Italian state TV has suspended a cooking show host who shocked the nation by saying cat stew is a Tuscan delicacy he swears he has enjoyed many times. RAI TV confirmed on Wednesday that it had suspended Beppe Bigazzi, the 77-year-old host of a popular morning program that offers food tips and recipes in a country fiercely proud of its cuisine. When his 27-year-old female co-host looked stunned as Bigazzi said he has eaten cat stew “many times,” the white-haired, grandfather figure defended his tastes. “Why, people maybe don't eat rabbit, chicken, pigeon?” Bigazzi said. Bigazzi claimed cat stew was a Tuscan specialty near the Arno river valley, but co-host Elisa Isoardi looked so embarrassed she ducked behind a cart of fresh salad greens. “Cat, soaked for three days in the running water of a stream” in Tuscany “comes out with its meat white, and I assure you — I have eaten it many times — that it is a delicacy,” Bigazzi continued. His critics included Health Ministry Undersecretary Francesca Martini. “Cats are pets protected by law,” Martini noted, against “cruelty, maltreatment and abandonment.”
