Friday 31 July 2009

Seen these for sale in the market

After a few days in KL, I have had a few culinary experiences worth adding to this blog. However, something I saw yesterday made me wonder, and although it may be related to food in Malaysia, I really hope it is not!

Doing the tourist thing yesterday, I walked along Petaling Street to take in the sights and street food and being hassled by store keepers whenever I even glanced for a micro second at their wares. Halfway down the street, I saw a discreet dark alley, with no signboards, drawing my curiosity. Well, as the saying goes, it killed the cat, but this could be true in the literal sense. This place turned out to be a wet market, like any other in Malaysia. However, I noticed that one stall had these two caged cats on display. They were adult cats and not particularly cute. So I cant see why anyone would be interested in them....... unless they were for, like everything else being sold here, food. They looked quite well fed too, which further backed up this idea.

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us


So, can anyone reading this clear this up for me.... are these cats sold for food? If so, have you ever tasted them, and is there a restaurant that serves them?

I would not consciousely eat a feline creature, but if someone tells me it is a "must try" delicacy, then I may approach it with an open mind!

10 comments:

Precious Pea said...

Err..definitely hope they are not to be eaten. But I was told cat's meat is poisonous.

Tummythoz said...

Wow real fat cats but doubt my mind will ever be that 'open'. Was told Vietnamese eats them. True?

Hazza said...

preciouspea,
I'd guess a petlover like you would not like the thought of this ;)

tummythoz,
Not heard about Vietnamese eating cats, but the real question is, having seen these, do Malaysians?

backStreetGluttons said...

We can tell you Malaysian Chinese certainly do not eat cats as a gourmet or whatever food !

They are probably for sale as pets

Dogs maybe but that is slowly dying out

Hazza said...

bsg,
just out of curiosity, where would I find people selling dogs for food in KL?

Unknown said...

I hope they were there for pets, not food! I have never heard of people eating cats.

Ellen Whyte said...

Malaysians don’t eat cats (although they eat monitor lizard, swamptoad, musang (a sort of civet), hedgehog and practically everything else they can find in the wild). These cats are either pets for sale, or the stall owners own pets. Unfortunately many Malaysians still think it’s perfectly fine to cage an animal all of its life. They don’t see that animals have needs and feelings. Luckily there are many locals now working for better treatment of animals so hopefully this attitude will die out by the next generation.

To see two happy Malaysian cats, check out Au and Target at http://www.lepak.com/katztales.html

Kitikata-san said...

Cats are good for petting and purring, definitely not for eating :)

Hazza said...

Lannae,
I also not heard of people eating cats, just wild romours from ignorant people.

katztales,
Oh well, at least that is nic to know, about M'sians not eating cats. Feel sorry for these cats though, with no place to move.

kitikatasan,
I agree, but since I havent eaten cat before, I cannot personally say that they are not good to eat ;)

Sam said...

Someone has to rescue those poor animals!!

Sam