DONKEY
Rich ancient Persians would celebrate their birthdays with a dinner of a whole baked ox, horse, camel or donkey.
A Jackass or Jack is an ungelded donkey. John is a rarely used name for a gelded donkey.
A Jenny or Jennet is a female donkey.
Donkey, ass and burro are all names for the same animal, a species of equine related to the horse. Donkeys have longer ears, a narrower body, a straighter back and a cow-like tail. Donkey is the English word, Burro is Spanish, and ass the technical word - the Latin name is Equus asinus.
Little used for food, the donkey's meat is nevertheless tasty, much superior in flavor to that of horse; it is used mainly in the manufacture of certain types of sausage.
Wild donkey used to be considered choice venison in the Orient. A story is told that the cook to Wilhelm the king of Prussia served donkey's brains à la diplomate to Napoleon III after his defeat and capture at Sedan.
Source: Larousse Gastronomique 1961 edition
A Mule is the sterile hybrid offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Mules have strong muscles like horses but they eat less, can work longer, and are gentler, like donkeys.
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