A recent traveller in South Africa relates that, while staying in a small hotel in Cape Province, his party were somewhat startled by seeing "lion chops" on the menu. Determined to show themselves equal to facing out-of-the-way local dishes, they proceeded to read on down the bill-of-fare, but were brought up sharply by the next item - "jungle cats!"
On questioning the waiter, the only satisfaction they got was that it was eaten with milk and sugar. Not even thus disguised did jungle cat appeal to the lady of the party. Finally, the mystery was solved by an irate and apologetic manager explaining that it was a typist's error, the objectionable items being merely loin chops and jungle oats.
This incident shows that we are nowadays rather easily frightened by unfamiliar flavours and strange foods. At the Tour d'Argent, the oldest restaurant in Paris some centuries ago, it was customary to serve dormouse pastry and dishes of snakes and porpoise.
Only some sixty years ago Frank Buckland, the naturalist, used to invite his more intimate friends to dinner, at which elephant steak and whale fishcakes were quite ordinary items. His experiments, undertaken with the laudable object of extending our list of edible meats, do not seem to have been followed up with much zest.
The Irish Times, April 23rd, 1931.