Rudolph the really good T-bone

[bixaorellana]

It's said to be great meat. Scandinavians and Russians regularly enjoy it. It's tender, no marbling, and not gamey.

That's according to the article. Has anyone here tried it?

                              
                    Jeff Johnson, owner of HomeGrown Market in
                    Fairbanks, Alaska, displays reindeer steaks he
                    sells for $25 a pound as part of a study through
                    the local university to determine whether there's
                    a market for it and what people will pay.

[hwinpp]

They look good. Especially that thin layer of fat on the outside.

I'd try them.

[lagatta]

I've often eaten caribou, their Canadian cousins - they must exist in Alaska too? And probably in Greenland? It is delicious, but since it is wild, it is leaner than the reared reindeer steaks shown so it must be cooked very carefully not to be dry.

I don't think we have any ranched reindeer or caribou here; bison and deer are quite common now. I eat a bit of bison every now and then as it is so rich in iron. Like many people, I'd completely eliminated red meat out of cholesterol and other concerns, but bison is lean and rich in nutrients, and a small serving is enough. Moreover, it can't survive on intense feedlots - it is ranched on large tracks of land.

[bixaorellana]

Bison started showing up in US supermarkets after I moved to Mexico, so I've never tried it. I'm interested that you say it's rich in iron, LaGatta. The reindeer article refers to that meat as "high-mineral".

Actually, I was surprised at the amount of fat on the cuts in the photo, although of course an animal like that would need fat reserves.

As far as I can tell, the reindeer are not raised in feedlots either.

I wanted to slap the parents in the article who canceled their kids' trips to the reindeer ranch. It wasn't as though the animals were going to be slaughtered and dressed while the kids were there. They must think Laplanders are evil incarnate.

More fun facts on reindeer: reindeers.info/

[joanne28]

I think part of the problem is that there isn't another word for reindeer meat, such as we have for cows, pigs and calves. Horsemeat suffers from the same lack of specialized nomenclature.

I've had bear and caribou, but not reindeer, although reindeer and caribou must be very similar.

[Deleted]

I've eaten a few unusual meats (ostrich, zebra...), but frankly I am against exporting such items out of their local zone of consumption, unless they are a great discovery that can be raised and eaten in other places without great difficulty.

An example of this would be turkey, which is eaten just about everywhere in the world now. It is certainly not my favorite meat, but it is economical and nutritious, so I fully approve of the fact that it is available everywhere and can be made palatable with a little imagination.

[lagatta]

My uncle (who worked for many years in the Arctic, and was among other things a bush pilot) said caribou and reindeer were the same thing, just wild vs domestic, and wikipedia (and many other urls) say the same. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reindeer

There could of course be subspecies though. bixa, I've never seen that much fat on a wild caribou carcass, although of course they need some to fight the Arctic or Subarctic cold. Although they aren't raised on feedlots, still, in big enclosures they are more sedentary than their wild counterparts.

kerouac, you are right about turkey - modern turkey is bland and bleh, but one of the most economical ways of converting grains and other feed into lean animal protein.

[gertie]

My rather limited experience is the wild caribou and raised reindeer is the comparison was about similar to my mind to the difference between an average commercially raised chicken breast and a true organic raised free range chicken breast. Not that the meat tastes anything at all like chicken. More that the raising thing seemed to have sort of killed all the wildness in the flavor and texture. I am not sure I quite enjoyed that, but then I like game.

I was disappointed in my one taste of Bison, but I believe it was incorrectly prepared as main complaint was that it was dry and tasted over-cooked, though it was in no way burned.

[imec]

Ooh ooh ooh! Pick me, pick me! Can't believe I missed this thread!!!

So, being from a country where lots of stuff is available for shootin' - and where farmers searching for new ways to make ends meet have begun to raise animals previously seen only in the wild, I've eaten many horned or antlered critters.

I remember very vividly my first taste of moose burgers when I was 14 or 15 - they were fantastic with a meatiness you just don't seem to get from beef.

I've since eaten antelope, deer, elk, woodland caribou, bison, muskox and yes reindeer.

I ate the reindeer twice while in Helsinki on a business trip. The first time was boneless medallions which were a bit overcooked - a fact which was rendered somewhat immaterial because I was drinking an unusually good Carmenere from Chile and was dining in a hockey arena where Jokerit was playing. The second time was on my last night in Helsinki where the reindeer was smoked and used to make a Spaghetti Carbonara - very rich and delicious.

As has been pointed out in other posts in this thread, the meat of many of these game animals tends to be lower in fat and is rather unforgiving of the less than completely attentive cook.

Although neither horned nor antlered, I've also eaten ostrich (which I've loved when prepared well) and camel (a bit lamb like) which are both a bit odd I guess.

[fumobici]

Moose is sublime if not overcooked, elk almost as good. I've also enjoyed bear stroganoff and even traditional jerky made from a beached whale from the local indian reserve. I'm not a fan of most venison although I've had some that was good. I'm not sure what was different about the venison I've liked, whether the cut, the animal itself or the preparation.

[bixaorellana]

Sept 1, 2010 1:15:31 GMT imec said:

being from a country where lots of stuff is available for shootin'

This could be your next vacation. Admittedly it's a tad pricey, and there's no mention of what happens to the meat. www.jimshockey.com/pages/guided-hunts/alaskan-reindeer-hunts

I often find beef not beefy enough, so all these game animals sound delicious, even though the idea of killing such beauty makes me edge towards vegetarianism. Not that cows and pigs and lambs lack beauty, it's just that the idea of their meat has become more abstract.

I have heard that whale is like a very dense rich beef ~~ true?

What is bear like? I've heard it was a grainy meat, but have no idea what that means.

[lagatta]

Well, the caribou I've had was hunted by Arctic and Subarctic peoples (Inuit, Northern Cree, Innu...) and while they fully appreciate its grace and beauty, it is also a mainstay of their traditional diet, and those people who still hunt and eat it are the ones in good health, as the food shipped up from the "South" (I don't mean Oaxaca or even N'Orleans, bixi) is the worst sort of stodge found in western diets. I haven't eaten bear. Unlike fumobici I do like venison.

I don't eat much red meat at all, of any kind. I'm glad to find ground bison in a nearby supermarket, as it can be really useful to have some from time to time to get some iron with very, very little cholesterol. Though as imec reminds us, this sort of beast must be cooked very carefully as there is so little fat.

[fumobici]

I had local grilled bison flank steak Sunday and it was superb. The corn-Dungeness crab cakes, unbelievably fresh reef net caught Fraser river sockeye salmon and pear tart weren't too shabby either. Last night was grilled grass fed Angus burgers topped with Stilton, garden tomatoes and Haas avacados. I don't often eat red meat but perhaps that just helps me appreciate it more when I do.

[bixaorellana]

Not just red meat -- red noses, too ~~

.. the story [of Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer] was rooted in myth. But there’s actually more truth to it than most of us realize. A fraction of reindeer—the species of deer scientifically known as Rangifer tarandus, native to Arctic regions in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Russia and Scandinavia—actually do have noses colored with a distinctive red hue. <-- click

[patricklondon]

Oh, bixaoreallana - how do you know he hasn't just got a bit of a cold?

[questa]

Talking of reindeer... a church in Oz had this sign out the front for the Christmas season...

Being an atheist is OK
Being an atheist and shaming religions and spirituality as silly and not real is not OK

Being a Christian or other religion is OK
Being a Christian or other religion and being homophobic, misogynist, racist or otherwise a hateful person in the name of Christianity or other religion is not OK

Being a reindeer is OK
Being a reindeer and bullying and excluding another reindeer because he has a shiny red nose is not OK.

[bixaorellana]

;D

Yeah, I just hate it when I go to church & have to sit there surrounded by those hypocritical Rangifers.

Patrick, I've sent him a eucalyptus inhaler and some ChapStick^®, just in case.

All of this may be moot if things don't change: The number of Canadian reindeer and caribou has plunged 81% in a decade. <-- click

[lagatta]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reindeer evidently the same species, but obviously many different subspecies and bloodlines (we remember tha St-Bernard's and Chihuahuas are the same species, and all are genetically very close to the wolf).

[bixaorellana]

Planned your Christmas meal yet?

                     

[mickthecactus]

Yes! I'm having venison tomorrow!

[lagatta]

I'm having seafood - sort of a simplified (cheat) paella. Just frozen; there is a Portuguese grocery that always carries decent frozen fish and seafood.

But revisiting this thread does have me craving some caribou.

The cousin of a friend of ours raises a few farmyard turkeys (obviously they are usually in a pen in our horrible winters, but I guess they'll get an outing today as it will reach 16°C). They are nothing like the huge deformed beasts found in supermarkets, and are very tasty. I only like the dark meat, so I buy legs or thighs, and often braise them.

Funny how those North and Central American birds got labelled as "turkey" and "dinde" (d'Inde) in English and French, and "Pavo" in Spanish, which also denotes a peacock - probably because of the turkey cock's showy tail?

[bixaorellana]

This piques my vegetarian tendencies! Look how cool their feet are ~ perfectly designed for walking on snow.