Earlier this year, journalist Jeffrey Yoskowitz started the site PorkMemoirs.com to be exactly what it sounds like–a collection of people’s memories about a “complicated meat.”
Notably, nearly half the contributors so far are Jewish or Muslim. The stories on the site don’t all pay tribute to the other white meat. In fact, several are about being forced to eat pork, or nearly eating pork, or, in one memorable instance, being served pork soup, and being told, “I know you don’t eat pork; I didn’t realize you don’t drink pork either.”
In another story, a Romanian immigrant to Israel tells of her mother’s discovery of a lone Tel Aviv store that sold pork, making her nostalgic for her faraway past. A student in a Middle East Politics class tells of a teacher who would bring a particular pork product to share with his class each week: pepperoni pizza. All of his students were Jewish or Muslim–and they steadfastly refused to take even one bite.
Of course, even if you don’t eat pork, you can still read about it, which is what makes PorkMemoirs such a delicious treat.
