# Animals eaten young \[edited title\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 29, 2010, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-eaten-young-edited-title/565709 "2010-12-29T16:16:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-eaten-young-edited-title/565709/21 "2010-12-30T15:11:19Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > They are juveniles. The eels live in rivers, but migrate to the sea to spawn (the opposite of what salmon do), so at a certain time of year, the rivers are (or used to be) teeming with millions of juveniles swimming upstream from the sea, and they’re very easy to just scoop out with a net. > > I ate them in Spain a couple of years ago - they’re nice. And I thought I remembered a thread about that called “My food has many eyes”, but I can’t find it. Was that an Atomic Shrimp thing rather than an SDMB thread? ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-eaten-young-edited-title/565709/22 "2010-12-30T16:13:16Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > They are juveniles. The eels live in rivers, but migrate to the sea to spawn (the opposite of what salmon do), so at a certain time of year, the rivers are (or used to be) teeming with millions of juveniles swimming upstream from the sea, and they’re very easy to just scoop out with a net. > > I ate them in Spain a couple of years ago - they’re nice. Most of the other baby-food-animals listed in this thread are enjoyed because in return for less meat\* you get a more tender meal that is often milder/less gamy. Do baby eels taste different from adult eels in the same manner? Are they less … eely? Less oily, maybe? \*I hadn’t considered fawn (venison) till it was mentioned upthread… ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-eaten-young-edited-title/565709/23 "2010-12-30T17:38:11Z")
[Balut](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_%28egg%29). Joe ---
**Author:** ![Teacake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Teacake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teacake)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-eaten-young-edited-title/565709/24 "2010-12-30T17:55:02Z")
I’ve had foal - in Slovenia! It was absolutely delicious. A little more delicate than horse, and meltingly tender. Would eat again; would recommend. I’d also travel a long way for the baby fish they eat in Italy - “schiuma di mare”, which translates as “foam of the sea”. We get very excited when we see them on a menu. Last time I had them was in Taranto. Happy sigh. ---
**Author:** ![cromulent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b4bc9f/32.png) [@cromulent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cromulent)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-eaten-young-edited-title/565709/25 "2010-12-31T03:04:45Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > They are juveniles. The eels live in rivers, but migrate to the sea to spawn (the opposite of what salmon do), so at a certain time of year, the rivers are (or used to be) teeming with millions of juveniles swimming upstream from the sea, and they’re very easy to just scoop out with a net. > > I ate them in Spain a couple of years ago - they’re nice. Well, that’s good to know. The next time (and the first time!) I eat this dish, I will rejoice in the knowledge that I am devouring actual, honest-to-goodness baby eels. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-eaten-young-edited-title/565709/26 "2010-12-31T20:32:59Z")
[This is a baby eel.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptocephalus) Wikipedia says: > [@](#): > > Leptocephali themselves are rarely used as food, except in some parts of Japan. The leptocephali of the common Japanese conger, Conger myriaster, are called Noresore·のれそれ in Kochi Prefecture, Japan, and are often served un-cooked to the table, and are eaten after dipping in Tosazu mixed vinegar. It is a spring seasonal specialty. They grow up into the recognizable juvenile “tiny eel” that **Mangetout** mentions. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-eaten-young-edited-title/565709/27 "2010-12-31T21:43:03Z")
> [@Tahssa](#): > > What about eggs? Caviar? or do those not count since they are unborn? I can’t think of anything else really. I was going to mention these, but I thought they’d only count as animals with a “right-to-life” crowd. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-eaten-young-edited-title/565709/28 "2011-01-02T03:23:03Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’ve never heard of anyone eating a fawn (young deer). Illegal to hunt. Also, very little meat. Ah, but the meat is exquisitely tender. Or, so I’ve heard. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-eaten-young-edited-title/565709/29 "2011-01-02T03:27:23Z")
> [@Ruby](#): > > What about those embryo chickens (ducks?) they eat in Asia? Can’t get much younger than that. > > [Balut (food) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_%28egg%29) > > ETA: Corrected location and added link No younger, but, at least to Westerners, even way mondo weirder: I read a reference in one of Douglas Coupland’s novels about fetal lambs – “lambryos” – being served at a yuppercrust dinner. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-eaten-young-edited-title/565709/30 "2011-01-02T04:33:20Z")
> [@Walkabout](#): > > When I was in Slovenia, one restaurant had foal on the menu. I still regret not trying it. Was it the AM-AM Tavern in Ljubljana? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-eaten-young-edited-title/565709/31 "2011-01-02T13:59:31Z")
Young animal joke: A baby seal walks into a club. . . ---
**Author:** ![Teacake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Teacake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teacake)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-eaten-young-edited-title/565709/32 "2011-01-03T13:02:07Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Was it the AM-AM Tavern in Ljubljana? Though you didn’t ask me where I ate it: no, it wasn’t that restaurant, though it was in Ljubljana. ---
**Author:** ![Walkabout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walkabout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walkabout)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-eaten-young-edited-title/565709/33 "2011-01-04T13:09:39Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Was it the AM-AM Tavern in Ljubljana? It was in Ljubljana, but I don’t remember the name of the restaurant. I think it was on Mestni Trg near the square, and it seems like it was more a restaurant than a tavern. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-eaten-young-edited-title/565709/34 "2011-01-04T14:46:34Z")
Let’s not forget the baby carrots! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-eaten-young-edited-title/565709.md?page=1)