Animals and exotic meats people eat
Written by Lilian Ndongmo. ESL Teacher
With all due respect for animal-lovers, vegetarians and vegans as well as my culturally-diverse subscribers, fans and visitors out there, this post is for educational purposes only, and not intended to offend anyone.
My objective is to give you the vocabulary you need to be more comfortable when talking about food in general and exotic food in particular.
Why the name “exotic”?
Some foods or meats are called exotic simply because they are not what we eat on a regular basis. For example, when you go to the market or grocery store, what kinds of foods do you usually see? (Com’on, throw some names at me!). Do you usually see crocodile, giraffe or lion? Yes, lion! I don’t mean to scare anyone. Please go do your groceries. There aren’t any lions waiting for you in the stores….. hopefully.
Also note that depending on culture, some people tend to consider some exotic foods as taboo.
Here is a list of some exotic meats people eat.
| Animal | Exotic food or meat | Comment / Sentence |
| Frogs | Frog meat | Very popular in France |
| Crocodile | Crocodile meat | Some say it’s similar to fish in taste and texture |
| Llama | Llama meat | Legal to eat in the Uk. Considered “premium meat” by gurkha communities in Britain ¹ |
| Cane rat | Cane rat meat | Also known as grass cutter, this is not your regular rat! Cane rat is a wild rodent commonly found in West and Central Africa.² Its meat is eaten in some European and possibly North American countries |
| Scaly anteater, also called Pangolin | Pangolin / scaly anteater meat | Commonly found in Asia and Africa |
| Monkey | Monkey meat | This, surely, is not new to you. People have been eating monkey for centuries. |
| Antelope | Antelope meat | Some say antelope meat tastes similar to venison |
| Horse | Horse meat | If you’re lucky to find horse meat in your local grocery, it is usually sold minced. |
Happy learning.