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Enjoying animals

For many this phrase might conjure images of pets or seeing certain fauna in the wild.  Some in the air, land or water.  Dense jungles perhaps or a fancy safari on the continent.

I am referring to the animals on a plate.  I was not born a carnivore.  Far from it.  Growing up in a middle class household in Bombay (now Mumbai) we were not much of food explorers or critics.  We just ate it as a requirement couple times a day and moved on.  As a child I could discern a dish that my mom made versus an aunt's twist on the same.  I spent equal parts surviving in a day care as I did at home so the day care lady had her own take on what constituted food.  All of the above was 100% non animal meat based diet.

Then I got to meet a friend couple of my dads.  This family had their roots in the coastal part of the state and were fans of seafood.  I got introduced to my first prawn and fish on a plate at their place.  Then came another friend who brought a pink slender meat tube which we cooked on a skillet.  These were the pork sausages produced by a local Farm Coop.  I was hooked.

An entire portfolio of food was now opened to me.  Taste, texture and the feeling of happiness on consuming said protein was on a new scale.  While to this day I enjoy vegetarian cuisine I can say that I am an equal fan of edible items that once had parents.  I enjoy most of the meat cooked in either a sauce, or on a grill, minced or filet and some seafood in raw form too.  Fresher the better.  Like the one time we ate it in a Tokyo seafood market hours after it went from swimming in the local sea to a bowl in our hand.  To all those creatures I thank you.

I will try to remember what species I have had the pleasure of consuming the last couple decades (when I really ramped my exploration of the animal kingdom).

Chicken
Duck
Ostrich

Frog
Snake
Alligator

Cow
Pig
Lamb
Goat
Deer
Bison

Tuna
Cod
Salmon
Perch
Walleye
Turbot
Pomfret/Pompano
Rockfish
Crawfish/Crayfish (from fresh water)
Shrimp
Lobster
Langustine (salt water small lobster)
Eel
Sea Urchin
Snails
Cuttlefish

No camel, insects or other avian species other than those listed.   I do believe insects will constitute a major development in the developed world's appreciation of efficient protein in the days to come.

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