A top Italian food writer has been suspended indefinitely from the country’s version of the television programme Ready Steady Cook for recommending stewed cat to viewers as a “succulent dish”. RAI, the public broadcasting network, said that it had dropped Beppe Bigazzi, 77, for offering the recipe on La Prova del Cuoco, which is broadcast at midday on the main channel. Its switchboard was inundated with complaints from viewers and animal rights groups. Bigazzi said that casserole of cat was a famous dish in his home region of Valdarno, Tuscany.
“I’ve eaten it myself and it’s a lot better than many other animals,” he told viewers. “Better than chicken, rabbit or pigeon.” He said that for optimum flavour the meat should be “soaked in spring water for three days” before being stewed. Elisa Isoardi, the programme’s presenter — who has a cat called Othello — tried to steer Bigazzi off the subject. Reports said that during the commercial break she and the show’s producers tried to persuade him to apologise to viewers but he refused. Carla Rocchi, the head of ENPA, the Italian society for the protection of animals, said that killing cats was illegal. Francesca Martini, the Deputy Health Minister, said it was “absolutely unheard of for a public service broadcaster to tell people how delicious cats are to eat”. She called for the producers to be investigated for criminal offences involving incitement to mistreat animals.
Bigazzi, a consumer affairs journalist and author of Cooking with Common Sense, has been one of the stars of La Prova del Cuoco for the past ten years. He is noted for his exuberant style and previously caused uproar by boiling lobsters live on the show.
I think I know where you guys are going to take this… and you may have a point, just leave me out of it.
#30 Yup, Dennis Leary said it best(paraphrase): “I’m an otter, I do cute little human things with my hands.” ‘Okay you can go, next.’ “I’m a peaceful cow.” ‘No, you’re a baseball glove.’
Sucks, but the ugly chicks have a hell of a time of it too. Way of the world I ‘spose.
I’ve dissected many cats, dogs and other “pets” during my medical studies. They don’t have “meat” as you would think like beef, chicken or fish. The meat is mostly muscles and it’s very interesting because they can be separated quite easily.
Think of it as chewing muscle, strands of them and see if that gives you a yummy image to go by 😀
#33, I though meat was muscles of animals. I am not sure where the New York strip comes from, but I know it has to be cow muscle of some kind. Correct me if I am wrong
Never tried it but why not. If I needed to I would. I probably would try it anyway. Screw PETA.
#34
you are wrong.
As I’ve said, their “meat” is not like the meat people usually think of. Meat in cats and dogs are more or less visible strands of muscles/ligaments that form layers that make up the meat. They are not “whole” like a slab of meat would be, or chicken breast or fish.
Between the layers of muscles and strands are these web-like tissues. If you ever see them, you probably puke. But ultimately they are easier to cut then say beef 😀
I don’t see how people could stand to eat such flesh but people do. Same applies for our human flesh, it’s not really meat like beef or chicken. Don’t believe me, cut your yourself deep and take a gander at the levels of flesh and what have.
And ultimately, you can’t really cook them like your could normally except boiling them just to have them “cooked.” BBQ-ing, frying, smoking, etc would not do the flesh any good, especially human flesh as it would just evaporate away and all you’re eating is skin and bone 😀
Well, I guess it’s out of the bag now.
Never mind cat, pussy is better because it tastes like, uh, pussy – WTF