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Filed under: Food Oddities, Southern States, Meat

You’ve probably heard the story of the 11 year-old boy who killed a 10 foot, 1000 pound pig. It’s been causing a stir in blogland.

Take a look at the official site. The picture of the kid leaning on the pig doesn’t quite look right. What’s that under his left elbow, his knee? If it’s his knee, then he must be further back or on top of something. And the picture on the far right, of the four guys standing behind it. It doesn’t look right at all. The pig looks a lot smaller. It’s still a big pig, of course (though was it wild?). People are wondering.

Continue reading Sausage for everyone?

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Producers are trying to use more humane methods to fatten the livers of geese and still satisfy chefs.

A restaurant owner received Chicago’ s first fine under an April 2006 ordinance that is the first in the country to ban the sale of foie gras.

Filed under: Snacks, East Coast, Food Porn, Meat, Mexico

Before you get turned off by this edition of Midnight Snack allow me to explain the headline. Years ago I used to eat these wonderful tacos at a Mexican deli in Hell’s Kitchen. After working my way through all the humdrum varieties (carnitas, bifteck, al pastor, cecina, etc.), I spied pancita de chivo written on the blackboard.

I asked what kind of meat it was before trying a taco. When the lady told me they were goat belly, I gladly ordered one up, after all I’d never met chivo that was anything less than cravable. When I saw that the tortilla contained blood pudding and god knows whatever other bits of goat innards I wasn’t entirely turned off. In fact, my interest was piqued since I enjoy a good black pudding every now and then. When I tasted it, everything changed, for this was no mere blood pudding. It was subltly spiced with cinnamon and hot peppers and utterly delicious.

Fast forward to yesterday when I saw pansa negro de chivo on the specials menu at one of my favorite Mexican spots. When I ordered it, I wasn’t entirely sure whether it would be the same meat I’d had in tacos. As it turned out it was. About five tacos worth of goat gutty goodness were sided with some of the best Mexican rice I’ve ever had. Usually this lackluster rice has a technicolor orange hue and remains uneaten, but not this version. It had just enough achiote to color it and was studded through with bits of fresh carrots and peas, and kept company by some great stewed beans. The whole affair was topped with four or five pickled jalapeños that had been sliced lengthwise.

As you might have guessed from the topic of this post the whole platter proved to be too much for me. Of course when you get it packed up, dump in a bowl and then nuke it, the result looks nowhere near as good as it did in the restaurant. But I can assure you, it hits the spot at midnight with an ice cold Tecate. Let’s just hope I don’t have any nightmares about chupacabras.

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Filed under: Australia, Did you know?, Meat

There are around 50 million kangaroos of various types in Australia. Australians have always had kangaroo meat available, but it usually only graced the table of the poor or the bowls of their canine companions. Lately kangaroo is becoming a lot more popular. Tourists started the trend, but now you are starting to see the meat on the menu of both higher end restaurants, and smaller, rough and rustic joints. Usually in the form of steaks, sausages, salami, and meat pies.

The meat tastes a bit like beef and venison, but with a more tender texture, and is very lean. It is very healthy, and is considered a “diet food” since it is so low fat, and poly-unsaturated at that. I tried it once many years ago, but it was marinated and grilled over smoky coals and even shoe leather would taste good prepared that way. I look forward to trying it again sometime soon, especially now that I know how to properly cook kangaroo meat (and wallaby.)

Kangaroo isn’t farm raised, they are collected during government culling to prevent their over population and to prevent excessive crop damage. The kangaroos are killed by professionals who sell them to butchers. Selling kangaroo meat for the dinner table has been legal in South Australia since 1980 and in the rest of Australia since 1993. Exports have grown from hardly anything in 1989 to $20 million in 2001, and it is cheaper than beef, selling for about $Au 1.50 a pound for ground meat and $Au 4 a pound for fillets.

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Filed under: Northern Europe, North America, Meat

In Alaska those famous flying reindeer are being served up for dinner. You can get Caribou steaks, roasts, and reindeer jerky and sausage- in mild and hot versions. Reindeer hot dogs are a summer time treat, as well as being served during the start of the Iditarod dog sled race every year in March. Caribou, also called reindeer, have a very flavorful and lean, healthy meat. To make sausage with it, you actually have to add fat from other sources such as beef and pork. It is sometimes hard to find but Ikea sells it all across Europe. So how about a nice spit roasted reindeer for the Holidays?

You can buy caribou and other game and exotic meats at some of the following places:

• Fossil Farms
• www.ExoticMeats.com
• Jamison Farms Elk Meat
• Elk USA
• Fisherman’s Express
• Indian Valley Meats
• Alaska Sausage and Seafood
• Safari Snacks

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Cooking Rattlesnake Meat

The 72 oz. Steak

7 min 56 sec - Dec 20, 2006

This is the story of one man and one really big piece of meat.

It’s almost as easy to cook a really great burger as it is to cook a mediocre one….