That's called "dry aging", and makes for some good beef.  But I don't think
I would refer to it as "rotting".  The meat is hung in a refrigerator for a
few days and dries a bit.  There's a very high-priced restaurant locally
that dry-ages their meat.

I'd love to hear more about the seafood.  Sounds positively hospitalizing!
;-)

John Pavao

----------
Dean Esmay writes:

>I do
>know that in centuries past one of the most popular ways to eat meat,
>especially among the well-to-do, was to "hang" it, which basically meant
>stringing the carcass up and hanging it from a roof and then letting it
rot
>for a few weeks, then eating the meat.  Hanging supposedly made the meat
>extremely tender and flavorful.  The Romans used to consider rotten fish a
>delicacy, as do the eskimos.

The instincto friend I mentioned who has been eating raw meat for 8 years
said that is exactly what he and his wife do. They get a hook to put the
meat on, and hang it in the fridge or in front of a fan to dry out. I am
not sure how long they do this for, I don't think all that long, maybe a
week or two at the most. Can't remember the exact procedure they use, or if
they have any safety precautions they follow. (If he is on this listgroup,
I'm sure he'll speak up for himself.) He says it very definitely improves
the taste in most cases (they eat much more seafood than red meat), and
they now do this with most of the meat they eat.

--Ward Nicholson <[log in to unmask]> Wichita, KS