Doggy Bag: Today's Odds and Ends

Meat is mystery: Our favorite Bay Area Bites writer Andrew Simmons has an epic post on flesh today. Of course meat's gross, unspeakably gross -- anyone but a 14-year-old contrarian in skinny jeans and acne and, well, Anthony Bourdain, would have to admit that. But we still eat it, most of us, and not just because we're numb, or willfully cruel. It's that a slab of tri-tip has the ghost of the creature's animating spark still in it. Here's the once-vegetarian Simmons: Everything we eat used to be alive but a steak or a slab of goat is a lot closer to home than an onion. And again: I came to see the swine as a soulful animal. Its flesh could invest depth and rich mystery in whatever it graced, like a gospel choir brought in to lend authenticity and legitimacy to a lily-white rock band. Enjoy your pork chop, tonight, 'k? No seriously: Really enjoy it.