Fw: (VN) Dog meat in Vietnam

[Guest guest]

In Vietnam at least, Korean hotdogs make for tempting World Cup grub by

Philippe Perdriau, Agence France-Presse

 

HANOI, Jan 17 (AFP) - Dogmeat may not be welcome in the FIFA box at this

summer's World Cup football fixtures in South Korea, but to the millions of

Vietnamese fans expected to tune in it's the perfect post-match fare.

 

The world football governing body's calls on Seoul to outlaw the delicacy

before the tournament kicks off in May meet with blank incomprehension in

this football-crazy but unapologetically dog-devouring nation.

 

The Vietnamese capital alone boasts more than 300 specialist dogmeat outlets

which service its voracious appetite for man's best friend.

 

The Nhat Tan neighbourhood by the Red River on the capital's northern

outskirts is made up almost entirely of dog restaurants, while the village

of Cao Ha, 40 kilometres (25 miles) to the south, makes a living keeping

them in meat.

 

For generations, a dogmeat dinner washed down with liberal amounts of beer

or rice wine has been seen as a traditional male night-out.

 

" Eat dogmeat now or you won't be able to enjoy it in paradise, " an old

Vietnamese saying goes.

 

So what better place to retire to watch the live TV coverage or conduct the

post-match analysis with some friends?

 

" I eat dogmeat at least twice a month, " says 38-year-old construction

ministry engineer Nguyen Manh Dung proudly as he tucks into a seven-course

set menu at one of Hanoi's most popular dog restaurants. " It's a great

delicacy and it's cheap. "

 

Very cheap. The set meal works out at less than two dollars a head, an

affordable treat for most even in impoverished Vietnam.

 

Do it at home and the meat will cost just 1.60 dollars a kilo. And you would

struggle to spend more than a dollar more on the local alcohol without going

home horizontally.

 

Dogmeat is normally only eaten in the second half of the lunar month when it

is regarded as auspicious. It is believed to help general health and fitness

as well as male virility and business.

 

Virtually every part of the canine anatomy winds up on the dinner table,

right down to the penis and scrotum.

 

" My customers particularly like the dogmeat mince and sausages I serve, "

says restaurateur Tran Muc.

 

A very spicy fermented shrimp sauce known as mam tom is one of the most

popular accompaniments and its sickly sweet aroma hangs over the whole dog

restaurant district.

 

On a busy day Muc's restaurant can get through as many as 100 dogs, although

smaller eateries consume as few as 20.

 

Chows are the most popular breed, with animals weighing between seven and 10

kilos the most in demand from diners.

 

And business is booming at Muc's restaurant as canine cuisine in Vietnam,

like football in Europe, breaks out of its traditional male preserve.

 

" Before my customers were almost all men, but these days we get more and

more women coming, either with their families or with colleagues from work.

 

" Most nights there are queues of people waiting for a table, "

 

Muc gloats, adding that his daily takings now regularly run into thousands

of dollars.

 

Vietnamese are unapologetic about a culinary adventurism which also sees

mice, armadillos and even cobras and locusts wind up on dinner tables here,

although they are aware that it is not a taste shared by many Westerners.

 

" We get the odd Westerner but my customers are overwhelmingly Asian,

particularly Chinese and Koreans, " says Tran Kim Thu, who runs a dog

restaurant aimed at foreigners hard by Hanoi's diplomatic quarter.

 

For the communist authorities here, dogmeat is simply part of a

millennia-old culture which Vietnam and the two Koreas share with their

giant neighbour China and there should be no question of Seoul giving into

Western pressure to outlaw it.

 

" Banning dogmeat has never even been discussed here because it's a

traditional part of Vietnamese cuisine, " says the head of the health

ministry's food hygiene department, Hoang Thuy Tien.

 

" And I don't think it should be outlawed in South Korea either although they

ought to be discreet and sensitive about the trade (during the World Cup).

 

" Every country has its own tradition and character which should be

respected. "

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 1/19/02 6:21:46 PM Pacific Standard Time, john

writes:

 

 

> HANOI, Jan 17 (AFP) - Dogmeat may not be welcome in the FIFA box at this

> summer's World Cup football fixtures in South Korea, but to the millions of

> Vietnamese fans expected to tune in it's the perfect post-match fare.

>

> The world football governing body's calls on Seoul to outlaw the delicacy

> before the tournament kicks off in May meet with blank incomprehension in

> this football-crazy but unapologetically dog-devouring nation.

>

> The Vietnamese capital alone boasts more than 300 specialist dogmeat outlets

> which service its voracious appetite for man's best friend.

>

 

While on this subject, I want to point out that if you call Orange County's

pound in California, you will get a recorded message allowing you to select

more messages in English or, hold on to your seats, VIETNAMESE! No other

languages offered (at least not at the time I called last). I spoke with

someone from the pound about this and she assured me that they are aware that

SOME Vietnamese eat dog, but they " keep records " to see if they get return

adopters. I wonder how safe these people would feel if, say, they were

adopting children to NAMBLA members. What is the difference, really? Just

because you are a member of NAMBLA doesn't necessarily mean you will molest a

child, does it? Personally, I am sick to death of the absurd " politically

correct " climate we, as a country, seem to be taking. What ever happened to

COMMON SENSE?

R. Allen