Hundreds of dormice seized in mafia raid

Is disgust all in the mind? One person’s meat is another person’s poison, says the proverb. But should humans be allowed to eat anything they like or should some dishes be banned? The drugs raid was going well. Over 700 illegal cannabisA tall plant. When parts of it are smoked or eaten, it can have a mind-altering effect. plants had been found at the farm in Reggio Calabria, and now the search was being extended to nearby buildings. Suddenly, the police stumbled on an extraordinary find: not guns, not bundles of stolen banknotes, but…cages full of dormice. The small rodents are a favourite food of the ‘Ndrangheta, a Mafia clan based in southern Italy. One of the world’s richest criminal gangs, they have made a fortune smuggling drugs. Dormice have been eaten in Italy since the time of the Romans. Stuffed with pork mince and baked, they were regarded as a rare delicacy. Now protected by law as an endangered species, they are still served up secretly in some restaurants. Many of the dishes regarded as delicacies in other ages, and by other cultures, can seem completely revolting. Other Roman treats included garum, a sauce made from fish intestines steeped in salt. At royal banquets in China, raw monkeys’ brains were served. Roasted cats, peacocks cooked in their feathers and pies filled with live frogs featured in medieval feasts. The city of MalmöA coastal city in the west of Sweden. even has a Disgusting Food Museum, with 85 nauseating dishes on display from 30 countries. They include kungu cake, a pudding made from hundreds of crushed flies; fried locusts; and a drink made from frogs and quails’ eggs. But the fact that these dishes existed at all indicates that some people were happy to tuck into them. Is disgust all in the mind? Rank banquets Some say, yes. There are lots of things we refuse to eat because we think they look disgusting, but which we might find delicious if we ate them blindfolded. The very fact that some people like what others consider revolting shows that no food is intrinsicallyIn an essential or natural way. nice or nasty. Just as Europeans consider some Asian dishes weird, many Asians are put off by the idea of eating pizza. Others argue that disgust is an instinctive physical reaction which prevents us from eating food that is harmful. If some dishes are enjoyed in some parts of the world but not in others, it is because different cultures have different levels of tolerance. There are some things that no one would eat unless they were absolutely desperate – and even then they would probably be sick.