I’m sure I’m not the only one here who would love to see you start an AMA thread.
Seconded!
An open bar. A gun. What could go wrong?
I like that the drunk idiot somehow shot his own foot on the run from the police.
The bison on Catalina were brought over in the 20s for use in a silent movie, so they’ve been there a pretty long time. I don’t think they get a lot of contact with people, but they do get some.
one has to love the fact when figurative speech and literal speech come together …
… in a single bodypart nontheless
… involving the use of a percussive weapon!
…and that’s why they’re sepia-toned black & white.
Wow! I’m so glad there’s proof that I wasn’t hallucinating… and it makes an even crazier story.
(Anybody know what movie?)
The Vanishing American, 1925. Based on a Zane Grey novel.
Is there a reason the bison are still there? They’re an invasive species. If someone moved them there a hundred years ago, can’t their descendants be moved back to the mainland, are at least sterilized so they don’t reproduce? Are they too numerous now to be removed, or is it just not worth the bother?
honest Q:
how does bison meat taste? … has anybody here on the board ever tried? a priori i’d venture the guess “veal-like” but what-do-I-know
It’s a really lean red meat, much like beef. I like the taste. I’ve used it ground and made into burgers, just don’t cook too long, the meat will dry out without the fat that regular ground beef has. I’ve also grilled thin cuts to slice into fajitas. It was surprisingly tender, at least what I had. There’s a store here that sells farm raised bison in steaks, ground, and other cuts. Plus all the pieces parts, including tongue. I haven’t had that.
What she said. Like beef, only better. You really have to pay attention while browning because there’s very little fat. Makes excellent burgers and chili.
I think of it as sort of “beef concentrate”. All the flavors that you think of as “beefy” are there, just more so.
Ted Turner owns a chain of restaurants, Ted’s Montana Grill, that serve bison burgers. As Baker, Railer 13, and Chronos said, it’s virtually indistinguishable from beef, when served on a bun.
Many years ago when visiting Denver I had meat allegedly from a cattle/bison hybrid. It was pretty much indistinguishable from beef, and lacking critical thinking in those days I didn’t wonder if such a hybrid were possible or whether I was being served regular beef at a premium price.
For most of that time substantially the entire island was the private property of an individual tycoon. If he wanted his island to be a bison preserve (among other things), who are we to stop him?
The tycoon’s estate has since deeded substantially the whole island to a nature conservancy. Who apparently see the bison as indigenous enough to leave in place. Again it’s their island, not the public’s.
Mandatory work dinners took me to our local Ted’s Montana Grill, where bison is served. For those unfamiliar with it, they offer samples as 2” diameter hamburger patties. I had been on a mammal-free diet for years, so the rich, lean patty tasted like a fried blood clot.
At least in the USA you can buy (farmed) bison meat readily at higher end butcher shops and grocery stores. I’ve certainly eaten it at restaurants.
As said by others, from a culinary perspective it’s lean and super-beef-flavored. The extreme leanness makes it less than ideal as a grilled steak for most folks; a bit stiff to chew. But if you like steaks that taste lots and put up a good fight in the cutting and chewing, it’s yummy when cooked rare to medium rare.
Bison burgers, often blended with beef fat and maybe even beef flesh, is a common and more accessible way to serve it.
This is another:
It has very good flavor – I wouldn’t say “veal-like” at all; it’s richer than beef, while veal’s more bland than older beef.
Bison is, however, likely to be extremely tough, and needs to be cooked by somebody who knows how, if the cut’s anything other than ground meat or sausage. – hmm, I see that @Baker disagrees with that; but I suspect the trick was in very thin cuts, and probably in the length of time grilling.
I used to get quarters of beef from a neighbor, and one year she had a beefalo cross, 1/4 buffalo IIRC, though maybe the three-eighths in LSL’s link. Best meat I ever had.
And yes, such hybrids are definitely possible. (As I see @LSLGuy
posted.) Some farmers raise herds of them – leaner and more flavorful meat than straight beef, but much easier for the farmer to handle than straight bison.
Do you know what the Buffalo Soldier said to his child as he departed for war?
“Bye, son.”