Mutton: Creation of Meat Categories in Mumbai, India (Term Paper Sample)

Mutton: Creation of Meat Categories in Mumbai, India
Abstract
This study discusses specific ways of distinction of meat by calling it as Mutton and how it contributes to the making of class identifiers in the meat markets in Mumbai. It describes the characteristics of Mutton, and narrates how calling some meat as Mutton hides the identity of the real meat. The nexus of creation of meat categories has been discussed briefly. The context of calling beef as Mutton, and chicken or pork as Mutton are different. But, this work explains how these are similar in its basic structural sense. The study argues that, by calling a meat Mutton, the identity of the meat is hidden and through this it communicates ‘this meat is not this meat, it is something else.’
Introduction
This study is an effort to understand how the animal characteristics have been consciously detached from the meat markets in Mumbai, through discussions based on three incidents, which are not odd but happen in everyday life in the city. This study discusses the creation of word ‘Mutton’ for an everyday discourse, which has different meaning than the usual mutton – the flesh of sheep used as food. This study discusses different contexts where the creation of meaning for the word Mutton has been happening, and the sociocultural meaning of it; and how the word Mutton used in different contexts are similar in its internal meaning.
The act of slaughtering is considered to be brutal, taking away of life from the living body of the animal. One of the notable effort for detaching the act of slaughtering from the edible meat happened in Mumbai was, when Bandra slaughterhouse has shifted to Deonar in 1971, it has named as Deonar abattoir instead of Deonar slaughterhouse. Ultimately there is no difference, but it primarily separates the act of slaughtering from the process of making meat from its name, these are similar in case of Americans call their slaughterhouses as ‘meat plant’ or ‘meat factory’ to further divorce the image of the food from the act of slaughter ADDIN EN.CITE Fiddes1991598(Fiddes, 1991, p. 98)556Nick FiddesMeat: The Natural Symbol1991LondonRoutledge(Fiddes, 1991, p. 98). Leach in his work similarly attributes sense of killing large animals, and eating their meat, the pairs which represents the animal and their meat are different because of this reason, like bullock – beef, pig – pork, sheep – mutton ADDIN EN.CITE Leach19646(Leach, 1964)6628Edmund LeachLenneberg, E HAnthropological Aspects of Language: Animal Categories and Verbal AbuseNew Dictionaries in the Study of Language1964CambridgeMIT Press(Leach, 1964). These are similar ways of expressing form of differentiation of what we eat from what we see alive.
Per capita consumption of meat is more among Indian rich people than the poor ADDIN EN.CITE Fu20121(Fu, Gandhi, Cao, Liu, & Zhou, 2012)1117Fu, WengeGandhi, Vasant P.Cao, LijuanLiu, HongboZhou, ZhangyueRising Consumption of Animal Products in China and India: National and Global ImplicationsChina & World EconomyChina & World Economy88-10620320121671223410.1111/j.1749-124X.2012.01289.x(Fu, Gandhi, Cao, Liu, & Zhou, 2012). As Pierre Bourdieu writes the food preference of different classes of people differ, and the professionals (the higher class) prefer more expensive meat and they differentiate themselves from other categories of people in preference of food; whereas people with high cultural capital and moderate economic capital will prefer the exotic food as well as the popular food, but they make their food distinct from others ADDIN EN.CITE Bourdieu19842(Bourdieu, 1984)226Pierre BourdieuRichard NiceDistinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste1984CambridgeHarvard University Press(Bourdieu, 1984). Whenever the products available in the market is same, these distinctions are possible only through making distinctions in the quality of products, and the freshness or purity of the product. Supermarkets do this role, they sell the same vegetables and fruits in polished, shining, and fresh looking form at higher price and the same after it got little substandard will be shifted to the informal markets in nearer poorer settlements ADDIN EN.CITE Eisenhauer20013(Eisenhauer, 2001)3317Eisenhauer, ElizabethIn Poor Health: Supermarkets Redlining and Urban NutritionGeoJournalGeoJournal125-13353220010343252110.1023/a:1015772503007(Eisenhauer, 2001). Then the distinction is made through the price paid and the appearance of the product when it is sold. Similarly, these distinctions in meat products have made through making different meat types, differentially pricing different parts of the same animal by its taste, nutritional value, and other attractive features as well as convenience to cook. Appadurai discusses about the cross cultural, caste, class, ethnic exchange of recipes, through the complex Indian urban middle class women interactions, at the same time these direct exchanges are absent in the outside world - there the cultural, caste, class, and ethnic differences are explicitly maintained ADDIN EN.CITE Appadurai19884(Appadurai, 1988)4417Arjun AppaduraiHow to make a national cuisine: Cookbooks in contemporary IndiaComparitive Studies in Society and HistoryComparitive Studies in Society and History3-243011988(Appadurai, 1988). This work slightly touches this aspect when recipes are same the distinctions are maintained through the materials used. Majorly this work discusses about how these distinctions are made in the meat markets in Mumbai. Three incidents while living in Mumbai has taken as the thread for the study, and further discussed about Mutton.
Three Incidents
The core discussion in this paper is starting from three incidents noted by the author while living in different parts of the Mumbai city. The first incident is from a restaurant in central suburb of Mumbai, Powai, most of the customers of this restaurant are university students from a famous university nearby, and most among them were South Indian students. It is only one easily accessible restaurants near to the university which serve beef, and south Indian meals. The second incident is from Chembur a South-Central suburb of Mumbai city. The incident has happened in a cold storage near to the railway station. This spot where the shop is situated is easily accessible for the rich people who live towards the east of the station and the poor who live along the railway line; and this location gets crowded in every market days and people from different economic and linguistic background come here to purchase pork. The third incident has happened at a mutton shop in the Kamothe area of New Mumbai city. These areas are recently planned and constructed. A mixed crowd lives here, mostly new migrants to the city and middle income people who has shifted out of the city live here. This mutton shop is one of the many mutton shops available in the main market area of Kamothe.
A Restaurant in Powai, Mumbai
Three plate rice and one plate beef fry, one beef curry, and one plate fish fry was the order placed to shop owner. He shouted towards the kitchen, ‘three plate rice, one Mutton fry, one Mutton curry, and fish fry’. The person who ordered confirmed with the shop owner, brother, we want beef, not mutton. The shop owner did not attend his worries. In a short while the order has come, in an answer to the gazing eyes of the serving boy, the shop owner pointed his finger towards the table where it supposed to be served. It was beef!
A cold storage in Chembur, Mumbai
This shop near to Chembur railway station sells pork. An order for one kilogram of boneless-pork was placed to the cashier. The cashier asked the butcher to get one kilogram of Mutton. The butcher then took many cuts of ‘pork’ from the freezer and asked us to select one among that. We select loin and asked the cashier, why do they call it as Mutton, and he replied everybody calls it Mutton only; therefore we also call it as Mutton.
A chicken store, Kamothe, Navi Mumbai
Mutton or chicken? The shop keeper asked us again. We gazed at each other, we did not see any mutton pieces displayed there, and asked the shop keeper again; do you serve mutton? He replied yes; we asked do you serve it fresh, he replied, yes I will make Mutton and give it right now. We ordered for one and a half kilogram of mutton. Then he took a bigger chicken and killed it, dressed it and gave.
Three Muttons
These incidents show the use of the term Mutton, in different ways and having different meanings. These uses do not limit to the meaning of Mutton as the flesh of sheep. But, it has another meaning which communicates to the people around. In the first incident, the word Mutton represents beef, in the second incident it means pork, and in the third incident it means chicken; along with that, actual sheep’s meat also called as mutton. The question here is why do they use Mutton for all other forms of meat? This question has been attended in a socio-cultural context of Mumbai, where beef is banned ADDIN EN.CITE Government of Maharashtra20158(Government of Maharashtra, 2015b)8850Government of Maharashtra,Law and Judiciary DepartmentMaharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act2015MumbaiPrincipal Secratery and RLA to Government(Government of Maharashtra, 2015b), pork is considered to be loathsome, and food which out-casted eat; but people prefer chicken and mutton for their usual non-vegetarian consumption.
What does different forms of Mutton mean?
Many varieties of meats represent as ‘Mutton’ (with capital letter M) because of different reasons. This part of the discussion describes how Mutton brings the idea of security to the sellers within the system of meat merchandise ...