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Illegal Foods and How to Eat Them
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Sometimes traveling abroad means engaging in certain activities that might be considered illegal back home. Nothing very serious, mind you, like smoking a Cuban cigar for example (if you happen to be American).
The alluring of that which is forbidden seems even stronger when it involves food. This, of course, makes crossing international borders to place contraband in your mouth all the more exciting.
Flirting with the Forbidden, a recent article in Travel and Leisure, discusses the attraction of such culinary adventures. The article kicks off with an illegal dinner in New York in which a dozen ortolan were smuggled into the country and consumed whole. Ortolan are small, endangered songbirds which bring a $10,000 fine if one is caught hunting them in France.
Ortolans are illegal to eat regardless of where they are consumed. Flirting with the Forbidden, however, mostly focuses on food which is prohibited in certain parts of the world but which can be consumed legally in other parts. Foie gras, for example, is becoming increasingly difficult to buy in America as various states have begun prohibiting its production and sale.
Foie gras is just one of many delicacies that foodie Roberto Badin sheds big crocodile tears over. New legislation in the States has recently been preventing a whole host of exotic foods from entering our mouths; beluga caviar, wild mushrooms, live lobsters, Brie de Meaux, jamon iberico, and even unpasteurized milk. Badin even laments over the impossibility of buying a hamburger in the United States cooked rare as many regional health ordinances require the patties to be heated to 160 degrees at the minimum. "Every week, it seems, another menu item--from foie gras to Chilean sea bass, trans fats to organic spinach--is ostracized as unhealthy, environmentally destructive, morally shameful, or downright lethal." Badin comments. And it's true.
So what steps can a foodie take to indulge in such culinary contraband? Smuggling is one option slyly suggested. In fact, Badin goes so far as to actually confess his contraband of choice: mangsteens. I sure hope that's a pseudonym, Mr. Badin! Otherwise customs is going to have some fun with you the next time you return next from Thailand.
America has a lot of silly and also a lot of very legitimate food laws that should be honored or broken depending upon what they are. We here at Gadling certainly don't suggest you go smuggling in your favorite unpasteurized French cheese next time you fly home, but we do suggest that you travel abroad to exercise your food rights and chow down on all those goodies you can't have back home in America.
Just don't sue us if you get sick.
Filed under: Food and Drink
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Willy Jan 16th 2007 7:58AM
"...we do suggest that you travel abroad to exercise your food rights and chow down on all those goodies you can't have back home in America..."
Sorry, Neil. I disagree with you completely. Many food laws are in place to protect endangered or soon-to-be-endangered species. For example, illegal shark finning butchers between 73 and 100 million sharks each year -- so that some Asian cultures can enjoy shark fin soup (See: http://www.divester.com/2006/09/27/73-million-sharks-killed-each-year/ and http://www.divester.com/2006/12/06/australias-shark-populations-collapsing/). While many people may not *like* sharks and don't care what happens to them, removing a single species from an ecosytem -- especially an animal as important as a shark! -- can cause irreversible harm. Think: ecosystem collapse.
It's not a "right" to eat animals whose populations are dwindling rapidly. It's not a "right" to massacre entire species so that a few needy people can demonstrate their self-worth. What IS right is to spread the word about shark finning, its ecological consequences, and what you can do to stop it.
BTW -- cheilean sea bass is a protected species, too, and shouldn't be eaten. It's delicious, to be sure, but soon there won't be any left (http://www.endangeredfishalliance.org/chileanseabass.htm).
I think your posts are great, Neil, but this one was irresponsible.
Tiara Jan 16th 2007 8:35AM
Mangosteens are banned in USA? Why?
You silly, silly people. ;)
(native of Malaysia, where mangosteens are common and appreciated)
Marc Jan 16th 2007 11:46AM
Tiara wrote: "Mangosteens are banned in USA? Why?"
It's not the mangosteen itself that is the problem in the USA, but the insects, fungi, mites and other pests about which the U.S. Dept of Agriculture is concerned. The NY Times had a story a few months ago on the mangosteen, and a devoted grower in Puerto Rico who will soon be selling his crop in the U.S. It also said that Thailand would be irradiating mangosteen and exporting them to the USA.
When I have traveled to Asia, I always am sure to enjoy mangosteens.
I agree with Willy's comment: there is no "right" to eat endangered species.
Neil Jan 16th 2007 12:56PM
Willy,
I completely agree with you.
The intention of the post was in no way promoting the consumption of endangered animals and if anyone has misconstrued it as such, I apologize. There are plenty of other food items, such as Thai fruit, that are illegal here in the states and which should be tried while abroad. This was the culinary adventure of which I speak. Eating shark fin soup, endangered songbirds, and other animals which might soon disappear from this planet is just WRONG. Thanks for pointing this out so I can better clarify my post: eat as much as you can while abroad that is illegal back home, UNLESS IT IS ENDANGERED! Then put down the fork and slowly back away.
Neil
Webguy Jan 22nd 2007 7:00AM
Only America wants you to take as many pills as possible, as seen on t.v., but food is bad. Cigarettes are unhealthy, but the government still allows there production, but food is bad. People have eaten unpasteurised cheese throughout history, across the world, but because of the threat of listeria, it is banned. Lunch meats from the grocery store have more listeria than cheese. FYI, cheese is a bacterial process. The American publis has mass flouridation in it's water supplies, and we are one of the few western countries to still allow this mass drugging of a population. Hmmmm!
Webguy Jan 22nd 2007 7:14AM
Let's just keep eating beef, with hormones, and American cheese, with food coloring. Firget anything natural and healthy. Lets consume more vegetable oils, when all studies show it is actually as bad if not worse than tallow, or lard.
Webguy Jan 22nd 2007 7:16AM
Most of these foods would be more safe to comsume if the American farmer and the processing plants would be more careful. How many e-coli stories do we hear about in beef, because feces is allowed to be mixed with meat.
Bec Jac Jan 22nd 2007 9:00AM
#1 Willy,
..if you buy American shark you won't have to worry about finning because its illegal. You can't just bring the fins to the fish house to be sold, the whole shark has to be sold.
Jaculs Jan 22nd 2007 10:09AM
The Marlon Brando/Matthew Broderick flick, "The Freshman" (1990) [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099615/] spoofs the culinary necessity of eating "different" foods, and the extremes people will go to to get them. Mildly entertaining, it also satirizes the need to consume exotic foods in a world where over 30,000 children die per day as a direct result of poverty, [approx one every three seconds, which mean at least a couple died as you read this], and would settle for a cup of plain broth & rice.
Bon Appetit!
Peace.
shane Jan 25th 2007 7:21PM
I'm with Willy. I hardly think advocating smuggling or eating endangered or threatened species is approporiate. The laws are in place for a reason - mainly to keep certain segments of the world population from eating certain animals into extinction, spreading disease and parasites to the rest of us, and from enjoying animal cruelty.
judy Jan 22nd 2007 10:48AM
Silly me! I just knew this was going to be an article about how to balance out the occassional piece of chocolate cake calorie wise!
Sad..that there are some people so monied and bored that this is the new juvenille kick.?
Ima Wurdibitsch Jan 22nd 2007 11:40AM
I understand and appreciate banning the sale and consumption of certain endangered animals. I wouldn't be a responsible world citizen if I participated in the removal of another species.
What I don't like is some authority telling me I can't have something because of a potential danger. What happened to common sense? Personal responsibility? I'd love to try an unpasteurized cheese or jamon iberico. In nicer restaurants, I'll order a burger medium rare. Due to common sense and personal responsibility, I won't order my burger medium rare at the local fast food joint. From the distributor to the store and all the steps in between culminating with the teenager preparing it... well, I'm not going to risk my health for what would likely be a mediocre burger.
I also don't like foods being banned for their supposed cruelty to the animal. I'm so glad I was able to recently try foie gras (you can read about this at my blog). It seems foie gras is being removed from the legal lists in many states. I don't ask if my beef or poultry or pork came from a gently executed cow, chicken, or pig. I'm not bloodthirsty, either. I just don't expect to eat meat only from animals that have died from natural causes.
Mike Robinson Jan 22nd 2007 11:49AM
anybody who watches the 'parasite' stories on Animal Planet- including the woman who had tapeworm larvae in her brain- would NEVER eat undercooked meat again!
Steve Jan 22nd 2007 1:07PM
Neil, you wrote about "New legislation in the States has recently been preventing a whole host of exotic foods from entering our mouths; beluga caviar, wild mushrooms, live lobsters, Brie de Meaux, jamon iberico, and even unpasteurized milk." While I don't go for some of those items, unpasteurized milk, bought from the right place, is perfectly safe. In fact (yup - it's really true), pasteurizing is a process that converts a fresh food source into a more "industrial commodity". It is only necessary if the milk has bacteria, and will be sitting somewhere for a long time. And the farmer is too lazy to do the observations and/or testing to keep the milk safe. The process of pasteurizing destroys most of the nutritional value of the milk and converts it to a suspension of milkfat and lactose. Add a little drug residue and maybe some leftover BGH and now you have something really legal, but really nasty. And we then get to see ads from the corporate giants to add more of that to our diet - even tho milk isn't one of the best ways to try and get calcium!
Brenda Siegelman Jan 22nd 2007 1:35PM
This is a good dialog.The Brando/Brodeerick film "The Freshman" addresses the topic well. People should be free to choose the foods that they prefer as long as they do not choose endangered species, or foods that would not exist if the animals that produce them were not subjected to extreme cruelty (foie de gras).
If a person is concerned with the treatment of animals used for foods, and the methods of animal slaughter, there is always the option of vegetarianism, or,the buying and eating of Kosher meats and poultry exclusively.
As human beings, linked to all other living beings, we need to pay attention to, (and try to eradicate) world hunger. If we wish to have a future, we also would do well to respect the planetary ecosystem & the fragile web of life.
I too, only ended up on this site, because I thought I would be reading tips on nutrition, or good news, like when we found out that coffee, black and green tea, red wine and dark chocolate, (consumed in moderation), can be good for you.
OJOROJO Jan 22nd 2007 1:39PM
WE ARE CONSUMERS, WE AS HUMANS ARE MEANT TO EAT ANYTHING WE FEEL LIKE ENDANGERED OR NOT WHO ARE WE TO TRY TO CHANGE SOMEONES CULTURE OR TRY TELLING PEOPLE WHAT NOT TO EAT. ALL YOU PETA PEOPLE SHOULD KEEP IT REAL AND EAT A BUFFALO STEAK JUST LIKE YOUR ANCESTORS DID. ON THE OTHER HAND, I'M GOING TO DRIVE TO A REMOTE BUT FAMILIAR PART OF BAJA CALIFORNIA AND WINE AND DINE ON A 200$ PLATE OF CAUAMA (SEA TURTLE OR IS IT TORTUGA MARINA) EITHER WAY IT'S A TREAT I'VE ALWAYS LOOKED FOWARD TO.
Jessica Jan 23rd 2007 12:59PM
Hmmm...have some of you ever taken a microbiology class? Listeria is not the main problem in unpasterized cheese. You don't only get E. Coli from feces (well, not the animal's feces anyway) but can get it from incorrect handwashing.
A dairy farmer can do everything right and you can still get sick from unpasterized milk. Why didn't people back in the day? First off, they probably did, it just wasn't reported. Second, they had more microflora to deal with those bugs and more natural immunity.
yvette Jan 22nd 2007 1:40PM
Mike wrote: "anybody who watches the 'parasite' stories on Animal Planet- including the woman who had tapeworm larvae in her brain- would NEVER eat undercooked meat again!"
Sorry, Mike...not true. I love steak tartar (raw meat)! I've spent most of my life in the food industry, here and abroad, and I KNOW the difference between "safe" and "unsafe" foods. Proper preparation and handling is key!
I also agree with Webguy's post: "...but food is bad. People have eaten unpasteurised cheese throughout history, across the world, but because of the threat of listeria, it is banned. Lunch meats from the grocery store have more listeria than cheese. FYI, cheese is a bacterial process..."
Cheese is a bacterial process. I have NEVER become ill from eating unpasteurized cheese, but have had problems digesting the over-processed lunch meats and cheeses in the U.S. See, the rest of the world has a more natural approach to food. I don't know about you but I'd rather take my chances of becoming ill by eating natural foods.
And thank you, Ima Wurdibitsch! Ditto! I second your emotions!
LuLuBear Jan 22nd 2007 1:40PM
Mmm! Yes, mangosteens are delicious.
Julia Jan 22nd 2007 3:37PM
ma...you don't like food being banned because of supposed cruelty to animals...now I love to eat meat and will even wear some firs, BUT Foie gras is absolutely appalling. in order for it to be good it needs to be fatty and enlarged...so what do they do...shove a pipe down the birds throat that stays there 24-7 and constantly pumps feed into the birds stomach until they are ready to kill the bird, or it dies itself. You're not blood thirsty...but lets get a little educated before we talk about "supposed" cruelty to animals....or you can keep putting your head down and pretend it doesn't exist...
This article clearly has got me steamed, just on the endangered species part. it is sad to see that people still find humor in the demise of an entire species.