Last meals/Henkersmahlzeit

Vor der Hinrichtung in den USA darf der Gefangene sich eine letzte Mahlzeit nach Wunsch bestellen. In dem Observer stehen ein Artikel zum Thema und ein Interview (auf Englisch) mit Brian Price, der elf Jahre lang die Henkersmahlzeiten in Texas zubereitet hat.
Ein Beschreibung von Brian Prices Buch auf Deutsch befindet sich bei “Kuriose Geschichten”:

bq. Crockett/USA (AP) ‘Galgensoße’ und ‘Leichenstarren-Reis’: Das sind nur zwei von insgesamt 42 Rezepten, die Gefängniskoch Brian Price in seinem neuen Kochbuch zusammengestellt hat. Sie haben eines gemeinsam: Es handelt sich um Henkersmahlzeiten, die Häftlinge im Gefängnis von Huntsville im US-Staat Texas vor ihrer Hinrichtung erhielten.

The Observer discusses the last meals ordered by prisoners on death row in the USA, and adds an interview with Brian Price, the chef who was responsible for last meals in Texas for eleven years.

Price was a prisoner himself – traditionally, prisoners with shorter sentences cooked the meals.

bq. Price says inmates generally choose food unique to their culture. ‘Mexican guys want Mexican food. The black guys generally want everything from ‘chitlins’ [stuffed pig intestines] to fried chicken and watermelon.

Chitlings sound close to Helmut Kohl’s favourite.

bq. ‘One man ordered butter beans which was difficult to prepare, but it was something his mum made him when he was a kid and I knew it would take him back to a time when it was peaceful. So I cooked them real slow. There was this little old black guy – a prisoner named Monroe who walked up and smelt the cooking and said: “Mmm, I love butter beans, who they for?” and I said, “Well, Monroe, they’re for the guy they’re fixin’ to kill”. And he said: “Mmmm, don’t want no dead man’s beans, I got enough problems”.’

Price has written a book, Meals to Die For, which is said to suffer from an overdose of gallows humour, with recipe titles such as ‘Gallows gravy’ and ‘Rice rigor mortis’. Some discussion of this, to which Price contributes, on the weblog Crossing the Rubicon2.

See also the weblog Dead Man Eating.

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