Ah, Italian food. Fresh pasta, sweet basil, fine cheeses and apparently... cat stew.
That last horrific item has landed an Italian cooking-show host in his own pot of boiling hot water. Beppe Bigazzi, a well-known food writer, was fired from the cooking show "La Prova del Cuoco" after telling viewers that stewed cat is a "succulent dish," the Times of London reports.
"I've eaten it myself and it's a lot better than many other animals. Better than chicken, rabbit or pigeon," the 77-year-old Bigazzi told viewers.
The show's presenter Elisa Isoardi, who mentioned her own cat Othello in protest, looked awkwardly horrified as Bigazzi explained that cat meat should be soaked in spring water for three days before cooking.
Bigazzi was suspended indefinitely from the show as critics around Italy spoke out against the idea of eating cats.
"Cats are pets protected by law," from "cruelty, maltreatment and abandonment," said Health Ministry Undersecretary Francesca Martini, according to the Associated Press. Bigazzi's stunt, she said, "hurts sensibility, which is fortunately steadily growing, of citizens toward animals."
Martini also called for the show's producers to be investigated for criminal offenses for inciting the mistreatment of animals, the Times reported.
Bigazzi is off the air (for now). With all that extra free time on his hands, though, we just hope he's not planning any dinner parties.
That last horrific item has landed an Italian cooking-show host in his own pot of boiling hot water. Beppe Bigazzi, a well-known food writer, was fired from the cooking show "La Prova del Cuoco" after telling viewers that stewed cat is a "succulent dish," the Times of London reports.
"I've eaten it myself and it's a lot better than many other animals. Better than chicken, rabbit or pigeon," the 77-year-old Bigazzi told viewers.
The show's presenter Elisa Isoardi, who mentioned her own cat Othello in protest, looked awkwardly horrified as Bigazzi explained that cat meat should be soaked in spring water for three days before cooking.
Bigazzi was suspended indefinitely from the show as critics around Italy spoke out against the idea of eating cats.
"Cats are pets protected by law," from "cruelty, maltreatment and abandonment," said Health Ministry Undersecretary Francesca Martini, according to the Associated Press. Bigazzi's stunt, she said, "hurts sensibility, which is fortunately steadily growing, of citizens toward animals."
Martini also called for the show's producers to be investigated for criminal offenses for inciting the mistreatment of animals, the Times reported.
Bigazzi is off the air (for now). With all that extra free time on his hands, though, we just hope he's not planning any dinner parties.
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It's hypocritical to decry the eating of one animal while willing to chow down on another. Different cultures use different animals in their cooking and it is no more strange than the US eating cow while India considers the animal holy. It's not like he advocated cannibilism. Get over it folks.
I HAVE TO AGREE WITH KATE. ALTHOUGH, NOT TO MY KNOWLEDGE, HAVE I EVER EATEN OR INTEND TO EVER EAT CAT, HER COMMENT IS SO TRUE. I AM A SOUTHERN GIRL BORN AND RAISED IN NEW ORLEANS EATING OTHER STRANGE CRITTERS SUCH AS CRAWFISH, ALIGATOR,OYSTERS, SHRIMP,RABBIT, ( I DONT EAT RABBIT THOUGH THEY ARE EVEN CUTER THEN CATS!) LOL
SO I DONT MAKE A BIG DEAL OVER THE DUDES COMMENT. PEOPLE EAT DIFFERENT THINGS FROM ALL DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD.
Hey nymets you need to learn how to spell but I guess that's what we can expect from a met fan.
That man/chef must have dementia! The fact remains that cats (and dogs) are domestic animals and in this country, it is against the law to slaughter them. It isn't as though this man was starving and had no choice of what to eat. Let's call a spade a spade . . . there is something seriously wrong with that man's thought process. The cooking show was right to fire him. I wouldn't eat anything that he cooked. Ugh!
yet we eat cow tongue, brain's, tripe, liver ..... whatever comes from a pig. This is so stupid
No, your wrong. The show was WRONG to fire the celebrated Chef. It represents yet again another Politically Correct over reaction by a bunch of hand wringers. At this pace, we will be absent of humor and different views. This is a personal choice. Period, Full stop, End of issue.
How about feral cats? They aren't domestic. Must be ok then.
For the record, I would try it once but not make it a regular part of my diet....unless it turned out to be the sweetest tasting meat the gods put on this planet.
SOME ASIAN COUNTRIES, SOUTH KOREA FOR EXAMPLE, DOGS AND CATS IS A DELICACY. ANY CAT LARGE ENOUGH WILL AND HAVE EATEN A HUMAN. IF THE CHEF LIKES TO EAT CATS THATS HIM BUT HE SHOULD NOT HAVE SAID IT
I agree with your comments. Cats and dogs are delicacies in other countries. I'm not familiar with this particular chef, but if he is one to travel the world to taste the foods of other countries, his comment makes sense because he would have had food-tasting experiences most of us would not even think to try. He wasn't promoting animal cruelty, but speaking out of experience in the life of a chef. I would think a sincere apology would suffice.
I'm sorry,but thats gross, i love my cat,in the US we don't eat our pets.
There are instances where people do eat their pets in this country. Plenty of them. You can feel as you do, but reality is that it does happen. And what would be more of a crime, to put to sleep all the thousands of animals in shelters or to provide food. In the future it may come to us having to eat our pets to survive.
Trust me, if there was nothing else, you'd chow down on Mr. Whiskers. Meat is meat any way you put it. I'm sure the Donor Party didn't think they'd end up eating horse and their friends. But look what happened there.
Besides, if you weren't so brainwashed with propaganda as to how everybody else should be living their lives. Perhaps you might come to the conclusion that in the end, a cat is just an animal. And unless you're a vegan all meat is fair game.
Trust me, if there was nothing else, you'd chow down on Mr. Whiskers. Meat is meat any way you put it. I'm sure the Donor Party didn't think they'd end up eating horse and their friends. But look what happened there.
Besides, if you weren't so brainwashed with propaganda as to how everybody else should be living their lives. Perhaps you might come to the conclusion that in the end, a cat is just an animal. And unless you're a vegan all meat is fair game.
It's Donner Party folks...
I am so glad he got fired and I hope he never comes back.
How disgusting! While I don't normally advocate violence, but as a cat lover, I think HE should go into a stew.
I totally agree with you. Let his body soak in water for 3 days- and then skin him and make a stew--!!!!
Hey Justin- maybe we should treat him like he's treated the cat. Let him simmer in spring water for longer...since he's probably tough and hard-hearted.
Just for the record it was a MAN so does that make him a bas---rd?
Kathleen- great minds think alike...