Food History

I have an author interview for you. I carried the book to work today and read it on the way to the bus stop, then I read it on the bus, then I read it some more right until I got to class. Scott Gold has written a wholly entertaining volume devoted to his own experiences of eating meat. Along the way he manages to give useful advice on how to choose a good butcher, how meat ought to fit into a life (and he’s very scathing about quality) and a whole bunch more. It’s a US book, so his focus is on what is available in the US, legislation and animal rights, how hard rattlesnake is to fillet and other crucial morsels.

He throws himself so entirely into the experience of tasting 31 types of meat that the book (as I’ve found) is almost impossible to put down. I knew some of his lessons (quality not quantity; cooking counts; meat handling counts, not everything is equally edible) but that still didn’t prevent my copy of the book becoming rather battered in the 24 hours I’ve owned it.

The book is called The Shameless Carnivore, the author is Scott Gold and it was released today in US time. And no, I haven’t been paid to say nice things – I was given an advance copy of the book so I would know what questions to ask. No, you can’t have my copy of the book. Here, have this interview instead:

1. Could you tell us something about yourself and about your book.

Oh my - so much to say! I’m originally from New Orleans, so the love of food is basically written in my genetic code. I studied philosophy and languages in college as well as creative writing, and was working in the publishing business in New York, hoping to maybe one day write a novel (just like everyone and his cousin). Then, through a perfect-storm of serendipity, I got the opportunity to write a book proposal for a “carnivore’s polemic.” When I started writing about food — and especially meat — the passion flew out of me in a way it had never done with any other subject. So I decided to take my passion for carnivorism to its logical extreme. This meant a two part plan:
1) to examine the subject of meat philosophically, from all angles. It would be entirely too easy to write an anti-vegetarian screed, but that was never my desire or intention. As someone with an unabiding love of meat products, I really wanted to dig deeply into the subject of what it means to be an animal who survives on eating the flesh of other animals, from angles ranging from anthropological to dietary, historical (I’m a culinary history junkie), medical, ethical and spiritual, agricultural, environmental, you name it. And
2) to become the “ultimate carnivore” by trying to eat 31 different animals in month, and then every cut and organ of a cow. Along the way there were other adventures, mostly hilarious but sometimes poignant, that included hunting squirrels in Louisiana, attending the 24th annual Testicle Festival in Montana, and even helping a family farm butcher their cow for that year’s meat. It was all pretty amazing.

2. Did any part of your family food history inspire the book (anecdotes of the “No! Keep that out of your mouth!” type are the obvious, but I was thinking as well of maybe a particular attitude towards food eg an intellectual or emotional response.).

Again, it all goes back to being a native New Orleanian. Back home, food is an integral part of the culture in a way unique from any other American city — people adore food there, but not just the rich, and not just the fancy restaurants and haute cuisine. From a floor captain at a place like Galatoire’s or Commander’s Palace to the guy who collects trash on the side of I-10, everyone in NOLA has a love affair with the local cuisine. Sometimes that means a gorgeous turtle soup au sherry (a classic) — I made it from scratch for the book, and it took two days — or maybe just a muffaletta sandwich, chicken and sausage jamballaya, red beans and rice, or a roast beef po-boy swimming in mayonnaise and gravy. NOLA cuisine, as well as an ingrained atmosphere of fun (and, yes, maybe a little sin) is the ultimate bond of the people. Also, my mother is a wonderful cook in her own right, and used our family dinner table to experiment with different cuisines, everything from spiced lamb patties with couscous to chicken and tasso pasta, and everything in between. With an upbringing like that, winding up as a food writer was almost a foregone conclusion.

Great. I’m making myself hungry. Again.

3. Being Jewish myself, I looked at the description of the book and thought “If only I had the courage to do that, I could try all those Ancient Roman recipes.” How did the Jewish aspect affect what you did? How do you explain it/justify it/deal with it?

This is how I dealt with it: I didn’t. I’ve never kept kosher…being a lifelong, rabid omnivore, any sort of dietary restrictions (other than making sure that you try to keep a relatively diet most of the time) have always seemed crazy to me. In fact, by the time I’d finished the book I’d pretty much broken every dietary law laid down in Leviticus 11, in which the “ye shall not eat” category is filled with things that are spine-meltingly delicious. Oddly, locusts and grasshoppers are perfectly kosher, but I’ve never felt an overwhelming urge to eat them. Pork belly, on the other hand…

4. What is the meat you most want to see put onto modern menus (that isn’t there already)?

A great question. I have to say, unequivocally: goat. It has such a rich tradition in so many other cultures, and yet American goat consumption has been on a sharp, steady decline over the last hundred years or so. And this despite the fact that goat is every bit as delicious as lamb (though with its own unique flavors), not to mention that most foodies have little compunction about eating goat’s milk cheeses like chevre. But suggest to them a goat pate or maybe rack of goat, and suddenly they get all squeamish. This, to me, is utter lunacy. What is it about goat that’s so off-putting? Luckily, there’s a growing number of independent goat farms that now provide outstanding, humanely and organically raised goat meat, and I’m singing its praises every chance I get.

5. What is the meat you least want to see again and wouldn’t even feed your worst enemy?

Bull penis (or “pizzle”), hands down. Just unconscionably disgusting. Most everything else was great, though, especially all the savory variety meats like calf’s brains, kidneys, bone marrow (oooooohhhh), tripe, blood sausage, you name it.

6. Has the experience changed how you approach everyday foods?

It always surprises people to hear this, but I actually eat less meat now than ever before. Me: The Shameless Carnivore! After everything I’ve learned in my research, I’ve made a conscious decision to try to eat only truly splendid meat. Usually, this means that I have to pay significantly more for it, and hence have it in my diet a little less often. But I’d much rather eat vegetarian a few times a week if it means sitting down to a meal of truly succulent, humanely raised, grass-fed beef or lamb at the end of the day. And when you start to really consider your meat, to take it seriously, I’ve found that you actually end up enjoying it that much more.

7. Please, can we have a favourite recipe?

It’s too hard to pick just one, but please see my book for some of my favorites, including Crock-Pot Rabbit, Tibetan Yak Momos, Herb-crusted Rack of Lamb and more!