Unusual Meats in Unusual Recipes!

I dedicated most of this blog to existent restaurants and ethnic foods. At some points, I had the opportunity to show some dishes made by me. Today, I am going to dedicate this article to some experiments I made in the kitchen during this year, which is about to end.

One day, I decided to prepare pasta with minced meat. Most of the recipes for pasta, I learned them from an Italian family. When I prepare pasta, I usually cook the meat with onions, basil, salt and pepper (I sometimes add garlic as well). But unlike the recipes of my masters, this time I decided to prepare my pasta with a slightly different meat….

For this dish, I used ostrich meat. This meat is lean and very rich in iron. It is red and tastes very different from chicken and to any other poultry meat. Because it has almost no fat you have to be very careful not to overcook it. But it shows to be an ideal meat for pasta dishes.

On a separate occasion, I was checking some recipes. I spotted a simple recipe to make Fesenjoon, a Persian stew flavored with pomegranate and ground walnuts. This dish is usually prepared with chicken or duck and served with rice. I decided to follow the instructions of the recipe and prepare it, but I decided to use slightly different meat this time…..

For this dish, I used Crocodile meat. This meat is a source of high-quality protein and very low in fat. It has a similar taste to chicken. If you go for an alligator, the flavor can be a little bit fishy. Although much more expensive, it can be an excellent substitute for chicken.  

One day, I was in the mode of Asian Cuisine. I spotted a recipe to prepare Kaldereta, a goat meat stew from the Philippines.  The meat is commonly stewed with vegetables and liver paste. It usually includes potatoes, bell peppers and sometimes tomatoes. If you do not want to use goat, you can substitute with beef, chicken or pork. But, what about if you want something different? That was the path I decided to follow.

I cooked my Kaldereta using Camel meat. Camel meat tastes like lamb. Although I read some pages saying that it is quite hard meat, at least in my case I found it very tender. It has less fat than other red meats.

Different experiences with different meats. What a great learning experience for an amateur chef like me. BTW, I cannot stop mention where I found those meats in case you want to try and experience new recipes.  The meats were bought in Whitehousemeats  in St. Lawrence Market. You can find these and other uncommon game meats in this store.