Dog Meat In Spotlight During 2018 Winter Olympics In South Korea

The issue of dog meat trade and consumption come under international spotlight with the upcoming Winter Olympics in S. Korea.

Around 2 million dogs each year are bred on dog meat farms for human consumption in South Korea, according to the Associated Press. They are often raised in cruel conditions, beaten or left without food before they are slaughtered. It’s a practice deeply ingrained in South Korean culture, with many believing that eating dog meat increases virility and energy.

First of all there are two separate issues here in that paragraph. The first is the cruel treatment of dogs. It doesn't matter whether the dogs are for pets or food. Cruel treatment of them is not OK. And it also doesn't matter if they are dogs, cats, cows, lamb, chickens, etc. The standard is the same. So protest against the cruel treatment has nothing to do with the animals being dogs.

The second issue is more important, i.e. the disgust certain people have with the consumption of dog meat. This is also true on why here in the US, we can't eat horse meat. People associate dogs with pets, cuddly and lovable, and thus, such animals should not be eaten.

This is what I have a problem with, because we seem to forget that (i) many cultures and religions do not allow eating ANY type of meat and consider these animals' lives to be of value, (ii) in Hinduism, a cow is a sacred animal. Yet, we disrespect Hindus by not only killing these animals, but also eating them, and eating them in massive quantities!

So which is worse? Killing and eating animals that someone considers as a pet, or killing and eating animals that someone considers as sacred, to be worshipped?

We seem to be quick in finding what is wrong with someone else, without realizing that someone else also finds a lot of things wrong with what we do. If we wish to impose our standards and moral high ground on others, then why aren't we letting someone else's standards and moral grounds on us? Isn't that only fair?

You don't want to eat a dog and find it disgusting. Fine. Someone else finds your consumption of a cow equally disgusting. You find a Guinea pig to be cuddly pet, yet it is historically an important food source for the people in Peru and Chile.

So before you think of calling the kettle black.....

Zz.

My Most Favorite Korean Restaurant

We have many Korean restaurants in the vicinity (hooray!), but this one remains my favorite. It is the New Seoul BBQ Korean restaurant.

Don't expect slick decor, or anything fancy. This is a place where the food is the main attraction and nothing else. And as with any ethnic restaurant, my rule-of-thumb is, if the population and demographics can support it, the majority of the clientele must be of that ethnicity or else it is not a good restaurant. This rule certainly is alive and well at this restaurant, where you will see plenty of Koreans and other Asians on any given day.

If you order any of the items that is grilled at the table (such as the Bulgolgi), then they will bring out a charcoal pit/hibachi to your table. This is one of the few Korean BBQ joint that still uses charcoal pit instead of gas hibachi. I think it adds flavor to the food being grilled.

Here is a picture of what we had a couple of weeks ago.

It was scrumptious!

It is definitely one of my on-rotation restaurants.

Zz.