The Bambi factor.
I think Cecil’s “poor optics” bit was more about the captive game reserve thing, and not necessarily Bambi blasting in general.
Well, I find texture one of the most important thing about food. I also don’t like strongly flavored foods in general, and prefer things that are bland with a texture I enjoy to those that are “rich” - rich in things that I find repugnant, usually.
I think the remark about farmed deer provided to game preserves being “easy quarry” for hunters is a bit off the mark.
Game preserves preserve the concept of free chase. They are not to be confused with canned hunts in which an animal is simply walked into an enclosure where a pale imitation of a hunter simply shoots it with no legitimate effort.
Mr. Wrekker swears the taste of venison is different if the deer was shot ‘on the run’ or standing still. Also the age of the deer is important.
That might be the case. Adrenaline or something. It’s said that the bull killed during a bullfight is extra tasty compared to a normal bull or steer, because of the adrenaline. I’ve never had post-bullfight beef, though, so I can’t confirm the veracity.
What are the steaks like? Are there deer ribeye steaks? Can I (or rather would I want to) eat them med rare?
Unless it is aged properly and cut right venison can be incredibly tough. You can manipulate it some. If I think it’s gonna be really tough I soak it in vinegar/salt water solution and pound it with a meat mallet, before dredging in seasoned flour and frying.
Any Kiwis in the audience? As the Perfect Master mentioned in the column, deer have been raised commercially in New Zealand for some time. In LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring, the extended version of the movie has Aragorn bringing in a dead deer to the camp in the Midgewater Marshes; it was obtained at a local slaughterhouse. Perhaps a New Zealander could tell us the difference between raised and hunted venison.
they run regardless, even with a good clean shot. the last one I took I hit with a perfect lung-heart-lung shot but it was still able to run for about 20-30 yards.
Venison is a rare treat for me. Many years ago, I found a small roast of farmed venison in the freezer section of the grocery store. Wish I’d bought more, it was delicious. Since then, just the odd bit that I could beg from someone who had some. I had moose stew a few years back. That was good, too.
I’ve prepared and eaten venison for years and years. I don’t like it much, though I have had an occasional dish that was very good indeed. I usually soak it overnight in water and vinegar and rinse a couple times before I cook it. It’s very lean, so you either have to cook it quickly or stew it . I wish I could give you all a few recipes, but I usually wing it. The best parts are the thin steaks (I don’t like the hamburger or sausage) - cooked quickly with some green pepper rings, (fresh) onion rings, some peppercorns in a pan with a can of beer, and served on hard rolls with A-1 sauce; stewed in the crockpot with wine, mushrooms, onions, and beef broth, over mashed potatoes (cook the sauce down). The stronger tasting the cooking ingredients, the less gamey it tastes.
I am unaware of these “game preserves”. My understanding is that standard practice is to have a “deer lease”, i.e. pay someone for the privilege to set up a deer stand. Then, to ensure deer will be near your stand, during the fall one puts out a deer feeder, i.e. a device that scatters corn near your deer stand. This when hunting season arrives, one goes out to the deer stand early and waits for the deer to show up for breakfast. BOOM!
It’s not quite target practice, but it’s close. Seems a bit off to call this “hunting”.
IANA butcher, so anyone with more accurate info please correct me. The sections of meat on a cow that get cut into rib steaks and strip/shell steaks are generally removed whole and boneless from the animal. These are the backstraps. They can then be cut into steaks/medallions, but often they are simply cut into 1 foot sections of “loin”.
There is not much of this on the animal and most non-hunters will never taste this piece of meat. If someone shares their backstrap with you, they REALLY like you. I like to take a whole section of loin, jab it thoroughly with a fork, and marinate it for awhile in olive oil, Worcestershire, garlic, salt and pepper. Dry off your loin and grill it to just past medium rare. Then slice it across the grain to serve.
I’ve never come across someone who liked a nice, medium rare steak who didn’t think this preparation was outstanding. I prefer doing it this way because it’s too easy to overcook medallions.
It was also mentioned upthread that it makes a big difference how the animal was aged, butchered and stored. The fat and connective tissues don’t render out of venison the same way they will with beef or pork. If you leave all this in and then consider that many of the less desirable pieces are freezer burnt by the time you get to them it results in a “gamey” tasting stew.
Yes you have to get all that silver skin off. It will ruin good deer meat.
I’m not a hunter, but I’ve had backstrap before, and I can attest it’s delicious. (My friend was a hunter and cooked back straps at a barbecue he had- I believe he marinated it in a combination of Sprite and vinaigrette dressing, which sounds like a waste of good venison but actually was a quite tasty sweet-and-sour recipe).
I’m still not a hunter, but I can get ground venison on occasion from a specialty grocery store, and it’s pretty much one of the few red meats I cook.
I just go to Wegman’s, buy a package of venison steaks, and pan fry them. Just as juicy as beef with no special treatment whatsoever. The taste isn’t all that different from beef, either, perhaps a bit stronger.
I assume that the flavor is inherent in its being farm-raised venison from New Zealand. Like most foods, getting stuff from a good source is critical.
I’ve enjoyed venison several times in my life and liked it just fine. It was flavorful without being gamy and it was tender rather than tough or stringy like so many complain. I’m guessing the person preparing it knew what they were doing.
But I must say my favorite of the cervids would have to be elk. I’ve had elk steaks on a couple of occasions and found it to be fantastic. Tender, meaty and flavorful.
age of any meat animal is very important.
You can’t make a silk purse out of a sows ear and you can’t get a USDA Choice T-bone steak out of an old cow.
I doubt it !
Packing plants and truckers hauling cattle to packing plants do everything they can to keep the animals calm before slaughter to get better meat.
The opposite of what you claim .