# Unusual meats you've eaten or wanted to



## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

This is a riff on a thread with posts about people hunting antelope, buffalo, etc. 

Anyone here ever try anything like that? "Unusual" means anything other than the ordinary beef, chicken, turkey, pork, or veal most of us eat. 

My cousin the retired cop bagged a Javelina (wild desert pig) in Arizona and gave me some of the meat. It was like dense, fine-grained beef, except it was a wild pig, with a beefy taste. It was good curried, with yoghurt for extra fat. 

I used to get alligator meat in Chinese food stores; it was succulent like lobster, from the carcasses of baby 'gators that were skinned to make leather. Great blackened Cajun style.

How about the rest of you? If in doubt, put it out . . . .


----------



## rjniles (Feb 5, 2007)

Eaten a lot of alligator, I like it. Kangaroo, not so much. Buffalo, elk very good. Foie gras (fattened goose liver), I like other livers but not this.


----------



## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

For ground beef dishes we almost always use Bison instead of ground beef itself. When we visit daughter in Colorado, we seldom eat anything that would be sold in a store. Buffalo, elk, antelope, wild hog, etc. is the faire for the day. Grand daughter savors elk tongue. Weird kid.


----------



## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

chandler48 said:


> For ground beef dishes we almost always use Bison instead of ground beef itself. When we visit daughter in Colorado, we seldom eat anything that would be sold in a store. Buffalo, elk, antelope, wild hog, etc. is the faire for the day. Grand daughter savors elk tongue. Weird kid.


How does your nurse-wife deal with the potential parasites & infections?


----------



## Old Thomas (Nov 28, 2019)

I was inspecting a county construction project and the construction manager invited me to his barbecue for the construction supervisors. He went big game hunting out west and got an elk, so he was serving elk steak and burgers. I am not a fan of game but I went anyway. It was surprisingly good. 
I have had venison that was good and venison that tasted like it came out of an old shoe that was buried under a chicken house. I usually pass.


----------



## Oso954 (Jun 23, 2012)

chandler48 said:


> Grand daughter savors elk tongue. Weird kid.


I don’t think it’s that weird, but I ate a lot of beef tongue as a kid. But yes, some people get weirded out if you are slicing it at the dinner table. 
Beef tongue is Lengua in Spanish. Try some tacos de Lengua if your Mexican restaurant or food truck has them.

My favorite meat is Norwegian reindeer., but I’ve only had it in Norway. It is similar to Alaskan caribou, but better.


----------



## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

Nik333 said:


> How does your nurse-wife deal with the potential parasites & infections?


Cook thoroughly?


----------



## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

Nik333 said:


> How does your nurse-wife deal with the potential parasites & infections?


We don't tell her what's she is eating . No, really the meat has been frozen for a year. We don't eat fresh wild game unless we eat it in camp.



Old Thomas said:


> I have had venison that was good and venison that tasted like it came out of an old shoe that was buried under a chicken house.


A deer that wasn't cleanly killed will run, creating an inrush of adrenalin through the meat when the heart starts pumping it. That's where you get that gosh awful taste.


----------



## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

chandler48 said:


> We don't tell her what's she is eating . No, really the meat has been frozen for a year. We don't eat fresh wild game unless we eat it in camp.
> 
> 
> A deer that wasn't cleanly killed will run, creating an inrush of adrenalin through the meat when the heart starts pumping it. That's where you get that gosh awful taste.


Hmm. Maybe sorta like how a dog can smell fear?


----------



## HotRodx10 (Aug 24, 2017)

I ate alot of venison when I was a kid, and elk now and then. I had moose a couple of times - very good, like really lean beef, similar to bison. BigHorn sheep is alot like any other mutton, maybe a bit leaner. Squirrel isn't too bad when it's in a stew with a can of vegetable soup; a little on the tough side, though.


----------



## Texican57 (11 mo ago)

Had a female friend (no benefits) that worked for the Texas Parks and Wldlife Department.

They had a fund raising wild game cook-off once a year.

For $20 you got a plastic spoon, a paper bowl and could sample the "dishes" the cook-off contestants created.

Ate all kinds of " tasty critters", majority of the time I had no idea what I ate, until after it was down.

Alligator, racoon, opossum, nutria rat, Alligator gar, armadillo, different species of venison, bear, javelina, turtle, squirrel, duck, geese, turkey, dove, pheasant, quail, various types of snakes, and add to those, just about anything that lives in the waters off the coast of Texas.

I'll eat just about anything that don't eat me first.

Proud member of PETA, People Eating Tasty Animals.


----------



## YaterSpoon (Dec 1, 2016)

Smoked eel. Pretty awesome, too.


----------



## 660catman (Aug 25, 2019)

I’ve had eel in Taiwan, never again! As far as wild game, I’ve hunted caribou up in the Territories which was very good. I’ve also had good deer and awful deer not hunted by me. I’ll stick with my annual moose hunt. 


Retired guy from Southern Manitoba, Canada.


----------



## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

squirrel , cottontail , elk , mule deer , white tail deer , antelope , pickled moose nose , quail , dove .


----------



## wooleybooger (Feb 23, 2019)

Ok I see a lot of stuff, game animals especially but nobody has mention cabrito/goat. It is good especially when cooked with Indian spices.


----------



## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

I haven't eaten goat , but i did trick the wife to drink goat's milk and she didn't know the difference from cow milk . She said " that ain't very funny " ,


----------



## lenaitch (Feb 10, 2014)

So much about wild game is how died (as Chandler mentioned), how it was butchered and how it was cooked. Some are tricker than others. I've had black bear that was good and others that was definitely not. Same with Snow Goose (I suppose any wild goose); done improperly and it's a big pile of grease.

I've had beaver tail (of the genus 'castor', not genus '****') which is a bit of an Aboriginal delicacy. As the old saying goes, it really did 'look like chicken, taste like fish'.

When I was part of the security detail for the '76 Olympics, competitor countries were allowed to bring in a small amount of local cuisine to share in the Athlete's Village. The only one I remember having was turtle burgers from the Cayman Islands. I don't think I knew which type of turtle. It was good.

I haven't had a huge variety of wild beasts but hands down favourite is moose. Rich and lean with a distinctive flavour that beats venison all to heck.

Now if were talking local delicacies rather than wild, scruncheons from Newfoundland. A traditional outport dish from an era when times were hard (which was often most of the time). Crispy pork fat and/or salt pork, fried in, what else, pork fat. It is so good but so bad for you. How anybody in that province lived past 40 is beyond me. Paired with some Cod tongues and it is really quite tasty.




Texican57 said:


> Had a female friend (no benefits) that worked for the Texas Parks and Wldlife Department.
> 
> They had a fund raising wild game cook-off once a year.
> 
> ...


Did they save up roadkills or seizures from the previous year?


----------



## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

A fellow supervisor at ATL and I were working on his property once and he had promised one of the Saudi workers that he would sell him a goat. Well this guy drives up in his Lexus, pays for the goat, and proceeds to load him in the back seat for a ride to his demise. Goat is excellent, especially when prepared by Saudis.

I have eaten bear, but it is sort of greasy to me. Probably from the hibernation fat. I have only had one opportunity to harvest one, but it was on the next ridge, which seemed close enough for a strike, but good grief how would I get it to camp???? Let it pass.


----------



## kevinohio38 (Jan 10, 2022)

I had jellyfish once at a Chinese restaurant. Awful. Texture was like a gummy worm you couldn't quite bite through. Tasted like ocean water.


----------



## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

chandler48 said:


> A fellow supervisor at ATL and I were working on his property once and he had promised one of the Saudi workers that he would sell him a goat. Well this guy drives up in his Lexus, pays for the goat, and proceeds to load him in the back seat for a ride to his demise. Goat is excellent, especially when prepared by Saudis.
> 
> I have eaten bear, but it is sort of greasy to me. Probably from the hibernation fat. I have only had one opportunity to harvest one, but it was on the next ridge, which seemed close enough for a strike, but good grief how would I get it to camp???? Let it pass.


How’d the Saudis cook the goat? I’ll bet it was good!


----------



## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

wooleybooger said:


> Ok I see a lot of stuff, game animals especially but nobody has mention cabrito/goat. It is good especially when cooked with Indian spices.


Made _pozole cabrito _once. It was good! Feed it to you in heaven or promise it to lure you elsewhere…..


----------



## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

DoomsDave said:


> How’d the Saudis cook the goat? I’ll bet it was good!


Not sure. Outside on an open fire, but the seasonings were the boss. He brought us samples to work afterwards.


----------



## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

chandler48 said:


> Not sure. Outside on an open fire, but the seasonings were the boss. He brought us samples to work afterwards.


Gonna have to look up some recipes!


----------



## Texican57 (11 mo ago)

Goat, I left off goat.

Another female friend, (this one with benefits), had several goats on her property.

She ended up getting attached to them and kept them around for weed eaters.

Then one day she drove her new pickup out into the pasture to unload a water tank.

Goats thought the pickup looked like a mountain and climbed on the roof of the truck.

A few days later we were having a party with cabrito as the main dish.

The goat was par boiled in milk and beer before throwing it on the pit.

Good stuff.


----------



## wooleybooger (Feb 23, 2019)

chandler48 said:


> Not sure. Outside on an open fire, but the seasonings were the boss. He brought us samples to work afterwards.


Yeah the middle eastern and eastern Indian/Pakistani people do amazing things with spices.


----------



## Drachenfire (Jun 6, 2017)

Goat, lamb in the Middle East, moose, marlin and barracuda. The goat and barracuda are basically staples where I am from.


----------



## jimn (Nov 13, 2010)

i don’t hunt so anything other than super market staples are a rare treat. i have had venison, elk, rabbit, frog legs, wild boar and bison. They were all good.


----------



## Old Thomas (Nov 28, 2019)

My father had a small farm and raised beef cattle. Most of his customers didn’t want the hearts so I took cow heart sandwiches to school for lunch. Mom cooked it in the pressure cooker and then sliced it like roast beef. I never liked tongue or liver. Mom made ox tail soup with the cow tails.


----------



## wooleybooger (Feb 23, 2019)

I've seen beef hearts in the grocery store on occasion and I like chicken hearts but seldom can get them.


----------



## J. V. (Jun 1, 2007)

I once was eating lunch in the break room when my friend had a plate of the best looking beef stew. I complimented him and he offered me some. It was fantastic.
Later that day another co-worker mentioned to me it was racoon.


----------



## wooleybooger (Feb 23, 2019)

@j.v. here ya go.









How to cook raccoon


George Ricks has many talents, but he said **** cooking is not at the top of the list.




www.louisianasportsman.com




.

Nanny software interfered.


----------



## RustyRealtor (Apr 13, 2009)

I've had farm raised emu. Delicious!


----------



## Zak-P (Oct 18, 2021)

Goat is wonderful. It has the consistency of pork chop or pork tenderloin, but has an earthier beefier taste. If you can find an Indian place to serve it you’re in luck. Same with lamb. 

Duck is not that exotic, but I think it’s soooo good and underrated. If you think dark meat chicken tastes better than chicken breast, then duck meat is like dark meat chicken on roids. Fattier and even more flavorful. Get some wings/drumsticks/thighs and fry them just like you would chicken wings


----------



## KaseyW (Nov 23, 2012)

The best-tasting steak I ever ate was served while I was on a mission trip in Kenya. If memory serves, it was Eland.


----------



## bobthehandyman (Oct 8, 2019)

I've had alligator, rabbit, frog & bison. Always wanted to try Rattlesnake!


----------



## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

Zak-P said:


> Goat is wonderful. It has the consistency of pork chop or pork tenderloin, but has an earthier beefier taste. If you can find an Indian place to serve it you’re in luck. Same with lamb.
> 
> Duck is not that exotic, but I think it’s soooo good and underrated. If you think dark meat chicken tastes better than chicken breast, then duck meat is like dark meat chicken on roids. Fattier and even more flavorful. Get some wings/drumsticks/thighs and fry them just like you would chicken wings


If you cook, try making Peking Duck from scratch.


----------



## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

RustyRealtor said:


> I've had farm raised emu. Delicious!


I always wondered what happened to the ratite market. It seemed almost like a pyramid scheme, buying and raising them with no market to go to, but people jumped on the band wagon.


----------



## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

chandler48 said:


> I always wondered what happened to the ratite market. It seemed almost like a pyramid scheme, buying and raising them with no market to go to, but people jumped on the band wagon.


Maybe it was more like a legit, if niche, business that got taken over by a pyramid scheme?


----------



## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

DoomsDave said:


> that got taken over by a pyramid scheme?


Probably so. The meat is tasty, but it just never made it to the general grocery stores. I'm sure some uppity store in NYC can acquire it. Probably expensive, too.


----------



## Tcoradeschi (5 mo ago)

Reindeer on several occasions in Sweden (they raise them much like cattle). Very tender although a mild flavor. Kangaroo once, basically a really tough steak, so not a potential repeat. Been meaning to try emu, need to remember to do that next trip to Australia.


----------



## Oldmaster (Jan 14, 2020)

I've had water snake, rattle snake, mountian lion, horse, and dog. Tasted cooked human flesh in Vietnam before I knew what it was.


----------



## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

KaseyW said:


> The best-tasting steak I ever ate was served while I was on a mission trip in Kenya. If memory serves, it was Eland.


Dang, that's a kind of antelope! Do tell us more!


----------



## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

Oldmaster said:


> I've had water snake, rattle snake, mountian lion, horse, and dog. Tasted cooked human flesh in Vietnam before I knew what it was.


Hmm. Care to describe a bit?


----------



## Oldmaster (Jan 14, 2020)

DoomsDave said:


> Hmm. Care to describe a bit?


I was in special forces and we often operated with the Montagnards which is a tribe out of the central highlands of Vietnam. They were ferocious fighters and hated the VC. We went on a mission with them and we were all sitting there eating and Jimmy, one of there leaders offered me some of his food. After weeks of k rations cooked meat sounded good. I just started to chew it and our interpreter asked me if I knew what I was eating. He told me that this tribe sometimes eats their enemies,which is considered the greatest insult to them. I spit it out. They got a good laugh, me, not so much.


----------



## 530Foreman (3 mo ago)

wooleybooger said:


> I've seen beef hearts in the grocery store on occasion and I like chicken hearts but seldom can get them.


I make a mean beef heart taco, it's very dense and has a slight iron flavour.

As mad scandinavians, every year my family has Lutefisk at Christmas, which is cod that has been dried and cured in lye (yeah, the poisonous kind). Apparently in it's dried form it lasts for years and I've seen videos of facilities in Sweden that move it with front-end loaders like it's gravel. We reconstitute it, soak out the lye, and then heat it up and eat it. If over-cooked it's essentially fish jello, done correctly it's a bit better. Put enough white gravy on it and it tastes like white gravy! Helps to connect us to our crazy viking ancestors though.


----------



## KaseyW (Nov 23, 2012)

DoomsDave said:


> Dang, that's a kind of antelope! Do tell us more!
> 
> View attachment 720226


Believe it or not, although it's known to be excellent meat, it's readily available (or at least it was in 2002) in local markets. So perhaps it shouldn't qualify to be listed here.😉


----------



## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

KaseyW said:


> Believe it or not, although it's known to be excellent meat, it's readily available (or at least it was in 2002) in local markets. So perhaps it shouldn't qualify to be listed here.😉


Hmmm. Sounds like someone in your 'hood was doing some breeding. 

I suspect that had a bit to do the emu fever @chandler48 mentioned.

I remember about 30 years ago, there was tax shelter fever so lots of people started farming trout. So many that the price went down to like 99 cents a pound at retail for a special, and 1.99 most of the rest of the time.


----------



## snic (Sep 16, 2018)

Does grasshopper count? Had some delicious ground roasted grasshopper dusted on... I can't remember what the rest of the dish was, but the grasshopper was kind of nutty and earthy. This was in a fancy restaurant in Tulum.

Used to be you could get some pretty exotic meats at the night market in Beijing. Seahorse, scorpion, insects, snake... I was there twice but didn't have the nerve to try anything too exotic.


----------

