Jennifer C: Strauss, what a Pig

Summary: “The Abominable Pig”

In “The Abominable Pig”, Marvin Harris argues between the religious-cultural and the ecological-economic reasons for having a taboo on pork. Harris first poses facts to the benefit of eating pork simply that pigs can gain more weight per pound of food eaten in a shorter time frame than any other animal, and with such a benefit why would people choose not to eat pork.

Religion plays a part in forbidding pork with ideas that pigs are unclean, in many different respects. Though a closer look shows that other animals that have been deemed okay to eat share same characteristics with pigs, characteristics that have made pork an unholy meat to eat. Harris looks at the economic and ecological rationale for the taboo of pork. One, pigs are not an animal build for the hot dessert areas of the Israelites home; they cannot sweat so they need external means to keep them cool. Another reason, pigs can only gain weight by eating vegetables and other food that would be reserved for humans.

There is evidence to show that there have been pig herds and eaters throughout the region. Pigs, compared to other animals, have always been too costly especially when pigs can only serve as meat. Other animals have been forbidden in religious text to eat, but to stays to wonder if they were forbidden only due to the fact that it would have been a waste of time trying to catch and eat such animals. There is no prove to the fact but the evidence would suggest that rather than explaining why it’s better not to eat much animals, the animals are in term forbidden.

Summary: “The Culinary Triangle”

In “The Culinary Triangle” Lévi-Strauss argues that food, like language, has different social context throughout different social groups. Strauss beings with what he calls the “vowel triangle” and adapts it to three categories of food: raw, cooked, and rotted, represented as roasted, smoked, and boiled respectfully.

Strauss stresses that different cultures have different social meaning and rites tied to these categories of cooking. Most cultures have a distinct social conceptual difference between boiled food and roasted food. Boiled represents: ‘endo-cuisine’, family, woman, rotten and concave; while roasted represents: ‘exo-cuisine’, guest, man, raw, and convex. Boiled and roasted are the ying and yang of a society, that each symbolizes a radically different image in each society. Smoking is looked at as a subcategory of roasting but is set at a side of the triangle as base for other subcategories, unique to each culture, within the culinary triangle.

Strauss states that the cooking of a society is like a language that unconsciously translates the structure of that society. This means that even food, a basic need for all human survival, can illuminate others to the social network of a foreign culture.

Compare and Contrast:

Both “The Culinary Triangle” and “The Abominable Pig” illustrates that there are social forces behind food. Strauss talks about the social image of food where Harris talks about physical social restraint toward a particular animal. Harris’ piece gives facts and historical evidence to his audience, where Strauss gives observation and unspoken context about food in his piece. They both look at the social concept of food where Harris is more direct; Strauss is giving readers the insight into an anthropological view of the society and food.