Friday, October 06, 2006

Where is PETA?


The opportunity, or, admittedly, the desire, to try camel’s milk has yet to present itself. If the time ever comes when someone offers it to me, I will probably at least give it a taste, just so that if I ever have to say, “I don’t like it” then I can do so knowingly, because, as all mother’s have said at some point in time, “How do you know you don’t like something if you’ve never tried it?” However, as the Food and Drug Administration highly recommends that cow’s milk should be pasteurized, I might be just a bit leery of drinking a glass of fresh, unpasteurized camel’s milk.

Considering that camel’s milk has been a staple and provided sustenance for a country of people for as long as it has been, then it can’t be all bad. I have yet to hear of anyone dying after drinking camel’s milk. People are
killed by camels, fairly frequently here, but not by consuming them.

There are other “camel” products here –
cheese – that are quite popular among local folks, and they eat camel meat – although I have heard – and do not know this to be fact – that the first time you eat camel meat you will get quite sick. [Make my camel burger well-done and I’ll have ketchup on that, please!]

It is the month of
Ramadan, here in The Sandbox, where people fast from sun-up to sun-down, when breaking their fast by eating “breakfast” or Iftar. An article in Arab News states that “for some, an Iftar without camel milk is no iftar.” There are ample opportunities for people to get their fresh camel milk prior to Iftar as one young explains.

Anyone who has read prior posts at this site knows that I am an animal lover; it is not a secret. I truly lose sleep at night worrying about homeless cats and kittens that I see on the streets in Al Khobar; I feed the stray cats around the compound and have actually been warned that I am not allowed or supposed to do so [but I just can’t help it!]. I have made full provisions for both The Boy and The Baby to be taken care of in the event something happens to me and DH. I have never seen The Lion King because I know that one of the Lion’s dies at the beginning of the movie leaving his son without a Dad…

So, what about the baby camel’s then, who are not getting the nourishment they so need as little cubs [I did not know that baby camel’s were called cubs until I read this article*]? Where is PETA? Would they approve of a camel’s teats being covered with fabric to prevent Mama Camel from nursing her little Baby Cub?

In the grand scheme of things – and knowing that in just a couple of short weeks we are going to be seeing sheep and goats hanging from trees as Muslim’s prepare for their Eid celebrations – that a little Baby Cub camel goes without a meal or two probably isn’t worth losing too much sleep over… I’m going to try not to. I just hope the little Baby Cub camel doesn’t have to go to bed hungry…



*Baby camels are not called cubs anywhere else but this article;
this site says female baby camels are “heifers,” and this site says “female camels are called cows,” “males are called bulls,” castrated males are called “bullocks,” and “baby camels are called calves.” I’m just going to call all the little ones baby camels.

12 comments:

  1. Very good Sabra! Now can you please provide an answer to this: both hubby and I have long ago read somewhere that camel milk does not need any refrigeration, it is supposedly sour-proof!?!? Try as we might, and this is taking into consideration the volume of books passing through our doors, we never could confirm or deny this. Maybe you will enlighten us.

    By the by, I think the cute animals in your pics. are dromedaries, one hump 'camels' that were bred in Arabia for riding; as opposed to the Bactrian 2 humps camels.

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  2. Camel milk is actually delicious. It tastes a bit like sterilised cows milk. It tastes slightly sweeter and creamier than cows milk although it is lower in both fat and carbs. It makes great ice cream!!

    It also contains a natural antibacterial which stops in from souring as quickly as cows milk, so making yogurt from it is a slower process, and yes it does last longer but its not sour proof.

    It took me about 2 years in Dubai before I plucked up the courage to buy a carton but it was worth it!

    Baby camels are so adorable. My husband won;t let me go to the camel market because he's heard you can pick up a baby camel for about $10 and our garden would be full of them!!

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  3. Rose - Agree with you on baby camels being soooo cute! I too would have one, I'm sure, or several... [Kinda have one - a Great Dane - does that count?] Good to know that camel milk is not to be feared, i.e., trying it. And, geez, I ALWAYS have room for ice cream! Perhaps you can answer Northern Shewolf's question: Does camel milk need refrigeration? Is it sour-proof? I have no eartly idea... Thx!

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  4. Many thanks for the lovely Rose of Dubai for the information on camel milk. And yes baby camels are really adorable!

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  5. ahhhhhh...

    such a sweet post.

    on a recent travel between Brooklyn and New Jersey, i encountered a deceased Deer on the side of the road.

    still gets me teary eyed.

    but, just so you don't worry, the herds of Deer in New Jersey are thriving like never before.

    the Deer Population is massive and healthy.

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  6. I wouldn't say its sour proof, but it certainly doesn't go off as quickly. We sometimes (when I remember) take it on camping trips for that reason. And its a great way of winding up visitors :-)

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  7. Some friends of ours in Riyadh once bought what they thought was a joint of roast beef. It was camel meat. They cooked it, the same as they would've done the beef & to the best of my knowledge, never did go back to beef!
    I've tasted camels milk & it's definitely 'different' to cows milk, but not at all unpleasant. I'm on the lookout now for the ice-cream!

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  8. Jin, Al Ain Diary do a nice one but I just make my own

    - carton of camel (or any other creature's) milk, a big slug of cream, 4 egg yolks and sugar to taste - or if you want to be really "authentic" some date honey which makes it go a lovely caramelly colour and tastes wonderful. Stick in an ice cream maker or just stick it in the freezer - if you don't have an ice cream maker, put a bit more cream in and add another whole egg and whip the eggs before you add the milk and cream - the air and extra fat makes it not freeze so hard. If you're worried about raw eggs boil the milk and cream and pour onto the eggs.

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  9. Thanks for the tip Rose.....I might just give that a bash!

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  10. Just a quick comment about camel milk and safety- you said noone has died from it, but perhaps some have suffered internally yet not known why- those hwo generally drink the camels milk are not likely to go to docs when ailing. There is a theory going around that milk from cows, even though pasteurized, has been the cause of Crohn's disease- it's not proven, but there is some research into it- didn't think I'd be discussing camels milk or Crohn's tonight, but there ya go- just my quick observances.
    sacredscoop.com

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  11. Please let me know where can you eat camel's meat in Dubai or the UAE??

    It tastes so darn good!

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  12. Hi guys, Could anyone tell me if there's any restaurant in Dubai or the UAE where you can get camel's meat??

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