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Someone I know brought up a fascinating thought a while back: Did the tradition of eating meat hot come from a subconscious, primal desire to make it seem as if we had just killed whatever animal it is we eat? It has nothing to do with germs, because this tradition began before even sterilization and bathing was common...

2007-01-09 16:28:56 · 24 answers · asked by pockyneko13 2 in Social Science Psychology

24 answers

Never thought about it, I just like my food to be cooked, don't you?

2007-01-09 16:32:34 · answer #1 · answered by Hi 7 · 0 0

Cooking meat softens it up and makes it easier to chew, that's why cavemen cooked their meat. Also cooked and smoked meats are easier to perserve and will last longer. This cooking practice is considered to be the source of modern man's desire to barbecue.

Heating the meat will kill many germs, but no one knew about germs back then so that isn't why they wanted their meat cooked. Until the modern era bathing was considered unhealthy and promoting sickness, not curing it.

Man developed the taste for cooked meat because it made it last longer and it made it easier to chew. Blood rituals came from the primal desire to make it seem as if the person just killed the animal or as a rite of passage to adult. Until recently people who participated in fox hunts, for the first time, had some blood smeared on their face to prove they are no longer "virgins of the hunt" this blooding is still practiced today in some 3rd world nations.

2007-01-10 00:40:50 · answer #2 · answered by Dan S 7 · 0 0

Lets keep it simple! --- Most meats tastes better HOT than COLD!

Not everything has to be some deep desire!

God command men to "NOT eat the meat with the blood still in it", so cooking it for taste and to get the blood cooked out of it was a normal thing to many but not all. The cold cuts people died early and so others decided that was a bad idea! Really isn't eating raw meat the primal savage behavior?

However, your question was a good one!

2007-01-10 00:38:26 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0 1

It's a good question. Mostly it has to do with palatability. There is lots of meat products available today that are fully cooked and ready to eat in the grocery store. Just because it is safe to eat while cold, most people don't. It just tastes better heated up!

2007-01-13 08:59:16 · answer #4 · answered by Stacy 4 · 0 0

did have to do with germs, from practical experience, cavemen didn't become sick as often or get parasites if meat was cooked. They learned from experience and observation, they didn't need to read a book on it. Eating raw meat that wasn't totally fresh could have given them stomach aches, and just as fire protected them from mean monsterous animals still alive, it could protect them from mean monsterous (germy) meat too; Fire scared off threatening carnevors and cleansed any threats or 'evil' associated with animals even after they were meat to eat. They probably also noticed that raw meat drew more of annoying flies than cooked meat, so eating cooked meat would be relatively more easy. Also, they could learn from seeing relatives that always ate cooked meat lived longer than others who got tapeworms from raw meat and died young. Can't argue with results ! Its more rational and practical than something "subconscious".

2007-01-10 00:35:26 · answer #5 · answered by million$gon 7 · 0 0

great question:depends on what you believe though.obviously raw meat is served cold or room temp.regardless simply by cooking the meat whatever type does in fact sterilize it to some degree.no puns sorry.tactile response is dead on though.the feel of the warmth of the meat triggers certain taste buds similar to the way wine tastes diff. at lower and higher temps.wow really cool question

2007-01-10 00:40:10 · answer #6 · answered by fifi 2 · 0 0

It may have taken mankind a while to figure out that cooking meat kills bacteria. But the fact it was easier to digest was obvious after the first bowl movement. Not to mention that it keeps longer, which would have been a fast understanding as well.

2007-01-10 00:39:01 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

I think it has to do with the fact that meat tastes better when it is hot; and also meat is more tender and easier to chew when it is hot. Very early man ate meat raw, but after fire was discovered, it was Universally accepted that it was better to cook meat (unless you're eating Sushi!).

2007-01-10 00:35:04 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

My guess would be that cooking meat made it easier to chew in the age before toothpaste and dentists. It also probably helped to cover the taste as meat began to spoil.

Just a guess...good question.

2007-01-10 00:34:05 · answer #9 · answered by optionseeker1989 3 · 0 0

Well, to me it would seem a primitive drive- once the animal is killed, the meat cooked, the meat seems to be frsher warm/hot. Also, I think its easier to chew meat warmed or hot than cold.

2007-01-10 01:07:21 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

people in societies who eat meat raw are more likely to get sick and die.

people in societies who cook meat before they eat it don't die so much.

so the tradition of cooking meat gets handed down through the generations. the tradition of not cooking meat doesn't get handed down becasue after a while there are no generations left.

that's evolution for ya.

2007-01-10 00:36:27 · answer #11 · answered by hot.turkey 5 · 0 0

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