Contingency Cannibalism--

[Ripostal Clerk]

i.e., eating another human being purely for survival purposes, ala the Uraguayan Rugby Team in Alive.

Could you do it?

[swordwench]

Maybe with some fava beans and a nice chianti.

[Ripostal Clerk]

LOL, good ol' Hannibal...

[Philistine]

Depends on the preparation.

Here's a couple of good recipes (from Link):

Marinated Leg of Person

1 leg, about 3 kilos
6 cups dry cider
1 kilo carrots, sliced thinly
8 medium onions, sliced thinly
16 juniper berries
8 leaves sage, chopped
1/2 cup butter
2 whole nutmegs, grated
salt and pepper to taste

Combine half each of the cider, nutmeg and sage with 2 of the onions, the juniper berries and salt and pepper to taste. Cut the leg into slices about 1 cm. thick and over these pour the marinade. Refrigerate, covered, for 36 - 48 hours, turning the meat occasionally.

Remove the meat from the marinade and dry with toweling. Strain the marinade and to this add the remaining cider.

In a large flameproof casserole melt the butter and, over a high flame, brown the meat slices on both sides. Remove the slices, lower the flame and add the remaining onions and the carrots, cooking until the onions are softened. Pour in the marinade and bring to a boil. Add the remaining seasonings, replace the venison, cover and place in a medium oven for 1 1/2 hours. Serve hot directly from the casserole. Serves 6 - 8.


Person Stew

1 shoulder of person, about 2 1/2 kilo), dressed and cut into serving pieces
1 bottle dry red wine
1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
6 Tbsp. each bacon fat and flour
2 large onions, chopped coarsely
1 large carrot, chopped coarsely
3 stalks celery, chopped coarsely
3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
6 shallots, chopped coarsely
12 juniper berries
12 whole peppercorns
2 whole cloves
2 bay leaves, crushed
2 Tbsp. parsley, chopped
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. each thyme, oregano, basil and rosemary
salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper to taste

In a saucepan combine the wine, wine vinegar, olive oil, onions, carrot, shallots, celery, garlic, cloves and all of the herbs and spices. Bring just to a boil, immediately lower the flame and simmer for about 10 - 12 minutes. Remove from the flame and let cool for 1/2 hour.

Put the cup-up shoulder and giblets in a ceramic bowl and pour over the marinade. Marinate, covered, in the refrigerator for 2 - 3 days, turning the meat several times each day.

Remove the meat from the marinade and dry on toweling. Strain and reserve the marinade.

Sprinkle the meat with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to taste. In a skillet melt the bacon fat and in this brown the meat, slowly on all sides. Sprinkle over with flour, stir and continue to saute until the flour is absorbed and turns light brown. Add the strained marinade and simmer, covered until the meat is tender (45 - 60 minutes). Correct the seasoning, simmer for 5 minutes longer and serve hot. Serves 6.




Of course, if you're going to hunt your own, it makes sense to know how to get the best cuts

--Philistine

[ReverseLunge]

You need to stop living for the approval of others.

[Robert Smith]

You need to stop living for the approval of others.

Was that an intentional double entendre? Particularly given the topic...

[swordwench]

I've had this discussion with people a number of times. I've eaten some odd things in my life, and some were surprisingly edible, some surprisingly revolting - and in the end, I guess, meat is meat. I think my desire to continue living would trump any ethical issues I might have about eating humans. Oh, c'mon, you'd do the same, wouldn't you?

That said, here are a few rules I'd hope to follow:

1. There's nothing else available that I could eat that would keep me alive.
2. The meal-to-be is already dead. (I don't think I could whack somebody just to eat him. Maybe... maybe not.)
3. I'd prefer that the meat be cooked.
4. I couldn't eat a child.

Here's an actual exchange I overheard between my two kids (ages 3 and 5) a few months ago...

Kid 1: We don't eat persons. No, we never eat persons.
Kid 2: Not in THIS state!

[Ripostal Clerk]

I've had this discussion with people a number of times. I've eaten some odd things in my life, and some were surprisingly edible, some surprisingly revolting - and in the end, I guess, meat is meat.

Interestingly, it is said that human flesh tastes like... pork.

This would explain why South Pacific Islanders who still occasionally engage in cannibalism sometimes refer to humans as "long pig".

And perhaps it also has something to do with the religious-dietary laws of the major monotheistic religions, which forbid the consumption of pork and other "unclean meats".

[Zilverzmurfen]

i.e., eating another human being purely for survival purposes, ala the Uraguayan Rugby Team in Alive.

Could you do it?

I hope I will never have to find out.

[Maeve_Mari]

I dont think I could do it even if my life depended on it. I have to MUTE the television when watching them eat worms (and that other horrid stuff) on Fear Factor.

I hope I never have to find out.

[MikeHarm]

It would be kinda freaky but as long as the meat was prepared proper I'd probably be able to deal with it. Burgers would probably work best I think.

[Black Jeebus]

Really let's just all take a cue from South Park and agree the best plan of action is to eat Eric Roberts. After all who would miss Eric Roberts?

[ThatReallyHurt]

It'd be one thing to do it and survive, but wouldn't someone run the risk of going mad with guilt or something later on? That would be a horrible thing to live the rest of your life with.

There are long, cold winters with very lonely highways around here... however, I'm confident in my ability to live for quite some time through the magic of ketosis due to my comfortably thick layer of body fat...

Seriously though - I'm with the "I hope I never have to find out" crowd.

[Go? Fencing?]

Could you do it?

Could I? Probably. Would I? I don't think so.

[PeterGustafsson]

Hi!


I have a organ donation card in my wallet specifying that the surgeon can take my parts for the betterment of others when, and if, I am brain-dead. I sure hope that they cut out everything useful out of me - the alternative is that a perfectly good liver, heart, etc. goes to the worms.

If I were the first to die in a situation such as in the movie "Alive" (which was based on a true story, IIRC) I sure hope that those who outlive me let me help them. After I am dead, I am only useful as food.

I would probably taste quite bad - in many mammals, the full-grown male gets a bad taste due to testosterone effect on the meat.


Peter Gustafsson

[Fencergrl]

It would be kinda freaky but as long as the meat was prepared proper I'd probably be able to deal with it. Burgers would probably work best I think.

If I were stranded, and was offered a "people" burger... it better be made of the person who was responsible for the survival supplies. To make burgers, that person would have decided to pack a meat grinder, buns and hamburger condiments instead of flares, a radio, survival rations etc... therefore deserves to be the first to be eaten....

[BrianH]

So, when you say you want to have me for dinner sometime.....


Good thing I'm marbled.

[Fencergrl]

So, when you say you want to have me for dinner sometime.....

Good thing I'm marbled.

Nah... every hunter knows you take a nice young tender ones and leave the older bucks alone.... unless you really mess up with what to bring for survival gear, then all bets are off.

[Cipher]

The meat of carnivores and omnivores with a high meat intake is generally pretty nasty. Being old and, as Peter pointed out, being male tends to have a negative effect on the taste of meat. Therefore I would wait until a young vegetarian girl died. Might as well get the good stuff.

But seriously, I'd do it. Meat is meat. As soon as a person dies they are no longer a person, they are a slab of meat that is going to rot, stink and become a health hazard unless something is done with it.

[BrianH]

Therefore I would wait until a young vegetarian girl died. Might as well get the good stuff.

If I remember from reading Alive!, there was an informal moratorium against eating the female dead. And other rules evolved, against eating faces and genitals. That midnight snack, though, was a bit creepy. "Could you give me a hand here?"