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This legend was obviously composed in ancient times for the purpose of explaining an even older and already obscure taboo. What was the original rationale for not eating the sciatic nerve? Nobody knows. What is known is that removing the nerve along with the fat, which tends to grow into the muscle tissue especially in the hind half of the animal, is possible, if done by a skilled butcher, but it's time-consuming and unprofitable on a larger scale. Which is why Jews, traditionally, eat meat solely from the front half of the animal. Their Gentile neighbours have been taking advantage of this tradition for centuries, buying the appetizingly marbled hind meat from Jewish butchers at half price. , as related by one 19th-century Polish cookbook writer: