wild animals for dinner question

[tasadam]

Just remember my philosophy: Everything is Food!

Really? Have you heard of Alexander Pearce?
I'm not walking with you!

[Crimey a Yank]

Saves you having to empty the rubbish bin, I suppose.

That's a bit rude, Mate. I really can't tell if you are taking a poke at me or not, but if you are, I reckon someone should inform you that digging through the rubbish bin for dinner is no longer necessary, you see for over two million years now man has changed sustenance strategies from Scavenger to predator, didn't you get the memo?

[north-north-west]

All I meant was that if you eat everything there isn't any rubbish, therefore no need for emptying the bin.

And I'm far too lazy to hunt my food down. Easier to nick what someone/thing else has killed.

[Son of a Beach]

I finally got around to trying to make wallaby tail soup on the weekend. Turned out fantastic. I'll definitely do that again.

I wonder if it would dehydrate well for walking?

[Nuts]

Was there any fat in the soup (was under the impression that the tail was the only place they stored it??)

Iv'e been experimenting with drying soups. Made one with all the vegies I could think of and then tried it using chopped bacon (I was going to dry this, but expect it will be greasy and go rancid?) and a massel cube- very nice.

[Son of a Beach]

No fat to speak of. I refridgerated it over night and got it out in the morning to scoop off the solidified fat, but there wasn't any more than about half a teaspoonfull spread around the edge of the pot.

I've never seen any fat on heir tails when butchering. Just very Tiny amounts in the abdomen sometimes.

[enduro]

If it's feral: shoot/trap it, cook and eat it.

Native animals may be a different issue.

There are also many native animals that are feral too. In WA we have the "Native" Rainbow Lorries and Kookaburras I would happily eat - they are introduced. I would eat wild goat or healthy rabbit any day.

[Son of a Beach]

After a couple of years where the rabbits almost disappeared in our area, they're back in greater number than I've ever seen them before. I need to get out and nab some. There's a Jamie Oliver 2-rabbit casserole I've been wanting to make for ages, and I think the 1 rabbit that's been in my freezer for about 2 years is probably past it's use by date.

[whynotwalk]

This fascinating (!) topic reminds me of the old joke about the bushie who is caught by a ranger cooking and eating a platypus.

When he appears before the magistrate he spins such a sob story (poor farmer/long drought/large hungry family/last ditch desperation to stave off starvation/platypus was road kill etc) that he has the magistrate and all the court in tears of sympathy. He gets let off, but the magistrate asks him to come to his chambers for a private talk. When they're alone the magistrate re-iterates his huge sympathy for the old bushie. And then, very quietly, he asks "But tell me what did the platypus taste like?" And the old bushie rubs his beard and thinks for a moment, then replies "Well ... I'd say it was somewhere between thylacine and dugong."

cheers

Peter

[Nick S]

Haha good one
On topic, I don't mind a bit wallaby meat, turns out it's one of the cheapest red meats at the supermarket!

If it's feral: shoot/trap it, cook and eat it.

Native animals may be a different issue.

There are also many native animals that are feral too. In WA we have the "Native" Rainbow Lorries and Kookaburras I would happily eat - they are introduced. I would eat wild goat or healthy rabbit any day.

If I was an animal.. any sort of animal, I'd be running away from this guy

[Son of a Beach]

I don't mind a bit wallaby meat, turns out it's one of the cheapest red meats at the supermarket!

It also turns out to be one of the most healthy (virtually no cholesterol or fat), and to be the best flavour (in my opinion).

The stuff at the supermarket that I've seen is generally rather odd cuts. No wonder it's cheap. I prefer my own butchering: whole scotch fillet, whole rump, whole leg, etc.

[north-north-west]

There are also many native animals that are feral too. In WA we have the "Native" Rainbow Lorries and Kookaburras I would happily eat - they are introduced.

I wish you luck, given that Kookaburra is supposed to be somewhat similar to Galah - and I assume you're familiar with the classic bush recipe for Galah:
Take one Galah,
Place in pot of boiling water with axehead,
Boil until axehead is soft,
Throw away water and Galah and eat axehead.

[enduro]

There are also many native animals that are feral too. In WA we have the "Native" Rainbow Lorries and Kookaburras I would happily eat - they are introduced.

I wish you luck, given that Kookaburra is supposed to be somewhat similar to Galah - and I assume you're familiar with the classic bush recipe for Galah:
Take one Galah,
Place in pot of boiling water with axehead,
Boil until axehead is soft,
Throw away water and Galah and eat axehead.

I really wouldn't eat Kookaburra, as with most canivores, we shouldn't eat other carnivores - they would taste aweful anyway. Bita Lori would be OK.

If you can't make tough meat into something edible, your not my mum.

[Liamy77]

I was thinking about this yesterday as I remember coming across a tasty looking yabbie near Lake Vera a few weeks ago. ...
.. Or I think it was a yabbie.

If it has 8 legs and a fuzzy body, it might be a huntsman. I wouldn't eat that. Or, to quote a famous Aussie- "You can eat it, but it tastes like poo!"

Oh Yeah gotta watch out for those Underwater Huntsmans! -Drop Bears too!

to quote a famous Aussie- "You can eat it, but it tastes like poo!"

if you mean Mick Dundee then thats not QUITE the words i remember him using.... who says "poo" these days anyway...Still i guess if you say poo everyone knows you mean *&%$#! just the same! (luckily this forum does have a filter option )
...I know i probably should have shut up but i couldn't resist stirrin!

[Nuts]

I don't mind a bit wallaby meat, turns out it's one of the cheapest red meats at the supermarket!

It also turns out to be one of the most healthy (virtually no cholesterol or fat), and to be the best flavour (in my opinion).

The stuff at the supermarket that I've seen is generally rather odd cuts. No wonder it's cheap. I prefer my own butchering: whole scotch fillet, whole rump, whole leg, etc.

It does really need to be well cooked. As i understand Tasmanian native species especially can harbor some nasty parasites.
(Once again) the tails of Kangaroos are often preferred in being generally free of nasties. In WA it is apparently common for the tail to be taken and the rest left.

[walkinTas]

There are also many native animals that are feral too. In WA we have the "Native" Rainbow Lorries and Kookaburras I would happily eat - they are introduced.

I wish you luck, given that Kookaburra is supposed to be somewhat similar to Galah - and I assume you're familiar with the classic bush recipe for Galah:
Take one Galah, Place in pot of boiling water with axehead, Boil until axehead is soft, Throw away water and Galah and eat axehead.

I was given the same recipe for Native hen when I was very young, only it was a rock not an axe head. I tried it in my teens. The rocks never got to be edible. Neither did the hen!

I wonder why no one has seriously tried to domesticate and farm kangaroo. As Nik says, it's a healthier choice. Is it just the market acceptance thing?

[Liamy77]

yeah but i find the fur can get stuck in your throat if you eat it too fast!

Seriously though I think that it is cheaper for a roo shooter to cull the wild ones!
And you would need some pretty amazing fencing too ($$$)

[Macca81]

Seriously though I think that it is cheaper for a roo shooter to cull the wild ones!
And you would need some pretty amazing fencing too ($$$)

im 95% sure that these are 2 of the primary reasons.

[Nuts]

The other 5% (at least) would come from regulators and lobbyists influence. Even if viable, longer term, speculator greed would probably then nail the lid shut.
Emus are far easier to keep in one place (and i imagine harder to shoot) yet farmers have stumbled on in a cottage industry for a long, long time making little progress.

Along similar lines, looking back at the goat meat industry and the obviously vast worldwide demand there were few negative influences other than established interests.

[Ent]

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[Nuts]

Yer, I guess its just more from 'bushies tales' heard as a youngster, a roo tail is free of parasites? There are some references to parasites in native meats (ie: http://www.awpc.org.au/kangaroos/book_f ... seases.htm ... note the source...). I dont really want to get into discussing the people involved but we found several roos dumped in a road culvert to the east of Kalgoorlie, tails missing. Asked around and found that they are actually sold/bartered from one of the local hotels... and for the same reason I had heard many years ago.
Cant imagine that it would take that much prolonged heat to kill parasites? Viruses, bacteria perhaps?

[Son of a Beach]

I don't mind a bit wallaby meat, turns out it's one of the cheapest red meats at the supermarket!

It also turns out to be one of the most healthy (virtually no cholesterol or fat), and to be the best flavour (in my opinion).

The stuff at the supermarket that I've seen is generally rather odd cuts. No wonder it's cheap. I prefer my own butchering: whole scotch fillet, whole rump, whole leg, etc.

It does really need to be well cooked. As i understand Tasmanian native species especially can harbor some nasty parasites.
(Once again) the tails of Kangaroos are often preferred in being generally free of nasties. In WA it is apparently common for the tail to be taken and the rest left.

I generally do mine medium rare - quite pink, even a little red in the middle. The parasites are definitely an issue that requires caution, but are not as bad as what some people think. Yes, when slaughtering, it is not entirely uncommon to find a gut full of worms (if you accidentally slit the gut), but these are usually not worms that live anywhere other than the gut, and/or are not harmful to humans (I think?). I've certainly never come across any cases of problems, an I and my family and several friend and their family all eat rare (some of them even raw) wallaby and venison frequently.

Having said that, I know a local doctor who was referred a strange case of somebody whose muscles were all wasting away, and his GP couldn't figure out was was going on. The new doctor tried him on some standard worming drugs which cured him almost instantly. It turned out to be some new otherwise unknown flesh-eating worm. The patient was a regular wallaby/roo eater. The source could not be confirmed, but it certainly does raise the need to be cautious. EDIT - Nuts' article's description of the case in 1997 seems to fit the timing I remember. I think Nuts is right though, that cooking properly should eliminate the majority of parasite problems.

Although I know people who eat the meat raw, I like to have mine well cooked. And when I saw "well" cooked, I don't mean "well done", but rather cooked so that it's at least reasonably heated through, even if still pink in the middle.

mmm... a whole wallaby scotch fillet, marinated, then cooked on the BBQ (hood closed) for a few minutes on each side, then sliced into medallions. Wonderful!

And yes, Nuts, I've only recently started appreciated the tails. We used to toss out the tails, but we now make wallaby tail soup quite regularly, and it's VERY good indeed! (We just use the base of the tails.)

[Macca81]

what nik said...

[Ent]

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[Macca81]

Yer, I guess its just more from 'bushies tales' heard as a youngster, a roo tail is free of parasites? There are some references to parasites in native meats (ie: http://www.awpc.org.au/kangaroos/book_f ... seases.htm ... note the source...)

just read that, its interesting, however it is very poorly written which in itself makes me question its reliability somewhat, regardless of the source.

The funny thing in Australia is if it comes from the sea it is generally fair game but if it appears on the coat of arms then it gets ignored by the main stream. Strange we people are.

only country to eat the supporters of our coat of arms

[Ent]

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[Macca81]

i think that technically speaking, they are not a part of the coat of arms, mearly the supporters of it... technically australia doesnt an official motto or fauna, only the yellow wattle as the flora...

[Nuts]

Yer, I guess its just more from 'bushies tales' heard as a youngster, a roo tail is free of parasites? There are some references to parasites in native meats (ie: http://www.awpc.org.au/kangaroos/book_f ... seases.htm ... note the source...)

just read that, its interesting, however it is very poorly written which in itself makes me question its reliability somewhat, regardless of the source.

The article actually mentions a couple of sources, i'd imagine the sources, original articles themselves are better written?
Its just one i grabbed from google, for those who prefer wikiknowledge to anecdotal recalls

[tasadam]

You can buy wallaby sausages and kangaroo steaks in the local supermarkets here.
Have you ever noticed the use by dates of the kangaroo steaks? Pretty impressive.
They taste good, I do a peppered steak using the skippy steaks and they are really good!
Less fat than the scotch fillet too.

Don't fancy going to get my own though, but happy enough to buy them. Healthier, just as tasty, tender if cooked right (like anything), lasts longer in the fridge, and usually cheaper.

[Liamy77]

Apart from reducing the risk of eating the meat, cooking it also makes it less effort for the body to digest it. Therefore you get more usable nutrients / energy from the same amount of meat.
and yeah i can confirm the 70 degrees min. for food serving regulations.