Does dog meat taste like dogs smell?

November 6, 2009 7:38 PM

Does dog taste like dogs smell?

Not that I'd ever be tempted, but . . . dogs have a distinctive, not unpleasant odor. Is that what dog meat tastes like?

posted by stargell to Society & Culture (17 answers total)

Have you ever smelled a cow?
posted by ook at 7:45 PM on November 6, 2009 [4 favorites]

No. I had dog stew - aka "kalderatang aso" when I was in the Philippines. It was fine. Smelled a lot like, uh, stew.

The meat was rather sweet and tender, they say it gives you a fever but it didn't happen to me.
The dogs are farm raised and its a delicacy, although I didn't know it then, I just drank a lot of San Miguel and had a bowl of stew.

Cows smell pretty bad in a pasture, but they taste pretty good. The smell is only on the hide.
posted by disclaimer at 7:50 PM on November 6, 2009

No. It's fairly tender. It's difficult to describe what something tastes like. Supposedly it's good for "stamina."
posted by smorange at 7:57 PM on November 6, 2009

I ate barbecued rat in Cambodia and thought it tasted like rat smells (that mouse cage sort of smell). Other people liked it. Maybe it was the portion I was given. Really, just to say that some meat does taste like the smell!

You might like to read this article at WSJ which says it is described as gamey, buttery, floral and complex.
posted by AnnaRat at 8:05 PM on November 6, 2009

Response by poster: The (crazy?) thought just popped into my head while I was petting our pooch today, and I figured the Metafilter crowd would include some people with wider cultural experience than me who could comment. FWIW, to me there's a definite link between the smell of pig and the taste of pork, but none between cow and beef. OK, that does sound crazy.
posted by stargell at 8:26 PM on November 6, 2009

Mod note: lots of comments removed - we really don't do "in before the delete" stuff here, either answer sincerely or flag or go to metatalk, thanks
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:41 PM on November 6, 2009

An overly enthusiastic and poorly aimed kiss from my dog recently taught me that dog saliva/tongue tastes like dog scent.

Weird. My dog smells like Fritos and has tuna breath. Should it ever come to it, I hope she tastes like she smells.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:13 PM on November 6, 2009 [6 favorites]

No, dogmeat does not taste like how dogs smell. It's not even all that gamey or anything.
posted by kkokkodalk at 9:14 PM on November 6, 2009

If you think about it, human is supposed to taste sweet. Which is not how human smells.

Note: not human-ist.
posted by sebastienbailard at 9:45 PM on November 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

I have no idea but I can tell you with complete certainty that Rabbit meat smells nothing like Rabbit. That is to say, feces.
posted by cj_ at 9:53 PM on November 6, 2009

Sorry, that should read: rabbit meat tastes nothing like how rabbits smell.
posted by cj_ at 9:54 PM on November 6, 2009

If I hadn't known, I wouldn't have been able to identify the dog meat I ate.

But I think it depends on the cut. I've certainly had cuts of pork and beef (usually intestine or stomach) where it brings back memories of time on a farm.
posted by FuManchu at 10:07 PM on November 6, 2009

I had dog meat stew (bosintang) in South Korea and besides being delicious it didn't bear any relation to the smell or appearance of dogs. It was like really tender beef. Did I mention it was delicious?
posted by smartypantz at 11:13 PM on November 6, 2009

No, not at all.

It's quite delicious, actually. Beefish, or venison-y, with varying levels of "gameyness"
posted by Joseph Gurl at 11:22 PM on November 6, 2009

Best answer: The reason dogs smell like they do is because of their fur and dander. Dog that is cooked has been skinned.

Domesticated pigs have very short hair, so they do smell like pork. Javelinas and other wild boar, even those raised on ranches, do not smell like pork.
posted by Sidhedevil at 1:22 PM on November 7, 2009 [1 favorite]

Dogs mostly* smell the way they do because of the oils they exude. Some breeds - water dogs, mostly - are oilier, and have a stronger smell. This oil is an analogue to the lanolin which sheep exude, which also smells awful.

I've knit with dog fur yarn (actually a blend 50/50 Newfoundland/merino) and talked in depth to a dog fur spinner. Just as with wool, washing the fur removes the oil - and the smell. If you're planning to card and spin dog fur, she said you want to be sure to remove ALL the oil, lest the knit wear end up smelling like dog, particularly when wet.

Obviously these oils are only topical, and don't scent the dog's body meat.


* "Mostly" meaning, except for the feet, which smell the way they do because dogs sweat there, and have scent glands. Thus the distinctive Frito-like smell of dog feet.
posted by ErikaB at 2:06 PM on November 7, 2009

Oh, good point, ErikaB. Of course the fur smells because of the oils.

Dog dander has a smell, too, though (says horribly-allergic-to-dogs-but-dog-loving me).
posted by Sidhedevil at 4:31 PM on November 7, 2009