Camel meat
As camel meat the meat of two-humped is camel ( Bactrian camels ) and dromedaries called. Like the meat of other mammals, it is basically edible. Aside from the humps, camel meat is very low in fat and grainy. A male adult dromedary weighs over 400 kg, a trampling animal weighs more than 650 kg, with the meat content of a dromedary being between 50 and 76 percent and of a trampling animal between 35 and 50 percent.
Camels have been used as pack animals by nomads in Africa, Asia and the Orient for centuries, but traditionally they were usually only slaughtered when they were injured or too old for further use. For many tribes, owning camels was and is synonymous with wealth and prestige, so consuming healthy camels is out of the question for this reason. This attitude prevails in East Africa , for example . In Sudan too , camels are only slaughtered on special occasions. In Somalia , on the other hand, camel meat is consumed more frequently, and there are also special butcher shops. In general, however, other types of meat are preferred in Africa, also because of the somewhat dry consistency of camel meat and its specific taste. In general, young animals are preferred because the meat should then resemble beef in taste and texture .
The meat is more popular in Arab states, especially in the United Arab Emirates , where it has long been the main source of protein. Countries like Egypt , Libya and Saudi Arabia import camels that are bred for consumption. In 1980 over 338,000 slaughter camels were exported to the Middle East from Sudan alone . In some regions of Mauritania , mainly camel meat is consumed. Camels in the western Sahara only have a minor function as pack animals; they are mainly bred as meat suppliers. Camel meat is considered a high-quality protein supplier in the corresponding climatic zones, which contains less fat and less cholesterol than beef .
Camel meat production on the African continent was around 248,000 tons in 2003, and world production totaled around 300,000 tons. Since 1988 there has also been a small camel breeding facility in Australia for export.
A religiously based food taboo for camel meat exists for Hindus , Jews , Christian Copts in Egypt , Christians in Ethiopia , the Sunni Hanbalites , the followers of Zoroastrianism in Iran and the Mandaeans . In Somalia, the heart and testicles of a camel are taboo for women and the feet for men. The very fatty hump is generally offered to men first.
The Raikas, a Hindu caste who breed camels as draft animals for carts in the northwest Indian states of Rajasthan and Gujarat , strictly avoid the consumption of camel meat, as they only drink camel milk in a few exceptional cases. The origin of this food taboo is unclear, it cannot be explained with the Hindu belief, because Muslim camel breeders in the neighboring Pakistani province of Sindh also do not eat camel meat. In contrast, in Karachi , the capital of Sindh, where camels pulling carts are part of the street scene, the consumption of camel meat is widespread. Older and sick animals are preferred to be slaughtered.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Article Camels in The Cambridge World History of Food , ed. By Kenneth F. Kiple, 2000, Vol. 1, p. 474
- ↑ a b c Céline Patricia Finke: Substantial quality parameters in camel meat, dissertation (pdf)
- ↑ Isam T. Kadim, Osman Mahgoub, Waleed Al-Marzooqi: Meat Quality and Composition of Longissimus thoracis from Arabian Camel (Camelus dromedaries) and Omani Beef: A Comparative Study. ( Memento of the original from April 19, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Journal of Camelid Sciences 1 , 2008, pp. 37-47
- ↑ Ilse Köhler-Rollefson: The Raike Dromedary Breeders of Rajasthan: A Pastoral System in Crisis. In: Nomadic Peoples, No. 30, 1992, pp. 74-83, here p. 78
- ^ Alan Heston, H. Hasnain, SZ Hussain, RN Khan: The Economics of Camel Transport in Pakistan. In: Economic Development and Cultural Change, Vol. 34, No. 1 , October 1985, pp. 121-141, here p. 135
