Friday, January 30, 2015

More Like a Beaver Than a Rat



Most people cringe at the idea of eating something with the word rodent attached to it, and I must admit that I’m the same way. While I would try any type of food once (assuming trying it won’t kill me), there’s something about the cultural connotations of eating things like rats and mice that made me think twice about eating them. Still, thinking twice never stopped me from trying something and it sure didn’t stop me from trying this beast of a vermin.



I’m yet to see muskrat in a store somewhere, but it’s something that people hunt/trap. There seems to also be a negative connotation attached to the people that hunt/trap or eat muskrats, but I think the connotation is undeserved. While the word rat is in the name, muskrats are much more like beavers than rats. I hear people eat Beavers in some  parts of Maine, but until I have the privilege of traveling there, the muskrat will have to be as close as I get for now.

I got this particular muskrat from a friend at my mother’s church, so, sadly, I wasn’t the one who risked life and limb to catch this monstrosity of a rodent. Because it was caught fresh, it was delivered to me whole, and all but the skin, fur and guts came along.  As a particularly bloody meat, it had to soak overnight to help get some of the fluid out. Some sources say this also helps lower the “gamey” taste, but I had no interest in that (as I always want to taste the true flavor of the meat).

After the meat was soaked I opted to bake this thing whole. The feet were still attached, as shown in the pictures, and I wanted to cut them off but opted against it when it proved to be more work than it was worth. I threw a little bit of water and oil in the pan (lined with aluminum foil), along with some garlic and onion powder. Also put a tad bit of parsley on top for appeal (isn’t it so much more appealing with it on?).



It took about an hour to cook (can’t remember the exact time but I took the time from a recipe). When I pulled the sizzly goodness out of the oven the rodent looked just as grotesque, though a bit browner. I cut off some pieces for my mother, who was also bold enough to try it. When I sank my teeth into this meat I had no clue what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised. The meat was tender and delicious. In my mind it was somehow reminiscent of turkey, though my mother thought it was more like beef. It tasted much better than it looked and I’m glad I got to sample it.

So next time you hear someone talking about eating a muskrat, judge them not. Send a shock through your brain and your tongue and try this rodent if you dare. If it’s prepared right you won’t be disappointed.


Welp, that’s all for this addition. I’m thinking of doing a post for the rocky mountain oysters next. So stay tuned. As always, thanks for listening with your eyes. 

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Brought New Meaning to Hump Day



They say that water is the most valuable thing found in the desert, but if you ask people that live in the desert, they may disagree. Camels are worth more than gold in some parts of the world, and they can certainly save your life if you’re stranded in a sand-filled wasteland.

Thankfully, I wasn’t stranded in a desert when I came across some camel meat, but if I was stranded in such a place, this would have certainly brightened my mood!

I have no clue what part of the camel I had purchased when I brought home the pound of ground camel from Strip District Meats in Pittsburgh, but I couldn’t stop smiling. I checked the nutritional facts label and was even happier to see that camel is a fantastically lean meat. With only 4 grams of fat in the entire pound, I wouldn’t feel guilty about eating two or three pounds of the stuff if I had it. Lucky for my colon I only had the one pound. Like most meats, Camel also comes standard with loads of protein.


I looked up a few recipes on how to cook the meat, but none of them really said much so I decided to do things my own way. It looked like ground beef, so I cooked it like ground beef, browning it nicely in a skillet. I didn’t throw any oil in, but I sprayed the pan. It created its own grease and browned nicely, so I threw a sprinkle of cumin on top and made a side of broccoli as an accompanying dish.


Camel was the first exotic meat I’d tried in a long time that defied my expectations in a good way. It wasn’t as sweet as the llama, but it was equal on the tenderness scale. It had a slight tangy twinge to it, but aside from this it was very similar to beef. If someone served me camel and told me it was cow I wouldn’t suspect a thing.

While some of the foods I eat are exotic, camel sounds a lot more exotic than it is and I recommend it to anyone looking to try something new. So far the Strip District has been the only place that I’ve seen this lovely meat, but I’m sure you can find it if you look.

That’s all for this addition. I’ll try to put up a post about muskrat soon, so if you hated the picture I threw up on Facebook (that was a shot at my coworker who vomited from looking at said picture) then don’t read the next post. Stay safe out there in this winter weather and as always, thanks for listening with your eyes!




Monday, January 12, 2015

Yo Llama Is So Stupid She Got Locked in a Mattress Store and Slept on the Floor



Yo llama is so old she knew Burger King while he was still a prince! Yo llama is so ugly that even Goldfish crackers don't smile back. Okay, enough of the yo llama jokes. Excuse me if i can't contain my excitement, but I finally ate a llama! While that's not as sweet as saying, "I finally ate a horse" (just to say I'm so hungry I could eat a horse...and then eat it), eating a llama still sounds pretty sweet. Even better is the fact that the llama actually tastes good! Fresh off the bitter defeat from the python meat, I was ecstatic to finally get some good meat in my mouth.



The llama wasn't nearly as complicated as the python to cook. No marinade needed. All I had to do was pretty much brown it all the way through just like any other mammal that I can think of (at least if you're playing it safe). I accidentally started out by putting some oil in the pan, and my girlfriend was quick to remind me that most meats make their own grease so I didn't need it. I agreed with her, but we were both surprised to see that llama did not make it's own grease.




To make matters even weirder, the package for the llama said it had 40 something grams of fat in the whole thing. During my research I saw everyone talking about how lean the meat was, yet 40 grams per pound aint lean by any means. Still, despite the high fat count, there was no grease produced and it didn't taste fatty. Maybe the package lied?


Okay so it made a little teeny bit of grease


Either way, this meat turned out to be delicious. I seasoned most of it with cumin (leaving a bit unseasoned so I could get the real flavor of the meat at least once), and it tasted similar to beef. Llama was a bit sweeter than beef and camel, though camel was a bit tastier (I'll blog about that later). While this isn't the tastiest meat I've ever had, it's certainly a welcome replacement to the traditional flavors, and I definitely wouldn't mind eating it again. At only 10 dollars per pound from Strip District Meats, I don't think this was a bad choice at all.

Had some nice mushroom rice on the side


Welp, that's all for this addition. I can finally check one more animal off my list. Yo llama is so delicious...I ate it (last corny joke from me for a while). I'll get the camel post up soon, and then hopefully the one about muskrat. Until next time, be safe out there in this winter weather and thanks for listening with your eyes.

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Sssuper Chewy



My adventurous tongue has returned! It's been a hot minute since I've managed to find some abnormal additions to my list, but I've finally added a few animals. Today's addition: python!

I've had rattlesnake once when I was in Chicago back in 2011, and I didn't think it was worth the 25 dollars I paid for it (only got like 4 little strips). It was chewy, and I'm starting to notice a trend among snakes.



This time around I managed to get a hold of some python meat. For the 40 dollars per pound sticker price on this bad boy, I expected to be swept off my feet into succulent heaven. Instead I had to just chew on the notion of making a pretty bad investment. Again, I used a few sources on the internet to learn how to properly prepare the meat, and I think the recipes were utilized in the right way. However, I was NOT impressed by the taste or texture of this particular creature.

All of the places I found online said the meat would be chewy, though most of them also said that the longer you cook it the chewier it becomes. So, I followed their instructions for preparation to try and cut down on the cook time.


Started out by cutting up some green onions for a quick marinade. Then I put the onions in a bowl with a sprinkle of salt and the juice of one lime.

The marinade

After the marinade was ready I cut the meat into smaller strips. Once the strips were sliced out, I scored the meat so the heat could get inside easier. While cutting it I noticed how tough certain parts of the meat were, and how soft other parts were. To me, it seemed the tough part was the portion just below the skin, and so that is what would be chewy once cooked. I was right, but also kind of wrong.


meat in marinade



Once the meat was prepared I put it in the marinade and let it sit for about 15 minutes before heating the skillet to a high heat and tossing on some oil. Then it was just like cooking anything else for the most part. The meat sizzled while it cooked and smelled rather nice. I was paranoid about getting a tape worm or something from the meat so I let the first batch sit on the skillet for about a minute instead of the 30 to 45 seconds I had seen in the recipes. I didn't season the first batch (hoping to taste the real flavor of the meat, untainted by seasoning). Batch two was seasoned with parsley (at the request of the girlfriend), while batch three was seasoned with red peppers.



Finished, the browned python meat appeared just as appetizing as any other meat. My mouth watered in anticipation, and my heart fluttered in excitement. I let the girlfriend try it first, and her face instantly morphed into a moue as she put it in her mouth. I figured her tongue just wasn't accustomed to unusual meats, but when I tried it, my face matched hers.



The flavor was bland, the meat was chewy, and the 40 dollars I spent on the food rushed into my mind to mock me. I could detect the subtle flavors of the lime and onion from the marinade, but as for the python, it didn't taste like much of anything. There was a slight flavor reminiscent of chicken, but slightly tangier, but if chicken was this chewy and devoid of goodness there'd be a lot more vegetarians in the world.

I suffered through the meal, and though it was super chewy, it was still edible so I ate it. Well, I ate most of it. The parts I mentioned earlier that were closest to the skin were so chewy that it didn't break apart at all. I faced the decision of swallowing the chunks whole, or spitting them into the trash. I chose the latter after I got as much meat as possible from them.

Alas, my latest experience with snake was not my favorite. I've come to realize that mammals are way tastier than reptiles, so if you're feeling adventurous in your mouth parts, keep that in mind.

Welp, I'll have the llama post up soon. Until then, stay safe in this winter weather and thanks for listening with your eyes.

Friday, January 9, 2015

15 Times Worse Than An Apple

It’s been over a year since I’ve crafted a blog post, but I suppose now is as good a time as any to start again. A bunch of people recommended I start food blogging, and though I’ve always wanted to, for some reason I never did. In recent weeks I’ve come across a number of “exotic” meats and, unlike in the past, I have had/will have the opportunity to prepare these foods instead of simply purchasing and eating. I’m no chef, at least not any more than all of us are, and though I’m not the best cook, the deep wells of international knowledge have splashed a number of recipes and techniques into my ears (aka the internet is full of crap and I’m trying some of the stuff I’ve read). I will try/have tried to prepare the foods in that manner.

Even though that introduction prepared you for a post all about meat, I’m here to disappoint you with a post about some crappy fruit. The quince is a plant ovary I'd never had the joy of tasting. In fact, I'd never even seen it before I spotted it on the top shelf in the Walmart produce aisle. Though it looks and smells delicious, it was not at all what I was expecting.

Excuse the mess in my room, but here's the quince

I located a number of recipes/ways to prepare the fruit online. During my search I found that the fruit has to be cooked, and when it is it will turn pink and tender. Said recipes also said the fruit would be ready to cook when it produces a sweet fragrance (which could be smelled through the peel), and so I waited for such an occasion. When said occasion came, I realized the smell of this fruit was one of the best fragrances possessed by any fruit I’ve snuffed. Despite this, I should have known the fruit might not be the best when all of the recipes called for either poaching the flesh in sugar or honey, or simply adding sugar or honey somewhere in along the lines. One even called for throwing apples into the mix, but I figured honey would be good enough so that’s what I used. Perhaps the pleasant aromas are what tricked me into believing this fruit would be a sweet success. Whatever it was that tricked me, my tongue was very disappointed. Instead of yum, it tasted more like an apple that had been robbed of taste. 

The Quince after being cut open. Had to remove the core

The quince cooking in honey water.

I can’t say for sure why my quince was no good. Anytime I prepare something there’s always a chance that I’ll mess it up (fondest and saddest mess-up was the iguana I prepared…so much potential that I completely squandered through improper preparation). With this fruit though, I followed the directions I found and still came up short. If you’ve had quince but with a better result, please to let me know so I don't hate the number 15 forever!

Horrible tasting quince. Slightly pink and tender but disgusting. 


Also, not sure if there is anyone reading this that is well-versed in the art of fruit, but if you know why this fruit is Spanish for 15 I’d be thrilled to know the answer.


Stay tuned as I’ll be throwing up a post about the Python and Llama meat I tried recently. I Might also put in a blurb (or a whole separate post) about the camel and muskrat I’ve had (haha enough people hated the picture on Facebook so I feel as though I’d be doing an injustice to the rest of the world if I didn’t put it up here). Until then, stay safe out there, and as always, thanks for listening with your eyes.