L.A. Times: Chinese Uproar Over Eating Cats

According to the L.A. Times, China's Guangzhou, formerly known as Canton, is currently the scene of protest and outrage among the Chinese over the use of cats as food.

Barbara Demick's fascinating story chronicles what happens when the Cantonese — renowned for their indiscriminating palates — point their chopsticks at Fluffy.

She writes, “But now fellow Chinese are drawing the line. Eating cat, they say — that is just too disgusting.”

Along with other quotable sections, my favorite part of the story is this little gem, which describes one of the more popular dishes:

“Cat meat is good for women. You can eat it in the summer or winter. It is very light. Men usually prefer dog. It is like yin and yang. Cat is yin and dog is yang,” said customer Jiang Changlin, who works for the local government.

He recommended that visitors try one of Guangdong's most famous recipes, “dragon fighting tiger,” a dish made with both snake and cat, its distinctiveness coming from the competing power of the ingredients.

Edwin Goei

Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.