Thursday, July 10, 2014

waste not

This evening I put some chicken feet and "trimmings" into the crockpot to make stock.  To prepare the feet, you have to cut off the claws;  I think I wrote about this a couple of years ago;  it's a rather weird experience.

I put the feet into a sinkful of cold water, got my poultry shears and went at it.  Chicken feet look like little witchy alien HANDS!  Only three "fingers" and a "thumb," cut off at the "wrist;"  the whole shebang being about four or five inches long.  You cut off the little fingertips, toss the foot in the pot and go on to the next....

In a land where our animal flesh comes in tidy trimmed pieces, it's educational to do jobs like this.  Most children, we hear, don't really have a firm idea of where their meat comes from, and heaven knows they won't get any hints if all they eat are things like chicken nuggets, tuna from a can, and hamburger neatly pressed into patties.  During my kids' growing-up years, they never even saw me cut up a whole chicken -- it's something I learned to do early, but ceased to NEED TO in the '70s.  Anyone my age or older will remember the awe we felt when we began seeing WHOLE BAGS of chicken breasts!  One used to have to buy a whole chicken to get a comparatively small amount of white-meat, and chickens used to be more of a luxury than it is now.  OF COURSE they used the rest of the bird for another dish -- people also used to be a lot more careful about waste in "the old days."

People who grow their own animals for meat (and some of the rest of us) I HOPE have a special sense of appreciation for the creatures we sacrifice so we can eat.  Remember in that charming movie, "The Gods Must Be Crazy," it was explained how the hunter apologizes to the animal for killing it, explaining how his family needs the meat....  So it should be with us, too.

We should acknowledge what we're doing when we eat meat, though we don't have to dwell on it like conscientious vegetarians do.  When it's possible, i'm sure we'd all feel better buying no products that weren't very humanely raised and slaughtered, but not everyone can afford grass-fed beef and its equivalents in other species -- until "the world changes" a lot of people must get along on feedlot meat and battery eggs.  I don't believe they should have to apologize to the finger-pointers ... but mentally apologizing to the pig, chicken or steer might be in order.

We should have respect for the animals we eat -- and ONE way of doing that is to waste as little as possible.  If another creature has to die to feed me (as I will feed the bacteria, etc, when I go), the LEAST I can do is have an attitude of gratitude.


  1. It is right - the desire to forget that we are eating body parts of animals leads to the disrespect of such food source and weisting.
    Tess, we also scorched chicken feet over a fire in order to remove the tough skin on the surface. However, I guess it could be easily removed after a boiling.

    1. I've heard of doing that scorching trick.... :-) the chicken feet I find in the store are (like most meats) pretty well ready-to-cook ... except for the claws.

  2. You're so right we do forget where our food comes from. That's why I enjoy buying the whole chicken and then slow cooking the remains for stock. It's actually part of the art of cooking and eating...for me.;)

    1. i'm still spoiled by the separate parts available, i'm afraid! :-) our favorites of J's techniques for broiling a chicken, though, require the chicken to be whole -- that's why with my packets of feet I also had a backbone and a set of giblets.

  3. Hi Tess

    Great post. One of the greatest animal waste’s was the American Bison. The Indians used every part of the animal and killed the bison when necessary. At one time there were tens of millions on the plains, nature, man and animals in perfect balance, until the white man turned up with rifles. Often killing just for the skins, the animals were left to rot. From Wiki

    “Bison hunting (hunting of the American bison) was an activity fundamental to the economy and society of the Plains Indian peoples who inhabited the vast grasslands on the Interior Plains of North America, prior to the animal's near-extinction in the late nineteenth century. The species' dramatic decline was the result of habitat loss due to the expansion of ranching and farming in western North America, industrial-scale hunting practised by non-indigenous hunters, increased indigenous hunting pressure due to non-indigenous demand for bison hides and meat (for example, the pemmican used by the Hudson's Bay Company to provision its fur brigades), and even cases of deliberate policy by settler governments to destroy the food source of the native Indian peoples.”

    The modern human race, the only animal stupid enough to eat food that is poisonous, and destroy and pollute our own environment. The so called “primitives” knew what they were doing. They killed to live, not for money.

    Kind regards Eddie

    1. so very correct, Eddie! fortunately, buffalo were protected before completely wiped out, but lots of species are not as lucky.

      the latest is, a certain mouse is endangered ON PUBLIC LANDS, and certain lease-holders who graze their cattle there are setting up a howl -- oh, we're going to lose our livelihood because we're losing our privileges.... well, they're practically getting a free ride on the public dollar already, did you all in the Old Country hear about that jerk out west, Cliven Bundy, who is behind on his payments, and who got the media interested and a whole drove of knuckle-draggers with their guns went to his ranch and stood off federal law-enforcement agents ON A PUBLIC HIGHWAY?'s getting out of control over here -- i wanna move to Switzerland!