beef eating in the Veda

[R.W.Perrett at massey.ac.nz]

>As for the term "Vedic", I would like to exclude everything later than
>the older Upanishads.

Since you are willing to count as "Vedic" the older Upanisads, then perhaps
the passage in Brhadaranyaka Upanisad (VI.4.18) is relevant.  There it is
said that a man who desires a son learned in the Vedas should prepare a
dish of beef and rice served with ghee and eat it with his wife before
intercourse.  Of course, this is still not an unambigous example of an
"everyday, non-ritualistic food
habit".

email: R.W.Perrett at massey.ac.nz