“I do not like to feel trapped by a box of one size fits all manliness, and a template for stepping outside of it, even in a realm as simple as that of cuisine, feels like a liberating idea,” writes strongman and BBQ aficionado N.C. Harrison.
I have, for a long time, been identified—and have identified myself by—my relationship with meat, especially when it has been smoked for a long time over a low fire. My little biography at the bottom of the page here, in fact, highlights that fact that I am proud of the pork shoulder, brisket and ribs that I can produce, in my little smoker on a hot June day, and I have written in the past about how I feel like the blacksmith forging a magical sword in a crappy fantasy novel when I stand out there with it, tenderly raking the coals to get the right evenness of heat, the perfect plume of smoke, the most exquisite texture possible. I love barbecuing and most everything to do with it.
Sadly, however, I have come to discover that barbecuing—or at least the succulent meat that results from it—doesn’t really love me all that much. I have suspected it for a long time, which has made me approach hamburgers rather gingerly, but just a taste of the pulled pork tacos I made for my dad on Father’s Day confirmed it for me. I sat for a few minutes after eating just one, quite certain that I was going to die, and contemplated the many mistakes that I have made in my life—specifically the last one, eating that bloody combination of meat and a hard shell. A long history of gallbladder and stomach troubles in my family, including ulcers, has caught up with me. I feel like Garfield, haunted by the spirits of all the spiders he killed over the years, except the ghosts pursuing me are more alluring than a succubus and just as cruel.
Meat is considered a particularly “manly” food. I’m not sure why; it might have to do with the whole hunter/gatherer aspect of the whole thing, but most of us don’t do any hunting more strenuous than driving to the grocery store to pick up a package of steaks.
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The whole situation is interesting to me partially because, for whatever reason, meat is considered a particularly “manly” food. I’m not sure why; it might have to do with the whole hunter/gatherer aspect of the whole thing, but most of us (my brethren who use their bows to keep Georgia’s population of white tailed deer in check aside) don’t do any hunting more strenuous than driving to the grocery store to pick up a package of steaks. It is, at best, hunting by proxy. I do more actual work for my food when I till the earth, plant my squash, weed it and harvest it, a few weeks later, but it just doesn’t provide the visceral thrill that building a fire and charring something that was only recently ambulatory seems to.
Meat is also considered almost a prerequisite for the serious weight-lifter’s diet. I have read, for ages, that one must consume protein in almost ridiculous amounts—up to two grams per pound of bodyweight, which for me would be roughly equivalent to a herd of cattle—for any strength or muscular gains to be made. It has become even more prevalent, lately, due to the craze for low-carb diets in the strength training community. “You don’t need to do boring old cardio,” some of these gurus say, “just pump iron and eat literally everything that God made on the sixth day, apart from Eve, and you’ll look like Flex Wheeler.” Even those who will concede that, yes, beans and rice contain a huge chunk of protein often hedge around the issue by saying that it is somehow a lesser protein, one that will make the muscle drop off your body like melted cheese. It is, in one way or another, a protein for hippies and hipsters, and nobody wants to be either one of those—especially a CrossFit guy, because it might mean he’d have to put a tie-dyed shirt on, whether ironically or not.
Even those who will concede that, yes, beans and rice contain a huge chunk of protein often hedge around the issue by saying that it is somehow a lesser protein, one that will make the muscle drop off your body like melted cheese.
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I’m exaggerating (only a little), and not all strength coaches are quite this way. Mike Mahler, for example, is a vegan and can swing two huge, 48kg kettlebells as easily as my shih-tzu plays with her tennis ball. He eats that way, according to articles on his website, because he finds it both healthier and more sustainable for the planet. I find his approach to things both novel and inspiring. I do not like to feel trapped by a box of one size fits all manliness, ill-fitting on me like a 1960s suit that you might find in an episode of Mad Men—and a template for stepping outside of it, even in a realm as simple as that of cuisine, feels like a revolutionary, liberating sort of idea. And so I’ll go on eating my vegetables—I think it might be red beans and rice tomorrow—and feeling like some sort of underground fighter for a different standard, in my own little way. I’ll let the bro-science roll off my back like water.
But if you want some barbecue I’d probably still make it for you; an artist never sleeps.
Photo–Flickr/Groutas
Gendered food is just the weirdest thing. Men not eating the thing they would like to, for fear it would make them look less manly just baffle me. Why would you worry about it?
I cook and eat meat. I like well-prepared meat. However, I generally do not eat a lot of if, so the meals I prepare on most days have (fresh) bread, vegetables, salads, etc. And I cook meals w/o meat quite often. Manly? No idea. I cook what I and my family like to eat.
It is a silly thing, as I said, and don’t think it necessarily leads to healthy eating patterns. I dated a girl whose dad pretty much wouldn’t eat anything that wasn’t breaded and deep fried. On the other hand, he was as healthy as a horse and I have a weak stomach–didn’t when I was younger, but do now. Life is weird.
I like meat, it just sometimes doesn’t like me very much. Sometimes even when you really like a thing it’s not great for you. Am I going to be totally vegan? No. Am I eating a much more vegetarian diet for health reasons? Yep. Lots of fresh veggies are good for you and if I manage to eat a little bit of chicken or fish once or twice a week well, okay. If not, then it’s no biggie. And yes, I love avocados, milk, cheese, butter and eggs and nope, I’m not giving any of those things up.
All of those things are good for us, or can be at least, just in moderation. I’ve found the same thing is true about super-heavy weight lifting and don’t do it very often anymore–but I’m not going to give up my kettlebell working, even at very heavy weights, which is sort of like the butter/cheese of the lifting world.
I encourage everyone I can to become vegetarian.
The more people who stop eating meat, the lower the demand on the meat supply, and the lower the price I will have to pay for it as someone who will continue to eat meat.
Go totally vegan and you’ll help make my cheese more affordable as well.
Help me make my bacon bleu cheese burger cheaper. Don’t go eating lots of avocados, though, because I like guac on my burger.
Friend, your welcome to all the meat you could possibly want to eat. It’s not even really a TRIAL to give something up, or at least not a huge one, when it’s making you this sick. But you’ll have to fight me for the avocados, though.
Actually, if most people were vegan, most likely the price of meat would go up because the infrastructure would go away.