'Exotic' Meats: What's Your Pleasure?
Our friends at a nearby restaurant serve a Farm-Raised Deep-Fried Alligator appetizer with sour cream & chipotle dipping sauce. It's sweet, tender and tasty, and we eat the stuff like candy.
While buffalo isn't really anything 'exotic', Buffalo Filet Mignon can be difficult to find. Cooked right, it really does melt in the mouth.
What weirdness or oddity have you eaten at a meal, that you'd like to recommend?
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46 Comments:
All time favorite is elk sausage. When packed correctly with the right seasoning, nothing beats this somewhat non-traditional meat.
BirdDoggie at 6:15PM on 07/09/08
I had alligator once. Maybe it was the way it was fried, but it was like chewing rubber! Love buffalo. Have you tried ostrich?
izatryt at 6:18PM on 07/09/08
I've got the picky stomach of a child, so no weird meat passes these lips.
I was drunk once in college, ok more than once...anyway, at friends of friends who were having a party and were bbq'ing some deer meat, I succumbed to drunken peer pressure and tried it, I still remember the flavor... gamey grass. ew.
Southern_bella at 6:29PM on 07/09/08
@izzy, haven't tried ostrich yet but the cafe upstairs at Cabela's in Dundee, MI, serves ostrich burgers. Just haven't yet got up the gumption!
Have to be careful in how both alligator and deer venison are cooked. I love both, but have had some seriously nasty versions.
LunaPierCook at 6:36PM on 07/09/08
I grew up on venison and have had mule deer and elk meat - I'm a fan of it all. My favorite though is osterich filets, which I've only had a few times. They're absolutely delicious!
joyyy at 6:54PM on 07/09/08
@LPC - You have smoked MINT so I can't believe you have a problem with gumption! Give it a try, weenie boy! Next time you get your hoofs on some venison steaks and I will hook you up with an amazing marinade! ;-D
izatryt at 7:04PM on 07/09/08
"let me know" please insert above....;-p
izatryt at 7:24PM on 07/09/08
@izzy, there's 10 lbs of deer venison steaks in the kitchen, so I asked this question. :-)
LunaPierCook at 7:27PM on 07/09/08
Snapper Turtle.....If you can find a mature, but young turtle it is delicious.
No...it doesn't taste like chicken as the joke may go....but.....it is truly 7 kinds of meat. It is game, so the flavors are intense & unfamiliar...ranging from milder flavors similar to chicken & turkey to stronger flavors that remind you of duck, goose or pheasant.
The only person I know alive that knows how to clean one is my father, and I haven't helped him enough times to ever attempt it solo.
We always had it prepared like "roaster chicken." Dredged in flour, fried, then layered in a roaster and baked.
To be honest....The last time I had it, it wasn't that good. The turtle was a bit old, so as you would expect...the meat was tougher & gamier than one would want. But....I've also had it when it was as good as any other meat you might roast.
Sidenote: Here in the Twin Cities there is a large Hmong population....Turtle is a very common ingredient in some of their native dishes, and I know a number of people that do not consider it exotic & lament that they cannot find it easily.
2qrs at 7:57PM on 07/09/08
I don't eat meat, but my boyfriend says 'elk and puffin.' Yeah, puffin.
caley at 7:58PM on 07/09/08
i've had elk steaks.....as good or better than any beef that i've had....venison marsala which was delicious....deep fried alligator tail which was overcooked and rubbery.....in my younger days i had "homemade" rocky mountain oysters....long story there...lol....and recently while in london i tried eels....my wife and i were walking and i saw "The Eel Shop"....and of course i HADDA stop in......they were like a firm whitefish...sliced with the skin still on......but it seemed like there was a lot of fat under the shin which made them kinda slimy....and oh yeah.....one time someone gave me some VERY wild mushrooms to eat.....THAT was a night to remember....lol
onepercent99 at 7:59PM on 07/09/08
I actually made this while living in Kzoo. Basic recipe:
3/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp Ketchup
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 coarsely chopped medium onion
2 chopped garlic cloves
1 Tbsp Brown sugar
Fresh ground pepper
1 "glug" (you decide) Worcestershire
I scale the recipe for the amount of meat I have. This will work with about 4-6 steaks providing they are not Flintstone size.
I put them in a ziplock for about 2 hours in the fridge. Took them out, let them chill on the counter, threw them on the grill and the rest is up to you as I don't know how thick they are.
Works really well with pork chops too. I buy the thick cut chops and I will let them hang in the fridge for about 4 hours. I grill them 5 minutes per side, then stand them on the flat bone end and turn off the heat. Let them sit for 15-20 depending on your desired degree of doneness.
Keep in mind, I am from New England............
izatryt at 8:05PM on 07/09/08
I love bison and have enjoyed ostrich. My husband has eaten, ack, horse, moose, etc. etc. etc.
O Canada.
wellred at 8:26PM on 07/09/08
@wellred - Horse?
izatryt at 8:31PM on 07/09/08
Shark! My grandfather cooked it up many years ago for Christmas Eve (gotta have at least seven fish, you know). Haven't had it since, but I remember it being soft and extremely salty, somewhat like a scallop.
kfarrel3 at 9:02PM on 07/09/08
@wellred - ACK?
PerkyMac at 9:06PM on 07/09/08
Squab-farm raised baby pigeon- is my favorite meat, hands down.
coolname at 9:12PM on 07/09/08
Wild Boar! Love it, love it, love it. Think of the tenderest cuts of beef, only instead of beef fat, there is pork fat throughout. Porky beef or Beefy pork, there's no better way to describe wild boar.
ErikaWaz at 9:22PM on 07/09/08
I've had horse stew and snake a few times. The horse meat was tough and a lot like beef. The stew itself was tasty. Snake was prepped like unagi so like anything grilled with unagi sauce, it tasted like unagi sauce. :P
Cassaendra at 9:28PM on 07/09/08
went to dim sum a few weeks ago and someone ordered the snails...i didn't try any but i think the consensus was that it was more work (to get the little buggers out of their shells) than it was worth.
i wouldn't really consider eel exotic since i eat the sushi rolls all the time...but the chinese-run mexican place by my school has eel burritos, eel tacos, eel quesadillas...and that just turns my stomach a bit (but who knows? maybe they're quite good)
billyburgwife at 10:15PM on 07/09/08
Unicorn is great!
srhcb at 11:01PM on 07/09/08
Although I couldn't bring myself to eat dog meat (since I'm a product of my own culture; I completely understand that I eat things people in some other places would find repulsive or morally objectionable), I do wonder what it tastes like. Anyone have experience and want to weigh in?
BangieB at 11:48PM on 07/09/08
I'll eat anything that is fresh and well prepared. Seared Elk tenderloin in wild mushroom sauce? Oh yeah! BBQ Bison ribs in a smoky burbon sauce? Please! Venison picata? That will do. Wild boar shoulder in a ragu with spinich fazoletti? Bring it. Lightly grilled eel with sweet pineapple drizzle? Heaven. Thresher shark tacos with mango and habinero? One for me and the lady. Poached skate with butter and capers? That will do nicely. Stewed goat with spicy eggplant and tomato? Goat-ilicious!
Bunnyman at 12:25AM on 07/10/08
I've had alligator, both good and bad. Wild boar once that was very good. Buffalo is somewhat common around here. I like it better for stewing than for steaks, though. Ostrich a few times. Seems to me that while it tastes a lot like beef, the texture is more like poultry. Let's see, I tasted goat once. And I've got a pound of ground yak in my freezer as we speak.
I've had a few others that were just fair. Don't know if it was the meat or the preparation, but if I'm gonna spend high-end dollars at a restaurant for a "wild" meat steak, I expect it to be as good as beef, either in flavor, tenderness, or both. Eating a chewy, stringy, grainy, gnarly hunk of meat just to be able to say I ate that particular meat is silly. Cooked right, those meats might have been fine.
There was a local place that had a plate of elk, buffalo and something else -- can't recall now what it was -- that was pretty good most of the time.
dbcurrie at 12:26AM on 07/10/08
Venison and elk, at home (my brother's) and every sort of game bird. Frogs' legs - a gift from a very elderly friend to my parents. Snake in Beijing.
islandexile at 2:17AM on 07/10/08
Kangaroo for me please! I don't know if it's available in the US, but it is goooooood!!! Really lean so you only need to cook it med-rare at most, and it is really tasty, not too gamey, tender and healthy!
vegemite at 4:56AM on 07/10/08
Kangaroo - very tender. It was done in a sweet-spicy marinade on a pizza.
Hubby has had camel tongue, snake, a small unidentified antelope/deer in Belize, wild boar (he's a Michigander), there must be more but I can't remember.
Venison, of course - we ate for a couple of years off a whitetail he brought home - I have OCD regarding eating ALL possible meat form hunting results.
cowprintrabbit at 5:10AM on 07/10/08
@izzy, sounds good ... thanks!
It was only in the past couple years that the last horse ranch intended for use as meat was shut down here in the U.S.
A friend from Amsterdam gave me a cookbook last year. The book contains quite a few nice-looking recipes for reindeer.
I'm surprised no one's yet owned up to trying Rocky Mountain Oysters. I do have a recipe ... ;-)
LunaPierCook at 5:45AM on 07/10/08
The most exotic meat I've ever had and really enjoyed was elk. I had a tenant in Colorado who was moving to the midwest and he had a freezer full of it. He gave it to me because he couldn't keep it frozen while moving. I made stew out of it and it was delicious. It wasn't gamy although I was prepared for that taste and wouldn't be caught off guard by it.
I would have loved to try Rocky Mountain Oysters but though I lived in Colorado for four years, I couldn't find a place that would admit to preparing them! (I love all that nasty stuff...chicken feet, tripe, you name it.)
chiff0nade at 6:32AM on 07/10/08
I've had sea cucumber. I think it was kung pao style. I know it was deep fried, and pretty darned tasty.
MerMade07 at 7:44AM on 07/10/08
Horse is good had it in Belgium at a frit stand.....had turtle I guess they didn't clean it right because it tasted like swamp water, rattlesnake it's not bad....
Markbb at 10:37AM on 07/10/08
While in Peru, I had cuy (guinea pig) and alpaca. The guinea pig really did taste like chicken ... well it has the texture of dark meat chicken, but was heavily spiced and not as moist. Not a lot of meat on them and are always served whole, head and all. The alpaca tasted like a milder, less fatty beef ... so not as good. Maybe if I would have had the tenderloin, I might be writing differently. In Lima, I also had the best ceviche of my life ... but tuna is not all that exotic.
Blueliner78 at 1:11PM on 07/10/08
I had tiny kid goat, boned and stuffed and braised whole over an open fire in a small vineyard/winery in Mendoza. La Tupina at Altus. Probally my favorite restaurant in the world.
coolname at 3:16PM on 07/10/08
@LPC - So, how are rocky mountain oysters?
izatryt at 4:02PM on 07/10/08
I am a fan of alligator, ostrich, bison, elk, rattlesnake and those "Rocky Mountain Oysters." Damn, now I am craving some rattlesnake chili.
Tasty Morsel at 5:16PM on 07/10/08
@izzy ... I have no idea. ;-)
LunaPierCook at 5:18PM on 07/10/08
@Tasty - Do "Rocky Mountain Oysters" taste like chikin'?
izatryt at 5:22PM on 07/10/08
Because of you guys I had to google Rocky Mountain Oysters:-) There's always something to learn about!
brooke29 at 6:32PM on 07/10/08
@brooke - ;-D
izatryt at 6:51PM on 07/10/08
Ha, Perky, the "ack" was a comment on the horse.
izatryt, you can get horse in some restaurants in Canada, I've never seen it on a menu in the States. For those in Toronto, he had it at La Palette in Kensington Market - a dish called Quack and Track, duck and horse. Strange bedfellows.
wellred at 10:24PM on 07/10/08
What's wrong with horse? Just because it isn't eaten very often in the U.S., doesn't mean it isn't a more common meat in other countries.
I can't really think of any too exotic meat I've eaten...I guess soft shell turtle?
The last one I had was a fresh water terrapin of some sort, a wee little thing with a pointed snout.
It was braised in sauce whole, shell and all, and when it was presented to us with head and feet still on, the waitress cut it into quarters with a butter knife, it was that soft.
Quite tasty! Texturally like a firmer frog. Taste was very poultry-like.
I've had whale meat, but it was preserved some how (not fermented, just cured). Very oily, and needed to be eaten with the appropriate condiments to cut some of its greasy fishiness. I presume fresher whale isn't as funky.
fuuchan at 1:10AM on 07/11/08
I just barbecued a jackrabbit in a mustard sauce. It was fantabulous!
Basically everything I eat is "exotic" because I hunt or fish for pretty much all my meat. Weirdest? Sea cucumber was pretty nasty, although I kinda like jellyfish. No North American game meat is too terribly "weird" tasting, if it is cooked properly. Maybe turtle.
I bet whale or seal would be pretty odd, although I have eaten neither. Fishy beef is how I hear it described. Mountain lion is said to taste like pork, as is coyote.
HunterAnglerGardenerCook at 1:47PM on 07/11/08
Definitely the delicious Suntown Sunbird. Hot and tasty!
blueskyman at 4:04PM on 07/11/08
Grouper cheeks deep fried in beer batter
Smoked Amberjack
Monk fish tails can be cooked a half a dozen ways
Lamb's Liver fresh from the slaughter house sauteed while still warm
with some shallots and Madiera wine
Home made head cheese
Grilled Ostrich tenderloins served with a Blueberry Balsamic sauce
Raw slices of calf sweetbreads dredged in flour ,sauteed in butter
served with a Tico sherry scented Espagnole sce or served cold with a Classic Vinaigrette
I know it's not all meat but still worth mentioning
Lamb or Buffalo Top rounds roasted sliced with wild mushroom sauce
grizz518 at 3:21PM on 07/15/08
You guys make me want to try Wild Boar.
On the other hand, you made me want to google Rocky Mountain Oysters (here I was thinking it was a different way to do oysters-was getting ready to be excited...BOY, was I wrong!) but now I am sorry I know. I will not partake in any of that. Thank you. This falls under learning something new everyday.
Glad to see this thread. My BF just sent me a link (www.exoticmeats.com) and asked me which one I would try...
Butrflygirly at 4:21PM on 07/15/08
Too Funny Bgirly!
izatryt at 4:25PM on 07/15/08