Kaitlyn Goodin- Summary/Comparison of Harris and Levi-Strauss' Pieces

In "The Abominable Pig", Marvin Harris questions why pigs have been forbidden for the Israelites, regardless of the pig's potential productivity. Numerous religious writings have disapproved of the pig, marking them "unclean". Harris points out the contradiction of other animals that have unclean habits and that are not abominated. Many religious leaders have tried to explain the ban but few discussions exist. It was not until 1859 that science backed-up some of concerns with eating banned meat. Harris points out only some people were comforted by scientific discovery while others believe that the devine will should be followed regardless. When proper cooking did not rescue the pig, Harris points out that the taxonomy of the pig makes it "out-of-place"(57). Religious texts imply that one may only eat an animal that chews the cud and is of split hoof. This is what rules out the pig from consumption. Harris argues that this may have arisen because pigs are not ruminants and thus compete with humans for food. Also these religions began in hot arid climates which are not suitable for raising pigs. Pigs are thus costlier and offer no other benefits such as milk or wool. While pigs were raised it was not a very economical practice and the taboo surrounding them decrease their numbers even further. Furthermore deforestation decreased the suitable habitat for pigs. Harris also questions why the camel was not used as a food source. After some investigation he finds that the camel also was not a very economical food source. Harris concludes that these religious laws were created following preexisting practices and that they are created for the "nutritional and ecological welfare of their followers" (66).

In "The Culinary Triangle", Claude Levi-Strauss argues that the ideas behind the vowel and consonant triangles of language could also be applied to the world of cooking. He replaces the points of the triangle with "raw", "cooked" and "rotted". He believes that cooked is a "cultural transformation of raw" (37) and that "rotted is a natural transformation" (37). He then goes into a discussion of boiled and roasted. Levi-Strauss argues that boiled is sign of culture due to its uses of utensils and receptacles, whereas roasted as being natural. This brings to life the idea of "endo-cuisine" and "exo-cuisine" the idea that foods are prepared differently for families and larger groups of people. Other cultural differences include the difference between the sexes and social classes. Boiling is often seemed to be seen as more civilized than roasting. Levi-Strauss also brings smoking into the discussion. Smoking is the middle ground. With numerous examples of different societies and their cooking practices Claude Levi-Strauss concludes that " the art of cooking is not located entirely on the side of culture"(42), and every culture's cooking reveals quite a bit about its structure and contradictions.

Comparison:

Harris focuses in on one part of the cooking and food world, the abolition of certain food sources, while Levi-Strauss focuses in on the different cooking techniques. They both discuss the importance of culture on the types of food that humans consume.