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Eating Beef


paulh1978

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My wife won't eat beef either as it goes against her particular 'branch' of buddhism. There is one of the goddesses who is in some way 'related' to bovine animals and my wife prays particularly to this goddess. (ok, I'm pretty clueless as far as the buddhist variations are concerned!)

We are in Turkey now and she eats lamb/mutton no problem. Actually she likes it very much. Does anyone know if it is possible to buy mutton in Thailand? I have never seen it around, but I presume there is at least goat somewhere, as there are quite a few goat farms - even if their main purpose is not meat production.

Basically I have stopped eating beef and only ever have it if I am away on business somewhere. I don't miss it that much, just like I don't miss pork all that much in Turkey (I miss Serrano ham though!)

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My wife doesn't eat beef either. The larger the beast perhaps the belief is they are more sentient? Anyhow, her and her acquaintances "rescue" animals from the butchers as a form of tam boon. So far I've got 7 buffaloes and a couple of cows that I will see into their old age.

Edited by lannarebirth
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In general, it's supposed to be karmically worse to kill a big animal than a small one, so some Thais don't feel right about eating beef. This is Buddhist tradition rather than scripture. I read somewhere it's origin was in the fact that large animals - elephants and horses - were royal animals in India.

There are also (mostly ethnic Chinese) devotees of the Mahayana bodhisattva/Chinese goddess known as Jao Mae Guan-im. According to her legend, in atonement for his sins her father vowed to come back in his next life as a cow. So devotees don't eat beef.

On Buddhist holy days, some vendors will sell only food from small animals, not beef.

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My wife doesn't eat beef as well!

She says sometimes that is for religion, sometimes is for some kind of allergy...

I stop ask why. :)

My wife also do not eat beef. she only eat chicken but I luv beef, but I do not like the beef here. It has to be import beef the beef here is very tough

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My wife is an omnivore. Vegies, grains, beef, pork, all manner of fowl. all fish, rat, cat, snake, buffalo, insects, frogs, lamb, and probably more that I can't think of at the moment. But her favorite meat, bar none, is dog. Never will forget one trip to the village a few years back when she and her family killed, skinned, and fried the family pet. I was horrified. But there is something. I'm curious. Maybe one day....

Edited by way2muchcoffee
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My wife is an omnivore. Vegies, grains, beef, pork, all manner of fowl. all fish, rat, cat, snake, buffalo, insects, frogs, lamb, and probably more that I can't think of at the moment. But her favorite meat, bar none, is dog. Never will forget one trip to the village a few years back when she and her family killed, skinned, and fried the family pet. I was horrified. But there is something. I'm curious. Maybe one day....

Ha Ha Ha

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Ditto regarding my wife and also a female friend who stayed with us recently. My wife also mentions size and added that rural people believe that they shouldn't kill the animals that helped work the land (though actually in our village a large number do eat beef). She says that this is not religion but I think the posters above are right, and that there are ideas about Kharma and the higher level of big animals mixed in here somewhere. P.S. In answer to an earlier post, you can buy frozen New Zealand lamb in Makro - at a price.

Edited by citizen33
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My wife doesnt eat it either, she also does not eat Lamb, but pork and chicken are fine. She says she is allergic to beef and its not due to beliefs. I think she simply dislikes the taste of lamb, as do many americans.

So I make Pork wellington and stuff myself with thick juicy blood dribbling steaks when I leave for work :)

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It's funny how even buddhists differ on this. The Dalai Lama says its better to take one life (a cows) as opposed to the souls of many small animals.

Many cannibals(common with early mankind) thru history had funny beliefs to conform to their flavor of cannibalisim. Some cannabals for example who had very scarce sources of protein believed they had to eat all of their enemies so that they could not come back and haunt them. Some less starving ones only believed they needed to eat the eyes, brain and heart.

I think the way it works is you decide what you can/will and can/will not eat and then make up some spiritual rules afterward to make it okay.

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My wife and daughters will not eat beef, I never asked them why, I respect their ways .but my wife will cook beef for me.

I purchased a calf and we were going to cook it in my underground pit, my Mother in Laws sister came over and begged us with tears in her eyes not to kill the calf, So we sold the calf and brought some pork to cook in the pit.

Next time (Sisters Son in Law and I) will keep that information a secret .

Cheers: :)

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:)

A Buddhist thing, Vegetarianism and all.

You also have to realise that a lot of what Thais percieve as "buddhist" is in fact derived from an Indian/Hindu background culture that pervades a lot of "buddhisim" in Thailand. And eating beef is a big no-no in India.

Now I am sympathetic to Buddhisim, but I don't feel ready to be a Vegetarian.

There are Buddhists who feel that you can't be a proper Buddhist if you eat meat. Not only in Thailand, but around the world. Their feeling is: one shouldn't cause or support suffering as in the slaughter of animals for food.

Obviously, I don't agree. But I am quite willing to let them live as they wish, as long as they give me the same courtesy.

By the way, my Thai girlfriend also seldom eats meat now. Same reasons.

Live and let live, I say.

:D

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:)

This comment has little to do with the main topic. I made my comments above. But just as a cooking lesson:

1. Beef or other meat that is 'too tough" to eat can be made more tender by marinading it in an acidic solution (as in a lemon juice/water mixture) for a period of time before cooking. The acid in the marinade breaks down the muscle fibers in the meat and makes it softer.

2. For those who "don't like the taste" of Lamb or Mutton, try marinading it in a water/milk marinade for a while, The milk tends to remove the "bitter" taste of the acid (usually uric acid by the way) in Lamb or Mutton (as well as wild game meat..i.e. Venison)

Now back to the main topic.

:D

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My wife also do not eat beef. she only eat chicken but I luv beef, but I do not like the beef here. It has to be import beef the beef here is very tough

If you find the beef here tough, put stips of mango or pawpaw (papaya) on it for 20-30 minutes be fore cooking. If you leave it on too long, there may not be much left.

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My wife doesn't eat beef either. The larger the beast perhaps the belief is they are more sentient? Anyhow, her and her acquaintances "rescue" animals from the butchers as a form of tam boon. So far I've got 7 buffaloes and a couple of cows that I will see into their old age.

We had a discussion that partly related to this a few months ago in the Buddhist forum on Thaivisa, and yes it appears that the larger the animal the more sensitive the Thais may be about eating it, and it does appear to be related to killing a "more" sentient being. In our house, however, we eat beef, although I guess we have a preference for chicken and pork...although that's about price.

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I was once invited to a very large Pakistani party when I was still living in the States. Overall quite an interesting experience. On the way home I said to my adopted son and wife (who are Pakistani), "The flavor of that beef. A little different. How did they cook it to make it taste like that?" They began laughing. "See. You finally ate goat and liked it." "I didn't say I liked it."

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:)

A Buddhist thing, Vegetarianism and all.

You also have to realise that a lot of what Thais percieve as "buddhist" is in fact derived from an Indian/Hindu background culture that pervades a lot of "buddhisim" in Thailand. And eating beef is a big no-no in India.

Now I am sympathetic to Buddhisim, but I don't feel ready to be a Vegetarian.

There are Buddhists who feel that you can't be a proper Buddhist if you eat meat. Not only in Thailand, but around the world. Their feeling is: one shouldn't cause or support suffering as in the slaughter of animals for food.

Obviously, I don't agree. But I am quite willing to let them live as they wish, as long as they give me the same courtesy.

By the way, my Thai girlfriend also seldom eats meat now. Same reasons.

Live and let live, I say.

:D

It is not about vegetarianism, since the vast majority of Thai Buddhists eat chicken and pork, and most do eat beef.

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Thai mother in law won't have beef in the house but will eat it except on religious holidays.

I'm part vegetarian, only eat grass eating animals.

seems a lot of our ladies don't eat beef..my wife is actually allergic i guess and throws up if she eats it by mistake..as in a hotdog in Canada..poor old beach vendor was a little embarrassed as everybody looked on....her hot dog in hand barfed it up...

I have to cook it myself and she goes outside until I have finished and cleaned the pots etc...I even make spaghetti bol with pork now..'sokay by me!

Edited by David006
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The wife has only just started to eat beef having never tasted it, (religious beliefs) but thats because practically everything we eat in the uk has some sort of beef produce in it thus being an easy option on menus etc, but before this eating out and about used to be a real pain.

Result me thinks!! :)

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My wife will cook beef for me but will not eat it herself. She says it has nothing to do with religion. She believes that the Thai people owe a big debt to the buffalo and the oxen. She believes they deserve respect and should not be eaten.

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One Thai girl told me that the reason that she did not eat beef was because she observed cattle "crying" as they were led to the slaughter house. I told her that I observed shrimp crying before they were boiled-she wasn't amused :)

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