Nor are these preferences solely governed by what is available. All cultures go
to considerable lengths to obtain preferred foods, and often ignore valuable
food sources close at hand. The English do not eat horse and dog;
Mohammedans refuse pork; Jews have a whole litany of forbidden foods (see
Leviticus); Americans despise offal; Hindus taboo beef and so on. People
will not just eat anything, whatever the circumstances. In fact, omnivorousness
is often treated as a joke. The Chinese are indeed thought by their more
fastidious neighbors to eat anything. The Vietnamese used to say that the best
way to get rid of the Americans would be to invite in the Chinese, who would
surely find them good to eat