Thursday, March 31, 2016

Ha, ha, ha! Let's make jokes about cooking and eating elephants.


This joke recipe for Elephant Stew appears on the final page of the 1972 staplebound pamphlet Flavorite Recipes from the Farmers' Almanac. It follows pages filled with such yummy recipes as Melt-In-Your-Mouth Blueberry Cake, Peach Mello, Potato Candy, Punchka (a kind of doughnut), Stuffed Mushrooms and Yankee Doodle Salad.

The recipe goes like this:

Elephant Stew
  • 1 elephant (medium size)
  • 2 rabbits (optional)
  • salt and pepper

Cut the elephant into small bite-size pieces. This should take about two months. Add enough brown gravy to cover. Cook over kerosene fire for about four weeks at 465 degrees.

This will serve thirty-eight hundred people. If more are expected, two rabbits may be added, but do this only if necessary as some people do not like to find a hare in their stew.

* * *

There are many variations of this joke and the original source is unclear. One website claims it first appeared in a 1968 cookbook, but I'd be surprised if it doesn't go back further than that.

The joke even has its own webpage at funkymunky.co.za/elephantstew.html. The page is filled with international variations on the theme, some of which veer disturbingly toward being actual potential recipes for a stew made from elephants.

So, just to be clear, I have as good of a sense of humor as anyone, but...

ELEPHANTS ARE NOT FOR EATING.
ELEPHANTS TUSKS ARE NOT OURS TO TURN INTO A COMMODITY.
ELEPHANTS ARE NOT FOR TROPHY HUNTING.
ELEPHANTS ARE NOT FOR CIRCUSES AND ZOOS.


Now that I have that out of my system, we can return to the levity and leave you with this silly illustration of anthropomorphic potatoes from Flavorite Recipes from the Farmers' Almanac...

2 comments:

  1. I love elephants too but I think this joke can only be taken with tongue in cheek in order to use the homophone for hare/ hair. Wouldn't you agree?

    ReplyDelete