Member-only story
Sometimes You Have To Let the Animal Win
You wouldn’t be human otherwise
They eat fighting bulls
That might be how the practice started. The more placid bulls were set loose in the run down to the arena, like the famous one they still do in Pamplona. The more aggressive bulls, the ones with a warrior spirit, were reserved for death in the arena.
In certain restaurants in Spain, they still eat them now. Once the matador’s sword falls, it’s nothing but 1500 pounds of beef. And it’s good meat. Tough, for sure. But fighting bulls are raised free range to be healthy and strong until they meet their demise in front of the screaming crowd. They never see the horror of a feedlot. Which would you choose?
I’m a vegetarian. I’ll never know the gamy taste of meat that has been cooked in red wine overnight to break down its innate toughness so that pampered patrons can feast on strength. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the bull’s testicles are supposed to encourage powerful and long-lasting boners in men with more money than virility. Something to force into the trophy wife while she checks her Instagram likes over your shoulder.
But every now and then, we want the animal to win.
I can understand the glory in the deadly grace of the matador, the twirling cape and the…
