June 11, 2001

7:22 AM

Not Salieri but Schnitzelthe latest theory about what did in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is that he might have contracted trichinosis from some spoiled pork cutlets. "Why Antonio, I'd just die for some wiener schniztel right now," Wolfgang exclaimed. "Yes, you would," sneered Salieri.......
posted by briank (18 comments total)

Future generations of musicians will suffer if this page doesn't highlight the dangers of the other white meat.
posted by machaus at 7:51 AM on June 11, 2001

Trichinosis isn't caused by spoiled meat. It's caused by eating meat from animals which are infected with a certain parasite (including pork and venison). The parasite can be killed either by freezing the meat or by cooking it thoroughly (which is why you never eat pork "rare").
posted by Steven Den Beste at 8:21 AM on June 11, 2001

Hmm.. I didn't know sites like that existed, just last night I was watching lisa the vegetarian simpsons episode. "Hi! I'm troy mclure!' 'your crazy friend doesn't know about the food chain!' 'when I grow up I'm going to graduate from bovine university!'
posted by tiaka at 8:31 AM on June 11, 2001

"if a cow ever got the chance, he'd eat you and everyone you care about."
posted by bluishorange at 8:41 AM on June 11, 2001

"Wow, Mr. McClure. I was a grade A moron to ever question eating meat."
posted by tiaka at 10:24 AM on June 11, 2001

Mmm...rare pork.....
posted by briank at 11:48 AM on June 11, 2001

I hope I cooked my pork sausage well enough last night. I really, really, really hope.
posted by dhartung at 12:17 PM on June 11, 2001

Trichinosis from pork products is all but unheard of anymore in the US. There were only a handful of cases in the past ten years, and most of those came from eating wild game.

But of course the real reason I have to post:


"Troy: Come on Jimmy, let's take a peek at the killing floor.
Jimmy: Ohhh!
Troy: Don't let the name throw you Jimmy. It's not really a floor, it's more of a steel grating that allows material to sluice through so it can be collected and exported."
posted by Skot at 12:31 PM on June 11, 2001

Trichinosis is the primary reason Jews aren't allowed to eat pork.
posted by kindall at 12:57 PM on June 11, 2001

The other being that whole Kashruth (Kosher) thing? :)
posted by Marquis at 2:46 PM on June 11, 2001

I'm talking about "the whole Kosher thing." The Jews figured out that certain foods made them sick with regularity and formulated a set of rules about food preparation to keep them healthy. To make sure these rules were followed strictly, they added them to their religion. Very smart from a survival standpoint.
posted by kindall at 5:12 PM on June 11, 2001

I was being facetious. :) But thanks for the information all the same.

It ties in famously with that oddity about locusts being Kosher (although a bunch of other insects aren't). Obviously, when a swam of locusts moved in, there wasn't anything to eat besides the darn things. "Uh... of course locusts are kosher!" said the Rabbis. Smart fellows.
posted by Marquis at 6:03 PM on June 11, 2001

Back to the subject of the article, I'll quote the theory I agree with. I personally think that he died because they needed a new choirmaster in heaven.--Dr. Faith Fitzgerald, professor of medicine at the University of California-Davis.
posted by caraig at 7:03 PM on June 11, 2001

Nothing like a good old meat story to start the juices flowing: The Stinky Meat Project
posted by lagado at 7:28 PM on June 11, 2001

Personally, I don't think Mozart's strongest suit was choral conducting......
posted by LeafQueen at 8:03 PM on June 11, 2001

Or, as the man said, "I'm not a vegetarian because I hate meat. I'm a vegetarian because I hate vegetables."
posted by JParker at 11:04 PM on June 11, 2001

> The Jews figured out that certain foods made them sick with
> regularity and formulated a set of rules about food
> preparation to keep them healthy. To make sure these rules
> were followed strictly, they added them to their religion.

Is there any evidence for this? (Other than, like, it ought to be true?) All sorts of cultures all over the world have food taboos that are simply tribal markers ("We're us because we're the ones who don't eat the spotted frogs.") Merely by the law of shotgun aiming, some of these taboos will turn out to have survival significance just by coincidence.
posted by jfuller at 6:36 AM on June 12, 2001

Good point. It seemed obvious to me, and I didn't think of tribal markers. Perhaps the Jews are just the ones who, in the early days, survived in the largest numbers because their food taboos made the most sense.
posted by kindall at 9:25 AM on June 12, 2001