Websters provides the simplest definition of the word cloning when it explains it as: “the technique of producing a genetically identical duplicate of an organism by replacing the nucleus of an unfertilized ovum with the nucleus of a body cell from the organism“  The Americans have been cloning cattle for years with great success and little fuss, providing for the burgeoning market as effectively as possible. In the current day and age food – or the lack of it – has become a huge problem and the issue of feeding over a billion starving people is something that cannot

be swept under the carpet and forgotten until the next crisis hits the headlines. Every day is a crisis in Africa and every day millions of children are starving to death. Starvation is painful and death from it, not merciful – children live in abject agony until death takes away their suffering. What get’s me is that all this happens while the rest of the world struggles with obesity. It seems so sick somehow. The Spiegel pointed out, quite correctly last night, that  ”anyone who considers creation sacred should make sure they never talk to a cattle breeder. In-vitro fertilization, artificial insemination and embryo transfer are the terms of their trade. And now another word from the lexicon of reproductive medicine has joined the breeder’s jargon: cloning“. At long last the European agricultural ministers decided that it was okay to allow cloned meat on the European market and everyone is up in arms. What is so cruel about cloning? Where is it more cruel than the in-vitro fertilization of human beings, at which point does it become cruel and at which point will it harm humans more than any other meat? Surely, if a man like Heiner Niemann from the Loeffler Institute thinks it’s okay, it certainly will be – he is considerably more qualified to make the decision that the hysterical groups that are condemning

something of which they know absolutely nothing. I challenge those groups to spend some time in Zimbabwe or the Sudan and tell those children that, unfortunately, they will spend yet another night without food because the cloned food is not ethical but starving is or do those objectors merely want to have their day in the media first?  Is it more ethical to let this child die? The Americans are fanatical about health and there is no way the FDA would allow a single American to eat anything that could possibly be disadvantageous to their health and whilst I don’t like the American politics all of the time, their science cannot be faulted. The world has to stop being precious now and start considering the real crisis – the crisis that sees children die in agony every day because they have no food whilst those that have so much to say sit behind laden tables to theorize. The problems encountered with the first cloned sheep have long been resolved and anyway, the meat that lands up in the supermarkets or the butcheries is no longer cloned meat because it is the meat of the ‘cloned animals’ offspring‘.  Why else would the American FDA as well as the European EFSA approve it?  It was pointed out to me this morning that it does seem strange that in Europe, where there is more than enough food, we find the cloned meat but yet in the countries where there is chronic food shortages, there is nothing – not even cloned meat. It will only be  a matter of time before “cloned” meat is found on European supermarket shelves and since it can’t be distinguished from normal meat, the reaction could be interesting – “the European Parliament needs to decide soon, before American products start landing on the European market unnoticed”. I pray that the it will soon be “ on the verge of widespread commercial use” because knowing that small children starve to death every single day while I eat, is hardly appetizing.  It will come as no surprise that we chose a pretty ordinary, down to earth spicy beef stew as today’s recipe – it is surprisingly declicous.

SPICY INDIAN BEEF STEW

Ingredients

• 500 g stewing beef, cut in thick cubes
• 8 medium sized potatoes, cut into generous cubes, peeled (place them in cold water to prevent discolouration)
• 450 g diced tomatoes
• 120 g shallots, finely sliced
• 450 g coconut milk
• 6 fat green cardamom pods, seeds removed
• 1 ½  tsp turmeric
• 1 ½  tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 fresh lemon leaves (use bay leaves if you don’t have any)
• 2 large cinnamon sticks
• 2 tsp cumin seeds, crushed
• 2 tsp corianders seeds, crushed
• 2 black cardamom pods
• 120 ml balsamic vinegar
• 2 – 3 tablespoons freshly coriander leaves, chopped
• Sea salt to taste
• Grapeseed oil (or very light olive oil) for frying

Method

• Shake the beef in a Ziploc bag with the cayenne pepper and the turmeric and refrigerate overnight.
• Drain the potatoes and dry them.
• Heat the oil in quite a large pot over medium heat and then add the cardamom seeds, the lemon leaves, the cinnamon sticks and fry a few seconds until the aroma permeates the air.
• Add the beef, the shallots and the potatoes and stir fry until the beef is seared and the potatoes golden.
• Sprinkle over the cumin and the coriander and stir fry for another 2 – 3 minutes.
• Pour in the coconut milk, the tomatoes with all the juice, the vinegar, the black cardamom,  and the salt.
• Stir and scrape to deglaze the pot.
• Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer covered until the meat is very tender and the potatoes tender with a thickish sauce.