I didn’t know creature was rare, says tribesman who liked it well done

[Plossl]

"Fears that one of the world’s rarest creatures had been driven to extinction have been allayed by a tribesman who told conservationists he had recently eaten one.

Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna, a little-known, primitive mammal that lays eggs, lives in Papua New Guinea. Only one specimen, found in 1961, has ever been seen by scientists.

But fresh evidence that proves the echidna, which was named in honour of the naturalist Sir David Attenborough, is still alive has been found during an expedition by zoologists. Seven people told the scientists that they had seen the spiny creature, which is a relative of the platypus.

One of the villagers said that he had trapped one in a snare and eaten it in the jungle, being unaware of how rare and sought-after the echidna was. 'It was delicious,' he said."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article2080499.ece

[bob]

Always like a happy ending. So many animals go into extinction with the last specimens dying in zoos, such as the passenger pigeon and tasmanian tiger. This one at least provided a yummy taste treat! :D

[Dan]

*burrrrp!*

"Needs garlic!" <..:p..>


Dan

[leadgolem]

I thought it was bats that needed garlic?

[Dan]

Meh ... I think they're better with Basil and a touch of ginger.

[clearer]

bats or echidnas?

[Dan]

Bats. Haven't found another echidna to try a different recipe! <..:eek:..>

[Plossl]

The lovely echidna. You will know it when you see it, unless you mistake it for a porcupine or a lump of grass.

http://i14.tinypic.com/61l7a50.jpg

[Dan]

Nice! Comes complete with after-dinner toothpicks!

[schwim]

My dad always used to tell me the following story(I say always because like my mother, he began telling the same stories in repetition as our relationship progressed):

We had a group of indians working for us on the plant nursery, building huts for the planting stage, and the boss didn't show up for a while. When he returned, he told dad he was in jail for poaching black panther (protected species in FL). Dad asked him why he killed it and he said to eat, that it was delicious, tasting almost like bald eagle...

that's the story, anyways...
json

[Dan]

Ayup! And Spotted owl tastes a lot like chicken.

[ibbo]

I do not have an issue with people living of the land. More the pity that more of us do not do the same.

Not many of us on here can claim to have kiiled a beast then eaten it (save perhaps the odd chicken). What a life it must have been drifting to where you find food. Kill it eat it and move on again.

Then the white man came along to improve things. (build roads cut down trees and destroy food stocks). Ah progression!

And I bet his new black hat is the envy of all :)

Ibbo

[Dan]

Hmmm.

I've tried it both ways.

You can go drift after the game if you want to. I find the critters in the grocer's meat cooler much easier to find, and not nearly so hard to kill.


Dan

[JN4OldSchool]

And until you have to clean your kill you dont know what you are missing. Though it does give one a sense of where their food actually comes from. I have spoiled many a steak dinner by bringing up the cow that brought it to us :D

[lazlow]

Thats why we were always told (as kids) where our food came from. If you know from the start that meat comes from animals it is no big deal. I find it amusing that so many people really do not know what animal a specific meat comes from(pork, veal, mutton, venison).

Meats often taste very different depending on how you cook them. Raccoon (I get into trouble when I use coon) tastes pretty nasty if you let it cook with its own grease. If you cook it on end (like the beer can chicken cookers) so that the grease can drain away, it is pretty good stuff. I still have a problem with eating snake. I am fine with it as long as I do not know what it is.

Lazlow

[gthill]

The meats a bit tough but they make for good toothpicks

[techmatt]

I'll eat any meat put in front of me or that I cook my self. I don't care where it comes from, although I do know most of the time.

There is nothing quite as good as deer jerky!

[JN4OldSchool]

I'll eat any meat put in front of me or that I cook my self. I don't care where it comes from, although I do know most of the time.

There is nothing quite as good as deer jerky!

Venison sausage! :D

[techmatt]

OOOOOOoooooooooooo that's good too

[lazlow]

gthill

A lot of wild game you have to cook at a lower temp or it will get tough.

[telepatico]

Nice! Comes complete with after-dinner toothpicks!

I disagree that those are for toothpicks. I believe that those are to share pieces of the meat with others, like a party delicacy plate.

[techmatt]

or you could pound them into a stick and use it to kill your next meal

[JN4OldSchool]

gthill

A lot of wild game you have to cook at a lower temp or it will get tough.

A lot of game I would only really consider suitable for stewing also, among these would be coon, possum and squirrel. Unless you were on a real survival kick anyway.

[Plossl]

Sounds like China has solved its recent problem with small creatures:

Plague rats being used to supply restaurants (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,22083032-401,00.html?from=public_rss)

[lazlow]

It is not just China serving rat. I use to go through O'hair airport and get this BBQ on a stick(3 for $1). It was always on the run, so it was grab and eat on the go. Had a flight delay of a couple of hours one time. The old Korean(?) guy that had the cart was friendly so I started up a conversation. He trapped the rats right in the mall area, above the drop ceiling. I thought that rats being there was weird at the time, but I have had friends at a lot of malls and they have indicated that rats are a real problem.

[JN4OldSchool]

I am surprised he was allowed to sell this in the US, but actually the idea of eating rat doesnt much bother me. It wouldnt be my first choice, but in Lazlow's case I would probably continue to buy from the old dude if it was that good. Old time sailors called rat "miller' as they would feed them the grain cargo to fatten them up for meat.

[sailor]

"Rats on a Budget" does anyone remember that song?...
I love all game animals...I personally have only shot deer and turkey, but I have eaten many more things that many might find a bit hard to swallow :p

found some of the lyrics:

We're Americans, you know we love junk food
The commercials..they make it sound so good
We'd buy more and more if...????
Though it might not taste the way they say it should.

You deserve a pest today...it tastes better...Have it your way!
Our sandwiches, they only cost a dime and
We serve no pests...before its time

We say that Wendys, the Colonel, the Whopper and chicken McNuggets
Well there's no need to worry when you goin out to Rats on a Budget!


I love...rats on a budget.
Have one...with everything on it
You know...rats on a budget
Its time....time has finally come.

BTW the next time I am at O'hare I will check out the BBQ sticks..:p

[leadgolem]

The only animal I've ever had trouble cleaning is rabbit. If you do it wrong you ruin the meat.:)

[Dan]

The trick to good rabbit is careful cleaning, and slow cooking.

[sailor]

I love rabbit...chicken fried rabbit, stewed rabbit, hassenpfeffer...and so on :p

[Plossl]

Hassenpfeffer? Hassenpfeffer!

[Plossl]

Excuse me for badgering, or for beating a dead horse:

Gore's message loses bite (http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22090734-5001031,00.html)

"ONLY one week after Live Earth, Al Gore's green credentials slipped while hosting his daughter's wedding in Beverly Hills.

Gore and his guests at the weekend ceremony dined on Chilean sea bass - arguably one of the world's most threatened fish species.

Also known as Patagonian toothfish, the species is under pressure from illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing activities in the Southern Ocean, jeopardising the sustainability of remaining stocks."

[Dan]

Perhaps shark would have been more appropriate? Or maybe clown fish?


Dan

[bob]

Plossi, Mr. Gore is not currently on my Xmas card list, but if you google Chilean Sea Bass, you'll find that it is now commercially regulated and available to restaurants. Of course, I'd rather have steak and reduce those methane-producing bovines who are at the root of our problems...