Why I Eat Lion and Other Exotic Meats

Popular Science ^ | 11/08/2010 | Dave Arnold

[Immerito]

n the November issue, we looked at how scientists are using DNA analysis to track down endangered species that are being hunted for food. Here, Dave Arnold talks about why some people prefer exotic meats.

For the most part, Americans are obsessed with tenderness, and favor mild-flavored meat. We eat a fairly small number of animals, almost all of them slaughtered young, when their meat is at its least flavorful. Fortunately, some of us are starting to realize that meat can be much more interesting. As the food revolution continues to gain traction, our ancestral lust for robust, unusual meats is starting to spark and reawaken.

America was once the premier place to eat strange animals. We were world-renowned for the quantity, quality, and variety of our game. We ate wild animals, farmed animals, young animals, old animals. If it moved, we ate it (exception: eagles).

[FroedrickVonFreepenstein]

I eat lion cuz - I’m a badass! :-)

[CrazyIvan]

You just can’t cook a piece of deer meat like you can a well marbled cow steak.

I'm smack in the center of the corn belt and you'd be
surprised how good the venison is. I've taken deer and
observed while dressing them that the stomach contents
look like cornbread batter with clover mixed in. VERY
good eating. Some even have a bit of marble. You can
almost interchange recipes with beef in some cases.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Don’t forget Rattlesnake steak. Pretty tasty. Kind of like chicken.

[terycarl]

Anyone who wants to go eating meat from species humans do not have a long history of close contact with is crazy and a menace to public health.

oh please....do you realize that people, in different parts of the world, eat almost anything that moves slow enough to be killed....Ever eat seal, camel, llama, horse, racoon, possum, polar bear, mountain goat, kangaroo....people eat almost, if not every, animal on earth

[boop]

Under Islamic law, Camels are Halal, but non Kosher under Jewish law.

[fso301]

oh please....do you realize that people, in different parts of the world, eat almost anything that moves slow enough to be killed

And people the world over get sick and often die as a result.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

And people the world over get sick and often die as a result.

Well you have to cook it.

[roamer_1]

And people the world over get sick and often die as a result.

How odd that it is not the case here - In fact, hillfolk tend to be far healthier than their in-town counterparts... and they drink right out of the creeks, too... no fluoridation or chlorine, no pasteurizing of milk... eating about any critter that comes along, and cooking it in lard or fresh (real) butter.

I find it humorous that just a generation has gone by since all Americans (less the cities) ate what the land provided, and didn't have to bow down to the FDA to tell them what is good and wholesome.

You don't know what you are missing.

[JustaDumbBlonde]

"There’s also some sort of bayou rodent in Lousiana that’s supposed to be really good."

They are nutria and, yes, they are delicious! Anybody that needs recipes can let me know.

[fso301]

How odd that it is not the case here - In fact, hillfolk tend to be far healthier than their in-town counterparts... and they drink right out of the creeks, too... no fluoridation or chlorine, no pasteurizing of milk... eating about any critter that comes along, and cooking it in lard or fresh (real) butter.

Sounds almost idyllic until one begins examining health records and vital statistics.

[thackney]

Free beaver meat and a beaver hat to the guy that kills the beaver killing trees on our timber producing property in Louisiana.

(some assembly required on the hat)

[roamer_1]

Sounds almost idyllic until one begins examining health records and vital statistics.

It IS idyllic. And my own experience would cause me to reject the assembled health records. I was raised on real milk, real butter, local honey, garden grown veggies, and wild game, or home raised and butchered farm animals.

It wasn't until I started relying upon "the system" that I was ever ill enough to require a hospital... And a good portion of my recovery can be attributed to a return to the habits of my yoot (the Grace of God notwithstanding).

If you are a statistician, you must realize that statistics (which your records inevitably become) can be bent to say nearly anything. Far better to rely upon the testimony of those living the life (subjective though it be).

[teenyelliott]

Anyone who wants to go eating meat from species humans do not have a long history of close contact with is crazy and a menace to public health.

Dang, that sounds like something in the lovely new "Food Safety" bill.

People should be able to eat whatever they want.

[Paul_La_Pointe]

My father was Frenchy, who ran Frenchy’s restaurant. My personal favorite was the wild boar, but the lion was good. We also had, on occasion, Bengal tiger and Hippopotamus. The African and Indian game came from licensed game farms, and we got the animals in field dressed and frozen. In the buiolding next to the restaurant we had a couple of walk-in deep freezes and places to butcher the animals. I wouldn’t eat these animals now, especially the hippo and tiger, as they are seriously endangered, but 50 years ago, it was not too unreasonable to buy them from the licensed game farms. We also had elk and reindeer on the menu, and all manner of exotic birds. The restaurant closed in the late 70’s, and even the building that housed it, long converted to other uses, burned down about 10 years ago. Sad.

Bon Appetit!

[terycarl]

thanks for the reply....wwe went to Frenchy’s when we had a few bucks to splurge and to impress our dates!!!! We always had a wonderful time although our wallets were decidedly thinner! I had no idea what happened to the restauraant, sad to hear of its demise....Milwaukeans will miss out on what was a unique dining experience indeed.