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Re: Anthropophagy
Daniel Rosenblatt (danr@iconz.co.nz)
12 Dec 1994 13:10:22 GMT
JAMES BENTHALL (st26h@elroy.uh.edu) wrote:
: In article <60.8085.3724.0N1C2A1B@canrem.com>, george.anketell@canrem.com (George Anketell) writes...
: >I'm researching a childrens' book. Its subject is *the human body*.
: >
: >Point is, that when kids realise that we are meat, their first question is *What do we taste like?*
: >
: >I don't know the answer. Any quotes, references etc would be most helpful.
: >
I can't speak from experience, but I've always heard we tasted like
pork--at least, in the pacific, people were sometimes refered to as long
pork. This may have to do more with pigs and people being appropriate
substitutions for one another in various ritual/sacrificial contexts than
with taste though. I do know that when pakeha (i.e. English settlers)
first arrived here in New Zealand Maori thought they were too salty
because of the amount of salt in their diet. (Although Maori now have a
pretty salty diet, so this wouldn't be a problem anymore). There should
be some stuff on this in beachcomber's narratives of the pacific (sorry
no name at hand) and there's a chapter on cannibalism in _Consuming
Culture_ by Jeremy MacClancy New York: Henry Holt 1993 GT2850.M35,
ISBN:0-8050-2578-2 According to that the rugby players stranded by a
plane crash in the Andes thought it tasted like beef. Maybe humans just
seem to taste like whatever the high status meet is in a particular culture?
Hope this helps.
--
Daniel Rosenblatt <danr@iconz.co.nz>
University of Chicago
Department of Anthropology
2/8 Ponsonby Tce
Ponsonby
Auckland
NEW ZEALAND Ph: 011-649-376-5072
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