Here's a topic I hope generates a lot of replies. What is your favorite African game when it comes to the dinner table? My favorite so far has been a dish prepared for us in Namibia back in 93-Chicken fried hartebeest smothered in gravy and sweet onions.
Eland cooked just about anyway possible. I have never had better meat of any kind then Eland. I do like Springbok too, but nothing is as good as Eland to me.
Posts: 1261 | Location: Rural Wa. St. & Ellisras RSA | Registered: 06 March 2001
Nothing is quite as good as a cup of sweet tea in the morning followed by a drive to the hunting area while you munch on a fried egg and warthog bacon sandwich....but an hour after finishing I begin to think about a tender buffalo steak sandwich with tomato for lunch.
Posts: 4360 | Location: Sunny Southern California | Registered: 22 May 2002
Eland!! dang that was good! Sorry Elk, but you just lost the first seat. Sorry Elk, but you also lost the second seat. Just love that tangy taste of Kudu too.
I've got to go with JJHACK and Puddles on this one... Eland is absolutely the BEST wild game I have ever eaten. It is tender and flavorful with out being too "tangy", I could and WOULD eat it for every meal if it was available.
No doubt about the fact eland is excellent table-fare, but unless you've tried giraffe steaks, you don't know what you're missing. Be sure it's a youngster, not some old stink bull. JLS
Posts: 96 | Location: Evergreen,Co., USA | Registered: 14 January 2002
On our two safaris, the outfitter's wife is from Texas, so we had chicken fried game with mashed potatoes and cream gravy. [Malva pudding for dessert]. Just like home, real Texas chicken fried steak. Man, I'm hungry now!
Regards,
Terry
Posts: 5338 | Location: A Texan in the Missouri Ozarks | Registered: 02 February 2001
quote:Originally posted by mikeh375: Here's a topic I hope generates a lot of replies. What is your favorite African game when it comes to the dinner table?
Interesting topic. If I could expound on yours... do you people gain or lose weight when you go on safari... or stay about the same?
These are two topics I've not seen discussed previously.
Russ
Posts: 2982 | Location: Silvis, IL | Registered: 12 May 2001
Let's see - the best snack I had was fried impala liver. Best meat was a toss-up between kudu, eland, gemsbok and springbok. The springbok backstrap, done rare, was especially fine. I also really enjoyed a roasted impala haunch.
Posts: 33 | Location: Alaska | Registered: 22 June 2002
I lost about 12 lbs. on safari in Zim. It wasn't because I cut back on the grub!! Lean meat and veggies, along with all of the walking. Just goes to show you how much crap most of us eat here in the U.S.A.
BOWHUNR
Posts: 636 | Location: Omaha, NE U.S.A. | Registered: 28 April 2001
I've tried most of the game meats, which are usually good depending on how prepared. Next time, try a common bush duiker - it is excellent and the camp staff thinks so too. There will be no leftovers.
Posts: 75 | Location: North Carolina, USA | Registered: 05 February 2001
I thought Eland was the best until last fall. Roasted haunch of Mt. Reedbuck now tops the list. A close second or third would be a fry up of Impala liver and kidneys with fried eggs, mushrooms, french fries and baked beans with a cold Castle. H*ll I have to think of something else just finnished breakfast and this is making me hungry.
Posts: 5338 | Location: Bedford, Pa. USA | Registered: 23 February 2002
The best the first trip was fresh Kudu tenderloins cooked over an open fire, after about a 5 miles walk back to camp. Another great dish was mincemeat pie made with Buffalo and Bushpig.
quote:Originally posted by mikeh375: Here's a topic I hope generates a lot of replies. What is your favorite African game when it comes to the dinner table?
Interesting topic. If I could expound on yours... do you people gain or lose weight when you go on safari... or stay about the same?
These are two topics I've not seen discussed previously. I've found it depends a lot on how much walking is involved. I can't get around like I used to, thanks to 2 knee operations, a chain saw through the same knee, and a reconstructed ankle. I usually stay the same weight or gain 3-4 pounds. I think most of this is because we're eating food that's good for you except for the 2 dozen chocolate bars I usually take along (must have survival rations you know). Russ
Without a doubt, Eland tenderloin, grilled. Kudu tenderloin would be a nice second. Speaking of favorites, I had heard about Impala so much, but I was actually disappointed in it, no flavor and somewhat tough I thought. Good Hunting! "Z"
Posts: 352 | Location: Grand Island, NE. USA | Registered: 26 January 2001
Eland, followed by kudu with spingbok a close third. But then a BBQ'd young warthog ani't nothing to sneeze at. Also dry wors made out of blesbok are pretty good too. And good biltong made from just about anything.
Mac
Posts: 1638 | Location: Colorado by birth, Navy by choice | Registered: 04 February 2001
I just remembered a simply outstanding one from a few weeks ago: wine marinated Bushbuck fillet, grilled over the braii, cut into bite sized pieces, and then pressed into fine, white pepper and eaten with the fingers.
Everything I ate was spectacular, however I'll be the oddball here because the one that stands out in my mind was a marinated blue wildebeest steak. I know it sounds strange, but we had some very, very good women who cooked great dishes and that steak was the best. Eland, warthog rump, kudu was also extremely tasty.
I actually lost a few pounds (a very good workout over ten days), and I ate very well.
Buffalo when they are fat on green grass, then Eland and Kudu in that order...I like springbok, Impala and most of the game...I'm not fond of Zebra or Waterbuck, not at all...
Posts: 41897 | Location: Twin Falls, Idaho | Registered: 04 June 2000
I guess that at one time or another that i've eaten maybe 25 different types of African game. I have enjoyed them all (ever waterbuck), with eland, kudu, and impala being at the top of my list. I'd also say that African game, for some reason that is not apparant to me, is a bit tastier than our domestic game.
Posts: 322 | Location: Virginia | Registered: 27 February 2001
Eland tenderloin grilled over a mopane wood fire with the Southern Cross overhead and a class or three of good South African Cabernet. That was one of those "Oh God, take me now because it won't ever get any better than this" kind of times. Buffalo oxtail stew is a wonder and the francolin is the best meat that flies . . . when you can get the little b**st**ds to fly! Actually I can't remember any meals that were bad. I even developed a taste for Weetbix! It didn't carry over to when I got home but I'm looking forward to it again in '03. And when you get back into town, no one, I repeat NO ONE does a buffet the way a good African hotel does.
Posts: 2690 | Location: Lakewood, CA. USA | Registered: 07 January 2001
Out of curiosity, how do all you folks have your meat prepared... well done, medium well, medium, medium rare, rare... or just waved somewhere close to a heat source???
Russ
Posts: 2982 | Location: Silvis, IL | Registered: 12 May 2001
quote:Originally posted by Russell E. Taylor: Out of curiosity, how do all you folks have your meat prepared... well done, medium well, medium, medium rare, rare... or just waved somewhere close to a heat source???
Warthog is one of my favourites. Wildebeest filet is very nice too (especially raw of very rare). If you include feather into African game, let's say green pigeon (or is it yellow-bellied pigeon in English?) is absolute gastronomic orgasm. They say kudu is one of the best but they didn't let me the time to cut a steak out of mine, they took the whole carcass to the butcher's before I could raise a hand . Fortunately I managed to save the heart of my kudu. And raw kudu heart is beautiful
Posts: 552 | Location: France | Registered: 21 February 2002
None of you mention bushbuck from all the game I think bushbuck is on top with eland. The meat actually never gets tough they don't run a lot trough their life just slip around bushes and vanish !
If ever you get a cahnce try it you won't be dissapointed.
I'd have to vote for eland steak grilled medium rare. The ground meat isn'too bad, but lean of course. A close second is Oryx. I'm getting ready to fill my freezer with eland again here soon. Thank goodness we can shoot them in Texas relatively cheaply. I really had to laugh last night when I told my 13 year old daughter we were having steak, she asked what kind? and I told her beef to which she responded with a very disappointed "oh... don't we have any eland or red deer left?" You can have the wildebeest...all I can say is that they must taste good to lions, crocs and hyenas etc.
Posts: 258 | Location: Houston, Texas, USA | Registered: 18 March 2002
quote:Originally posted by Long Pig: You can have the wildebeest...all I can say is that they must taste good to lions, crocs and hyenas etc.
I will. I think you didn't have the opportunity to try it prepared in a correct way, because it is excellent meat. And don't worry that lions, crocs and hyenas do know which product is good and which is not, after all they make their whole diet out of these animals . May I add I am not sure if I can 100% trust American and English people when the discussion comes to gastronomy?
Posts: 552 | Location: France | Registered: 21 February 2002
King B. - You might be right about the Wildebeest... I shot an old bull a couple of years ago and saved the loins (gave the rest away to the local food bank). I marinated a 1 kilo piece of the loin and then grilled it medium rare. My kids both of whom are red meat eaters tried it and got funny looks on their faces and said that it tasted "different". They were right, the Wildebeest tasted different from anything I've ever eaten in the red meat department. Not bad mind you, just different. I have read that the way to prepare this beast is to cut 1/2" steaks, pound them flat them bread and fry them with lots of spices. I may try that if I shoot another Wildebeest (which is doubtful since I've already got a great trophy on the wall). BTW I gave the rest of the loin to a young engineer I work with and he absolutely loved it... go figure. I still prefer eland, and the only thing better than eland is red deer or young fallow
Posts: 258 | Location: Houston, Texas, USA | Registered: 18 March 2002
Eland for me, preferably served after a toast of Witzblitz to warm the toes. Had loin wrapped in foil and then cooked under a bed of mopane coals for about 30 minutes. Delicious with a good red wine on the side.
Fried strips of Zebra heart were quite tasty as a snack.
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My favorite so far has been a dish prepared for us in Namibia back in 93-Chicken fried hartebeest smothered in gravy and sweet onions.