they're missing out on when they refuse to eat the "parts" they think no one used to eat!

Unknown said...

Lord sakes, MY DAD ate the whole animal and were talking up until his death in 1980. That man cooked liver, kidney, brains, used intestines as casings for sausage, delighted in bone marrow.

My grandparents, farmers and ranchers, used the whole animal, even gelatin from the hooves. I still had one of my grandma's last bars of lye soap made with animal fat until 1986 when it dissolved in a flood.

It wasn't just our ancestors who ate the whole thing, our not-so-distant relatives did too.

And gawd, my Italian grandpa made some heavenly sausages using parts most modern day Americans never see.

I believe today's prevalent 'dainty' palate developed from over abundance. We can now afford to be choosy and throw the 'questionable' parts to the dogs. And I agree that's not a good thing.

Haggus (stuffed sheep's stomach) is still very popular in Scotland.
Maybe there's hope for a revival?

K. Dill said...

Haggus revival?!?! Hmmm, Probably not. But I like it.

acculturation - thats a term I've only recently come to know. I must admit, most of my low carb "education" came from the weight training and body buildiong community which has a very different point of view. Joining in the larger arena of Low Carbers has been an eye opening experience to say the least.