August 04, 2002
Donkeys and Turkeys

Caveat: This post has nothing to do with illuminated donkeys or turkey bloggers.

A few days ago, Redwood Dragon blogged an amusing story (or rather joke) about raffling off a dead donkey, which is even ruder than raffling a live turkey.

In his Golden Ass, the only Roman novel that survives complete, Apuleius suggests that a dead donkey might actually have some use. The narrator, who is turned into a donkey early on, at one point is nearly murdered by a cook to replace a leg of venison stolen by some dogs. It is implied that that it would take a lot of herbs and spices to make leg of donkey pass for venison. I wonder: is donkey a regular part of any national cuisine today? Have any of my readers ever tried it? If so, what does it taste like? (Please don't say "chicken".)

Posted by Dr. Weevil at August 04, 2002 11:57 PM
Comments

The French (who else?) still eat plenty of donkey meat, mostly as sausages and in stews.

Here's a link: http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-12002462,00.html

Of course, the French (and to a lesser extent the Spanish) are regular eaters of horse meat.

Posted by: H.D. Miller on August 5, 2002 09:51 AM

This reminds me of the old joke about the man who was arrested for shooting and eating a Bald Eagle. Which, as you know, is illegal. (The shooting I mean. The eating I imagine is not addressed under current law.)

The man pled guilty and just before sentencing the judge asked, "Son, I know this should be irrelevant but I just have to ask. What did it taste like?"

The poacher answered, "Kinda like a passenger pigeon."

Posted by: Dean Esmay on August 5, 2002 10:33 AM