djohnston

Sorry Aussies, this is hardly S2000 related but I thought I'd see if any of you have experience eating Ostrich meat, please correct me if I'm wrong, but somehow I had the impression that Ostrich farms are more common in Australia?
My question involves the actual comparison of Ostrich to Beef, I had an Ostrich burger at a local restaurant here last night and it could've easily been a beef burger, in fact my woman had an argument with the management thinking that we had been served beef. Does anyone know if you can tell the difference by looking at it, post cooking?

Thanks in advance-
Duncan

Stanley

Duncan, I worked for an Aussie airline and some time ago Ostrich was a bit of a 'fad' and for a while cold slices of Ostrich were offered in 1st. class as one of the meal choices....didn't last too long and passengers drove the crew mad asking, "what does it taste like?", before trying it.....i remember it being a very deep red meat and a little stringy....hard to describe...could say it was a taste between beef and veal..maybe there are gourmets in the group here who could better describe it.....I think that fad has come and gone here and not too sure about the popularity now....

http://www.ostriches.org/recipes.htm
Ostrich meat has been served in the United States in fine restaurants since 1992. While ostrich meat is new to us, it is not new to much of the world. Ostrich meat, once only served locally in South Africa (fresh and dried), has long been served in gourmet restaurants in Europe. Demand is growing in the Pacific Rim and in the United States. A satisfying alternative for red-meat lovers

djohnston

Thanks Stan for the info. I think my girlfriend had a conniption over nothing, she and her sister were sure we'd been served beef but I think it was Ostrich.

And no it's hardly warming up "heeya" at all
We were spoiled by having very mild winters the last three years or so, this one has been a little colder than usual, but not atypical for Joisey. And I do have friends that speak with that accent! However I'm not one of them. Damn that Aussie accent is hard to master, I keep lapsing into British. Better go watch Croc Hunter for a few hours, that always helps!

naishou

I've had ostrich in Africa many times. It's a bit lighter in colour than beef, and lower in fat, but if it were minced up to make a burger I doubt you'd be able to tell the difference without a side by side comparison.

7900S2k

I have had it a few times in NJ.. It is extremely high in protein and low in fat..


Tastes like chicken

2kturkey

If you want something that's a little gamier,- and to me a very enjoyable meat, try kangaroo. Cooked properly (i,e not overdone or dry) it is delicious.

djohnston

I'm afraid that even though we've had Ostrich and Emu meat available here for a while, I don't believe that Americans have accepted 'Roo as a suitable dish yet, at least I've never heard of it being served here, but what do I know...
I do know that Kangaroo leather is used to make the finest soccer (football) shoes. I don't see this country being terribly progressive with the current warmongers running things, sorry to say. Oops that was politics!

AusS2000

That's good!

For a culture that's known for shortening words we also have a habit of adding syllables. Our favourite is to add 'o' to everyones name. Like Dav'o and Johno.

there used to be a restaurant in Manly that specialised in serving Australian icons as meals. I had kangaroo and emu one night. the emu was minced and could easily be mistaken for beef. Should've been called the 'Coat of Arms' special.

dhess

Pretty funny that we are the only country that eats both the animals on our coat of arms.

OT but did you guys know the reason we have an emu and kangaroo on the coat of arms?

naishou

Neither of them can run or walk backwards.

Which makes it likely the two in the coat of arms are going to have a head on after the photo shoot