Aquarium worker makes turtle stew and people whine about it.

February 8, 2001 8:53 AM

Aquarium worker makes turtle stew and people whine about it. The animal was dead already. Why is eating it any worse than throwing it out? I killed a moose with my car once and I was more than happy to see someone haul it away to his freezer. People are so silly.
posted by bondcliff (17 comments total)

Your case -- of a random driver killing a moose, then distributing the meat for food -- is a different case than that of someone in the role of a guardian to the animal. Veterinarians don't feed their clients' lost pets to other animals. It is a question of appearances, yes, but also one of dividing loyalties.

The equivalent would be your financial advisor waiting until you were bankrupt, then buying up your property on the cheap. He might say that you were bankrupt anyway, and someone should profit. But that position opens up all kinds of uncomfortable ethical territories.
posted by argybarg at 10:16 AM on February 8, 2001

I wished they'd have given more description of the kind of soup he made. Turtle soup sounds gooooood...
posted by Neb at 10:30 AM on February 8, 2001

I've had turtle before. I like it, but It's not as tasty as a nice roasted spotted owl.
posted by bondcliff at 10:55 AM on February 8, 2001

They just, you know, REALLY Really love animals.
posted by th3ph17 at 11:01 AM on February 8, 2001

Nobody tell the chefs at the Shedd Aquarium (they'll cater a fish dinner fundraiser for you).
posted by dhartung at 11:47 AM on February 8, 2001

Beautiful Soup, so rich and green, waiting in a hot tureen!
posted by grimmelm at 12:16 PM on February 8, 2001

Turtle tastes a lot like porpoise. But we all know that's just the chicken of the sea.

Mmmmm... chicken...

posted by Neale at 1:49 PM on February 8, 2001

Actually, in China (and probably many other places), people drink turtle soup all the time. I've never had it myself, but my parents have. Neither of them like it much, but to many people it's just another soup.
posted by swank6 at 1:49 PM on February 8, 2001

How the hell did you hit a moose and not die youself? Those things are huge! Like smacking straight into a wall, of meat.

And back to the original topic, I must agree with argybarg.
posted by fiery at 2:32 PM on February 8, 2001

I heard a story that in China, a few years back, a peasant had killed and eaten a panda. This is a somewhat different case, since he killed the animal on purpose so he could eat it. Anyway, the authorities found out about it and had him executed.

I think I read this story in a Lonely Planet guidebook. I don't know whether or not it's true.
posted by Loudmax at 2:53 PM on February 8, 2001

Mmmmm... Panda soup sounds even better...
posted by Neb at 3:33 PM on February 8, 2001

Panda tastes like sloth. I don't recommend it. Orang-utan? Now there's a meat I can enjoy!

posted by Neale at 4:02 PM on February 8, 2001

I live in Alaska, where you can't throw a pair of antlers out your window without hitting someone who's hit a moose. My dad's hit two. You don't usually die from hitting a moose, as long as you're buckled, but it'll probably total your car, and the moose doesn't like it much either. We have signs all over the place saying "Give Moose A Brake", with the number of moose killed in the area so far in the winter. It's always in the hundreds... (and I live in a small, small town)
posted by premiumpolar at 6:57 PM on February 8, 2001

In today's China
peasants hunt endangered camels
with guile and land mines.
posted by dhartung at 7:07 PM on February 8, 2001

"So when the camels come to drink they step on them, bang! They are blown to pieces and picked up as meat."

Cool! Sounds much easier than fighting the crowds at CostCo!
posted by Neb at 7:34 PM on February 8, 2001

Panda soup? Yuck. Go out and get a Chicken -- perfect for all trend-setting palettes -- good in soups, stews and garnishes of all kinds. And guys and gals -- remember, you don't have to run the thing over with your car like the hairy moose. Just go to your friendly neighborhood grocery and pick one up -- it couldn't be easier or more convenient. Up-to-date, thoroughtly modern Chicken -- no longer your mother's bird.
posted by leo at 8:37 PM on February 8, 2001

IMO eating turtle soup is just a perk if you work at an aquarium. That financial advisor example is cool -- except that the real-life 'victim' is a turtle and not a person. Turtles ain't people in my book.

As an aside -- turtle soup was a big delicacy in Victorian England, or at least it's presented that way in Victorian novels. Oysters were the food of the poor then too... not anymore unfortunately.
posted by josh at 9:37 PM on February 8, 2001