# Cannibalism Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 8, 2006, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism-question/371910 "2006-09-08T14:14:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism-question/371910/21 "2006-09-08T18:25:49Z")
Cows come in different colors and there’s no taste difference between them (well, maybe between different species/breeds of cow, but I’m just talking typical cow). Pigs likewise come in shades of near-white to brownish black. The difference really is skin deep. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism-question/371910/22 "2006-09-08T20:06:30Z")
[cartoon monarch] Boil 'em in oil ! [/cartoon monarch] ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism-question/371910/23 "2006-09-08T22:43:35Z")
[QUOTE=The Chao Goes Mu] Has there ever been a factual answer to the question of what humans taste like? [/QUOTE] Hugh Thomas (_Conquest: Montezuma, Cortes, and the Fall of Old Mexico_), on life among the Aztecs after the Spanish conquest: > [@](#): > > Pork in particular was said to have been sought after by what remained of the old upper class, since it had a slight taste of human flesh. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism-question/371910/24 "2006-09-08T22:59:07Z")
[old skit from the TV show Laugh In] White Girl asks black girl “Do you have any soap I can borrow?” BG “Here try some of my black power” ::: Hands package of soap with a black label that says **Black Power** White girl unwraps and exclaims::: WG “Hey it’s pink inside” BG “Don’t tell anybody but so am I” [/osfttvsli] ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism-question/371910/25 "2006-09-08T23:43:50Z")
[QUOTE=CookingWithGas] \ Rudy Giuliani is not necessarily “The Other White Meat.” [/QUOTE] Gotta disagree. Dork _ **is** _ the other white mean ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism-question/371910/26 "2006-09-09T01:23:47Z")
[QUOTE=davenportavenger] Cows come in different colors and there’s no taste difference between them (well, maybe between different species/breeds of cow, but I’m just talking typical cow). Pigs likewise come in shades of near-white to brownish black. The difference really is skin deep. [/QUOTE] Wild turkeys are mostly black, but domestic turkeys have been bred to be white. This is because the skin of a wild turkey is mottled, and consumers prefer it to be light. The skin color differs between the two, but the meat itself is the same. ---
**Author:** ![FRDE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e68b1a/32.png) [@FRDE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FRDE)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism-question/371910/27 "2006-09-09T13:58:14Z")
I have a vague memory that eating whites made cannibals sick. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism-question/371910/28 "2006-09-09T14:19:12Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] They’re _Politicians_, man. Tongue .. [/QUOTE] You mean ass ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism-question/371910/29 "2006-09-09T16:32:47Z")
When cooking politicians, for best results, stuff their heads up their asses. ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism-question/371910/30 "2006-09-09T16:48:17Z")
[QUOTE=Rufus Xavier] When cooking politicians, for best results, stuff their heads up their asses. [/QUOTE] And sprinkle on some grated lobbyist, for garnish. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism-question/371910/31 "2006-09-09T17:00:13Z")
The recent issue of _Smithsonian_ has an article that discusses a trip into parts of Papua New Guinea that had not often been visited by white men before. The author, discussing canibalism with some local informants, reports that he hears that it seems to taste like pig. Several of the men, reluctant to speak directly about the act, and so speaking in what we would call FOAF style (friend of a friend) report thus. They don’t talk about the specific parts, however. As to the question, it’s been answered - skin color is a feature that is an expression of a protein in the skin cells, melanin. It’s not part of the musculature. ---
**Author:** ![YPOD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e99b99/32.png) [@YPOD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YPOD)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism-question/371910/32 "2006-09-09T20:36:45Z")
I just got back from Hawaii, where I was assured Spam was popular because of the (supposed) tradition of cannibalism. Well, if you eat poi I guess you will eat anything. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism-question/371910/33 "2006-09-09T21:14:02Z")
[QUOTE=YPOD] I just got back from Hawaii, where I was assured Spam was popular because of the (supposed) tradition of cannibalism. Well, if you eat poi I guess you will eat anything. [/QUOTE] As the Hawaiian mom told her kid, “One man’s meat is another man’s poi, son.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gabriela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@gabriela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gabriela)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2006, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism-question/371910/34 "2006-09-10T11:15:02Z")
I have a vague memory that a frontiersman was caught and hanged in the 1800’s for the murder and consumption of people. His favorite part was the pectoral muscle, which he said after appropriate hanging of the meat was tender and sweet. He did not compare it to pork that I know of. I thought the OP was funny, but then it, er, left a bad taste in my mouth. Black white or Asian, Amerind or Norwegian, we are all homo sapiens. The differences between us are minimal and minuscule - otherwise we could not interbreed. To think that black people in America (who are frequently largely mixed of African and Caucasoid strains, often with a healthy mingling of Amerind for hybrid vigor) are somehow… different… deep inside… makes me crazy. Sorry. Sure the OP had no intention of making me crazy. But it does. I’ve laid thousands of 'em open and, believe you me, we are identical on the inside, except maybe for degree of fat accumulation around the waist (and inside it). The differences between male and female are huuuuuuge compared with the internal differences between the races. Nobody asks if female curviness or less-hairiness is carried on down to the muscle beneath. ---
**Author:** ![indecisive1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/41988e/32.png) [@indecisive1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/indecisive1)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2006, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism-question/371910/35 "2006-09-10T13:19:58Z")
[QUOTE=gabriela] Sorry. Sure the OP had no intention of making me crazy. But it does. I’ve laid thousands of 'em open and, believe you me, we are identical on the inside, except maybe for degree of fat accumulation around the waist (and inside it). The differences between male and female are huuuuuuge compared with the internal differences between the races. Nobody asks if female curviness or less-hairiness is carried on down to the muscle beneath. [/QUOTE] I think you started out a bit crazy. 😉 So then, maybe women are more tender then men? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2006, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism-question/371910/36 "2006-09-10T13:47:24Z")
I understand that boiling is the preferred cooking technique, except when preparing missionaries. Those are friars. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2006, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism-question/371910/37 "2006-09-10T14:41:31Z")
[QUOTE=BobLibDem] I understand that boiling is the preferred cooking technique, except when preparing missionaries. Those are friars. [/QUOTE] …and then one Tucks in? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2006, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism-question/371910/38 "2006-09-10T17:30:30Z")
[QUOTE=gabriela] I have a vague memory that a frontiersman was caught and hanged in the 1800’s for the murder and consumption of people. His favorite part was the pectoral muscle, which he said after appropriate hanging of the meat was tender and sweet. [/QUOTE] I think you must be thinking of [Alferd (or Alfred) Packer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alferd_Packer), the “Colorado Cannibal,” who alledgedly said: > [@](#): > > “the breasts of man…are the sweetest meat I ever tasted.” Although Packer was sentenced to death, it was not carried out. He was imprisoned but eventually paroled. As a grad student at the University of Colorado, I had many a Packerburger at the Alferd G. Packer Memorial Grill. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2006, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism-question/371910/39 "2006-09-10T17:39:09Z")
**Gabriela** , I am sorry. I never wanted to make anyone crazy. We bought some brown eggs here, and I was thinking about how brown chickens lay brown eggs, and white chickens lay white eggs, and I was wondering, what kind of internal process that changes the feathers of a chicken also changes an eggshell? And it just sort of spiraled out into this question. It was not meant in any way to be racist or anything. Upon further reflection, and the reading of these responses, I realize that of course the insides would be the same. But it didn’t seem that way to me at first. I apologise if I offended you. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2006, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism-question/371910/40 "2006-09-10T17:42:52Z")
Hey, do you think women would be better to eat though? Because of the fattiness, and a tendancy toward a more sedintary lifestyle? Okay, so who should I serve at my fancy dinner party, Bill or Hillary? I really want to impress my guests. (this is a joke. please don’t hate me) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism-question/371910.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism-question/371910.md?page=3)