Why the release of the doves was discontinued after the 1988 Olympic Games:
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Yummy… Crispy Dove
This entry was written by Robert Koehler, posted on April 15, 2008 at 3:46 pm, filed under South Korea. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.
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31 Comments
The Land of Not Quite Right!
Seeing all those birds on the edge of the cauldron, all I could think was, “This cannot end well.”
Those birds weren’t exactly the brightest in the flock, were they?
Before it was lit, I bet those doves were thinking, wow, what a great place to set up a nest!
Heh heh heh, the best part is after the camera zooms back to the flames and you can see a couple flop onto the platform where the 3 torch bearers are trying to gently stomp out the smoking carcasses!
wonder why it never caught on as a jigae???
How many doves died? At 4:59 and 5:08 it looks like some of them got away.
Did that come w/ the soju or the maekju?
I was telling my gf about this the other day… I thought I heard hundreds but maybe I was mistaken, but with the size of the cauldron and maybe it being LPG gas, it’s possible. I doubt they’d discontinue the release of the doves over the few you can see being stomped on at the end…
I always wondered why Koreans dont eat pigeons/doves. I’m always hearing about how people starved and how Korea was such a poor country. I mean we eat a lot of weird shit which says something already. But why not pigeons/doves? There are plenty of them out there!
#8, they’re essentially rats with wings (i.e., diseased, parasite-infested, and detestable)…
And besides, the *best* one can do when the “chef” is an experienced Texan or Oklahoman is about 1.5 ounces of gamey breast meat (per bird) with a slice of jalapeno and nickel’s worth of cheese… two bites for a three-year-old… not worth the trouble to pluck, delouse, and barbecue…
Mind you, I feel the same about any other exotic meat (or meat-substitute) that “tastes like chicken”…
I just cant see a starving person pushing away a juicy plate of pigeon/rat when he is about to starve to death. Is it wrong for me to assume there are very low counts of pigeons/rats up in NK? I just cant picture someone choosing to die bc he does not wish to “stoop that low.”
It kinda reminds me of the “top-of-the-muffin to ya” episode on Seinfeld where Elaine is berated by a homeless shelter employee for trying to give away muffin bottoms to the homeless. I suppose in a relatively rich country, human dignity is also important but I am certain that in countries like Somalia, the muffin bottoms would disappear without any complains in a split second.
Regarding pigeons/doves as food. My dad use to set-up traps and eat them as a kid in Korea. However, echoing # 9, it’s not a lot of meat for all the work you have to go through.
I prefer crispy duck myself, that’s good food indeed.
Especially with Chinese pancakes, Hoisin sauce and some green onion and cucumber. The only problem I see, is that to make a tasty dish the bird should have already to be plucked, gutted, hung and marinated.
Pigeon is good, if it’s a country pigeon rather than a winged rat.
I remember in 2001, USFK used to have warnings on TV not to eat chicken-on-a-stick in Korea because their investigations had revealed that most of the supposed “chicken” was…pigeon. See you outside UN Club!
#10, what size plate? just how many calories required to catch/prepare said bird vs. those contained within it’s “juicy goodness”, as you imply? what if the starving person doesn’t have the pinch of salt to put on the bird’s tail (in order to catch it)?
I’m thinking it’s not really an option without personal firearms and birdshot, a thing not really common in countries full of starving people. It’s not common in many places full of healthy people…
I suppose a variety of nets might work; but that would be nasty, thankless, dangerous work…
‘I always wondered why Koreans dont eat pigeons/doves. I’m always hearing about how people starved and how Korea was such a poor country. I mean we eat a lot of weird shit which says something already. But why not pigeons/doves? There are plenty of them out there!’
did you ever wonder why your ancestors didn’t eat rat and pigeon? why did they people go to america? wuz they poh?
Wild mourning doves are hunted and eaten in Pennsylvania in the same hunting season as grouse and pheasants. All three are low in meat volume and high in fuss to prepare.
In the case of my ancestors, it’s because rat and pigeon were too good for them.
Two bowls of gruel a day!
Mouldy cheese? Luxury!
Two of those doves made anti-Korean remarks before they burst into flames.
Ectopistes migratorius, the passenger pigeon, used to be the most common bird in North America. It’s now extinct. Why? Some people hunted the bird for sport, others ate it. If you ever go to Canada, try a ‘tourtiere’, a French-Canadian minced meat pie that was traditionally made with ‘tourte’.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_Pigeon
#13,
That’s not true. I used to watch AFKN everyday in 2001.
Why don’t people eat crows ? Is there any country where people eat crows ?
North Korea ?
I remember watching this live on television, wondering about the pidgeons — and frankly speaking, I don’t see any birds being roasted in this clip, but I did wonder about the matter at the time. Also, contrary to the intro on MH to this clip, these birds look wild and not those ready to be released.
In any case, 30 years ago, fried sparrows were widely sold under the streetside tents. My wife and I tried them once out of curiosity. I can tell you they were the most bitter morsel I have attempted to intake.
Regarding crows, there was an overpopulation in Japan until recently. One city in northern Honshu tried to make crow eating a delicacy but failed. Eventually the Japanese turned to netting and gassing. But since we are on the topic of big and ubiquitous birds not being eaten by any culture, consider seagulls. I bet they don’t taste like chicken. My guess is they probably taste like bitter oily fish - sort of like Shanghai cooking. Why the Shanghai folks don’t eat them must be the critters must taste even worse than the local dishes.
Hasn’t anyone else had crunchy sparrow here at an old soju bang? No need for pesky de-boning. Just baste ‘em up and toss on the grill. The brains are especially tasty.
#13
Most of the skewered chicken sold in the streets of Korea are actually made from U.S imported chicken (legs)
BTW–Didn’t see Tom’s comment before posting.
#8 Cuz no doctor nor myth saying it’s good for adjussi’s stamina or ajumma’s facial skin yet!
“Regarding pigeons/doves as food. My dad use to set-up traps and eat them as a kid in Korea.”
#11, I guess your dad waa hunting wild dove…
# 17,
You are forgetting rotten meat with the rotten taste drenched out with pepper!
natto, #21, surely people in South Australia eat crows. Or is that just a myth?
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/crow_eater
As for the amount of meat, growing up back in Maine we used to hunt woodcock in the fall and they have little more meat than a sparrow.
Well to answer about eating birds in North Korea. Here is footage of the Jumong cast in Pyongyang and they were served what looks like baby birds at 4:42.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrDAeP4EUAY
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[...] 1988 Seoul Olympics: The burning of the live doves…oh, lighting of the cauldron [...]
[...] 1988 Seoul Olympics: The burning of the live doves…oh, lighting of the cauldron [...]
[...] 1988 Seoul Olympics: The burning of the live doves…oh, lighting of the cauldron [...]