I don't understand vegetarians and rarely venture forth into Home Plate where they serve "healthy" food. And the thought of meals without beef, mutton, chicken or pork makes me cringe. There is nothing like the feeling of sinking my teeth into a juicy steak dripping with sauce or savoring a piece of pork chop that my friend used to make as it would melt in my mouth. Almost ethereal. I staunchly believe that God is a meat-eater.
There are many kinds of vegetarians in my opinion. There are those who absolutely won't touch any meat or products coming from animals, such as milk. Then there are the "non-red-meat" eaters who won't eat beef. Some make exceptions for chicken, fish or pork, citing some reasons. The only time I've ever seriously considered turning vegetarian was after watching the movie "Babe" that showed a talking pig. The next day I had bacon for my breakfast and glazed ham for dinner.
I don't believe in the practice of eating just vegetables and can't understand those who refuse to include meat in their daily meals. We are omnivores by nature -- just look at your teeth. Do you think incisors were placed in our mouths so we could tear apart cabbage leaves? No, I say, and mother nature would probably back me up on this. I am not saying to just consume meat, but to eat your vegetables and your burgers.
It's not healthy just to eat vegetables. I tried to become a vegetarian, just gave it a try for a week, but I was sick to my stomach and could hardly move. I thumb my nose at those who say eating meat is unhealthy. They say red meat will clog up your veins, increase your cholesterol level and even cause death by heart attacks or coronary failure. To them I say, I'd rather die happy with a piece of pork rib dripping with BBQ sauce in my mouth than be forced to eat my broccoli (one of the most heinous vegetables known to man). I honestly believe that those who are sentenced to death order meat-contained meals, not vegetables, as their finals meals.
I love all kinds of meat. There's the perennial favorite, beef. God bless the cows. One of my goals, as strange as it may sound, is to try as many kinds of meat before I die. I've tried chicken, pork and mutton and found all of them to be delicious. Let's see, I've eaten snakes, sharks, bears and buffaloes that all pleased my taste buds. I have tried sea cucumbers, most kinds of fish, most crustaceans and all sorts of birds. Tasting and digesting them were definitely important culinary experiences. Yes, I even like Spam.
It is a Western attitude that prevents people from eating "exotic" animals or even domestic ones. Let me just say that I don't necessarily condone any of these practices. In Japan, they eat cats and define horse meat as a delicacy. In Korea, China and practically every Asian country, they eat dogs, and I've heard nothing but praises for dog meat. In China, they eat monkeys, reptiles and almost any animal that is made of flesh. I can almost hear the gagging noises some people are making. "Eat dogs?!" they all exclaim. Seriously, what's the difference between a fat cow and a fat dog? Because one is considered a "companion pet," and the other is just a big bovine creature doesn't mean they weren't meant to be eaten.
My mother thinks that it's her fault that I mostly eat meat. She said that when I was little, she fed me beef or chicken-flavored baby food, while my sister, for some reason, ate strained carrots and peas.
When I first bought my frying pan, pot and other kitchen-related products, the first thing I did was buy a slab of steak and the biggest bottle of A-1 sauce I could find. Since the school cafeteria does not serve steaks, even a pan-fried steak was delicious. Since I couldn't find any utensils, I ate with my hands, clutching the slab of meat and devouring it. Disgusting? Maybe. Satisfying? Definitely.
You've seen the commercials by the beef industry that advertise with a catchy slogan, "Beef, It's What's for Dinner." They usually have some guy drooling over a piece of steak or all types of wonderful dishes that include beef. I love those commercials. Those vegetarians don't know what they're missing. A Chinese duck dish that includes fried duck skin ought to make any vegetarians wake up from their delusions. As the commercial says, I do have beef for dinner ... and for lunch ... and for breakfast. Hmmm ... dead flesh.
