# Serving animal dishes with the head attached...ewww...why? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 17, 2021, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156 "2021-02-17T19:40:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2021, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/141 "2021-02-25T04:55:51Z")
I once read a book about some people who were stranded on a raft in the open ocean after their boat capsized, and were rescued in surprisingly good condition for the amount of time they had been adrift. One reason was because they ate the eyeballs of the fish and turtles they caught, and those organs are rich in vitamin C (not sure why) so they did not develop scurvy, which used to kill sailors by the thousands, if not millions. They had not known that eyeballs had vitamin C, but they did know they were edible so they forced them down, and in doing so possibly saved their lives. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2021, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/142 "2021-02-25T05:40:01Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Your assertions fall down with blood sausage, czarnina, various puddings, and so forth enjoyed by many Europeans. Also, table-manners issues like how handsy you get with your meat had strong class and fashion implications in white English society even before colonialism. Gnawing on bones and using your fingers instead of utensils was stigmatized as “coarse” and “rustic” before it was stigmatized as “savage”. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2021, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/143 "2021-02-25T05:42:52Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > One reason was because they ate the eyeballs of the fish and turtles they caught, and those organs are rich in vitamin C (not sure why) so they did not develop scurvy, which used to kill sailors by the thousands, if not millions. To be fair (again), if they were eating the fish and turtles raw (and I don’t see how they could be doing anything else when stranded on a raft), they were probably getting a fair bit of vitamin C from the other parts of them too. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2021, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/144 "2021-02-25T05:43:30Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > ISTM that the argument “White Americans stopped eating offal because of racism because offal was ‘black people’s food’” is circular. If white Americans originally liked offal so much, how did it become “black people’s food” in the first place? This was my point, above. It was the masters who got to choose which parts of the animals were eaten by them, and which parts by the slaves. They kept the parts they wanted. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2021, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/145 "2021-02-25T05:46:49Z")
I agree. Not that I’m trying to claim that racism didn’t play any role in the social connotations of various foods, of course: I don’t think anyone else here is claiming that either. But AFAICT racism is not the reason that white Americans stopped eating offal meat in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/146 "2021-02-26T13:05:59Z")
All these posts and no one has mentioned the scene from the movie “Giant” where Elizabeth Taylor faints at the sight of an animal’s head on the buffet table. (In fairness, it was mentioned that the character had a long and wearying day.) ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/147 "2021-02-26T13:14:00Z")
Food prejudices are certainly not logical but are ingrained in a lot of cultures: Every hear of the insult “snail-eater” as applied to the French? And the initial reluctance of continental Europeans to consume potatoes? One other food prejudice: One of the Scandinavian polar explorations PLANNED to kill some of their sled dogs for food at certain stages of the trek. Although the British explorers weren’t loath to eat dog’s liver when necessary, they considered the cold-blooded planning to be “beyond the pale”. (And the explorers were overdosing on Vitamin A from the dogs’ livers.) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/148 "2021-03-02T06:26:18Z")
There was at least one expedition that failed because so many of them died from vitamin A poisoning, as a result of eating polar bear liver. The Inuit knew not to eat it themselves, or even feed it to their dogs, but the explorers didn’t know that, and were accidentally poisoned. ISTR that a 3 ounce serving of polar bear liver has enough vitamin A, which is fat-soluble and therefore builds up in the body, to last a person for several months. Eating it once probably wouldn’t hurt a person, but over and over like these people no doubt did was another story. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/149 "2021-03-02T11:58:22Z")
I once read an account - I it might have been from one of the ill-fated attempts to find a Northwest Passage - where the European explorers flat-out ignored the attempt by the locals to warn them about polar bear liver (apparently seal liver, too?) and, when they killed one of the bears they made a stew out of the liver. And ate heartily. Sufficiently to cause immediate poisoning symptoms. Not every one died from that meal, but the crushing headache, vomiting, and skin peeling off, among other symptoms, corrected their views on the locals throwing out “valuable” meat. So yes, eating it once could hurt you bad. It all depends on how much of it you eat, and if you’re hungry/starving moderation might be hard to maintain given that you don’t need to eat very much to cause some really painful results. ---
**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:** [March 2, 2021, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/150 "2021-03-02T22:13:47Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > There was at least one expedition that failed because so many of them died from vitamin A poisoning, as a result of eating polar bear liver. The Inuit knew not to eat it themselves, or even feed it to their dogs, but the explorers didn’t know that, and were accidentally poisoned. [Douglas Mawson](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-most-terrible-polar-exploration-ever-douglas-mawsons-antarctic-journey-82192685/) and his companion Mertz were forced to eat some of their sled dogs on an expedition to Antarctica when one of the other members fell into a crevasse with the sled with most of the supplies. Mertz died, and Mawson became severely ill, probably from vitamin A poisoning from eating the livers of their huskies. ---
**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:** [March 2, 2021, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/151 "2021-03-02T22:46:20Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > Why did they stop eating brisket and ribs and chicken wings and oxtails? When exactly did white people stop eating those things? All those things were common on our dinner table growing up in the 1960s (although chicken wings would not have been served separately). ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2021, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/152 "2021-03-04T14:14:46Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > When exactly did white people stop eating those things? When they were given to slaves to form the basis of Black Southern Soul Food. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2021, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/153 "2021-03-04T14:27:13Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > I’ve never actually tried chicken feet. Many Jews hold that it isn’t real chicken soup if it doesn’t include the feet. My wife has observed that since the pandemic the chicken soup isn’t as good as it used to be. I haven’t had the heart to tell her it’s because she’s around all the time, so I can’t put chicken feet in the stock the way I used to. Necks and backs make good stock by themselves, but a half pound of chicken feet thrown in add a lot of collagen and really improve the stock. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2021, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/154 "2021-03-04T15:29:27Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > . I haven’t had the heart to tell her it’s because she’s around all the time, so I can’t put chicken feet in the stock the way I used to. Isn’t it time she learned the secret of the delicious factor? ---
**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:** [March 4, 2021, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/155 "2021-03-04T15:52:11Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > When they were given to slaves to form the basis of Black Southern Soul Food. White people never stopped eating those things. Possibly rich Southerners didn’t eat them, but poor whites and white people in the North certainly did, ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2021, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/156 "2021-03-04T20:25:10Z")
She’s ask me to stop, and I wouldn’t lie about what’s in food, so then I’ll be stuck. I already end up cooking around her prejudices more than I like, and I use chicken stock in so many things I’m not going to take a chance on having to keep two different versions. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2021, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/157 "2021-03-04T20:27:45Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > She’s ask me to stop, Really? Even though she knows she likes the taste better with feet in? ---
**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:** [March 4, 2021, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/158 "2021-03-04T21:04:29Z")
When I was a kid, we always had feet in the chicken soup. I really miss that. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2021, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/159 "2021-03-04T22:23:26Z")
I’ve only had chicken feet at dim sum or when someone brings drunken chicken to the potluck. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2021, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/160 "2021-03-04T22:40:42Z")
Me, too. But I’ve bought them to make chicken broth. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156.md?page=9)