Can't forget Elephant! my buddy took a tuskless cow and we had some cutlets for dinner, great!

I favour crocodile but guineafowl has been some of the nicest dishes I have tried.

My fovorites in this order:

Eland hump
francolin
Crocodile tail
Buff tenderloin
springbuck, impala, reed buck etc.
elephant cheeks (sort of like walleye cheeks)

In mainly comes down to how the meat is prepared.Most game animals I have eaten are pretty good if hung in a coldroom for a decent period of time. I grew up eating bushbuck more than any other meat because that was what was available to us. One that has been clean shot, hung for a week, marinated etc, is great. On the other hand, if its been wounded and has been chased by dogs for 2 hours, better stick to making biltong or wors.
First time I tried Zebra, it wasn't that bad. Second time around I worked the carcass, wasn't that keen on it after that.

No one has mentioned fresh Nile Perch. Isn't that a game animal?

Rich Elliott

Kudu liver, eland.

Eland then Reedbuck

We loved the kudu tenderloins, bar-b-qued and the fresh guineafowl. I have not tried eland and many of the others. The hartebeast we had was very gamey. All the rest was good, the first two were great!

Warthog

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
No African meat can be brought back into the US. USDA regulations. Not even Biltong (jerky). Yes, Eland is the best, followed by Chicken fried Kudu steaks.

Why?
I have had Japanese steak.
I have brought back fish from outside the USA.
Why no meat from Africa?

Each time I go there I change my favorites. I think this last time was Springbok and Oryx.

I still haven't developed a taste for crocodile.

Namibiahunter

Most has been good or better.

Suprisingly, waterbuck tenderloin was excellent.

Zebra probably best of the plains game, but it must be medium rare or less or it dries out.

My favorite is elephant cow, cooked over an open fire while the crew is doing recovery, sprinkled with a bit of salt. Might be a siutational thing, eating some medium rare grilled elephant while drinking a cold beer and later smoking a nice cigar...

JPK

quote:

Best eating game animal?

Eland

I just finished having some Axis Deer Back Straps that I took on Molokai last month. Reading about these African meats make me hungry again. Have to wait till August of 2009 to sample the African meals. CAN'T WAIT!

A noted epicure once wrote that American Cougar was the tastiest animal by far. Leopard not bad either.

And waterbuck can be excellent if you don't get any hair or oil from the hair on the meat. Tricky to skin but if you use two people it can be done.

I've eaten a lot of venison but my favorite has to be
- Mountain reedbuck
- Blackwildebeest
- Duiker
- Bushbuck

But if you really into somethin different yet very nice, when you shoot your springbuck ram, cut his jewels out and salt n pepper them, braai over medium heat coals. and enjoy, tastes like bone marrow.... mountain oysters.....

Funny how things taste, the best I ever had was roast leg of Mt Reedbuck and the worst was a porgie made with Mt Reedbuck. Last year leopard very good, Zebra (breaded and served with wedge of lemon) very good also enjoyed my Waterbuck. One meal I must have on every trip is a breakfast of Impala liver and eggs (at least once). When and if I get any of the pygmy antelope this fall I want to try "africian oysters" and would like to spit roast one whole with a good stuffing.

I thought Gemsbok was good until I tasted ELAND my favorite wild game!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Northway:
Springbok first and then oryx. The springbok was awesome!

That's the order our hosts in Southern Namibia placed them. Blesbok is pretty interchangable with oryx, just that the medallions are smaller. Compared to North American game, all of the antelope family seems superior to whitetail and mule deer. Elk is competitive.

Talking about "African Oysters", buff nuts sauteed with salt and pepper and some mild for Zim hot peppers is a great appetiser.

"Have a bite and eat the whole Chewore quota for the next decade."

JPK

The first time I went on safari, I went crazy about eating all the game I shot. One night when I was chowing down on impala liver and crocodile tail, I noticed that my PH was eating a beef steak. When I questioned him on why he was not having impala and crocodile, he said - " I have been eating that stuff all my life, I like beef and chicken best!"

Here are a few things that I regard as facts about the taste of African game animals:

1. Hunger is the best cook. The other side of this coin: A good cook can make anything [well, almost anything] taste delicious!
2. The very best cut of any animal that was wounded and then followed up is only good to give to mother-in-law. The other side of this coin is: Any cut of animal killed with a "bangflop" shot is potentially good eating.
3. An animal that was resting and relaxed - totally unaware of being hunted - is better eating than a wary animal that knows he was being hunted.
4. ....

n......

The list can go on and on. But a last "fact" is that one cannot make a good judgement from a few instances of eating some animal.

To give my reply to the original posters question: Without any exception I've never had bushpig meat that was not delicious - it's sort of in a class on it's own, a few steps up from whatever you want to place second. But, then I've also not eaten buhpig that was killed after being chased by a pack of hounds?


In good hunting.

Andrew McLaren!

quote:

Originally posted by Andrew McLaren:
Here are a few things that I regard as facts about the taste of African game animals:

1. Hunger is the best cook. The other side of this coin: A good cook can make anything [well, almost anything] taste delicious!
2. The very best cut of any animal that was wounded and then followed up is only good to give to mother-in-law. The other side of this coin is: Any cut of animal killed with a "bangflop" shot is potentially good eating.
3. An animal that was resting and relaxed - totally unaware of being hunted - is better eating than a wary animal that knows he was being hunted.
4. ....

n......

The list can go on and on. But a last "fact" is that one cannot make a good judgement from a few instances of eating some animal.

To give my reply to the original posters question: Without any exception I've never had bushpig meat that was not delicious - it's sort of in a class on it's own, a few steps up from whatever you want to place second. But, then I've also not eaten buhpig that was killed after being chased by a pack of hounds?


In good hunting.

Andrew McLaren!

True Andrew,

Eland, Bushbuck, Nyala,Mountain Reedbuck, Springbuck, Bushpig, Hippo and Gemsbuck are tops, followed close second by Hartebeest, Kudu and Impala.

Most famous qoute on the topic by an English client after he shot a $8000.00 Roan with me?

"So, how does Roan taste?"

Answer: "Bloody expensive, if I must say so myself old chap"




www.infinito-safaris.com

quote:

Originally posted by Grafton:
I think dove is the finest meat in the world.

Agreed,

We hhot a few doves one afternoon and crowned them off. I can't remember the marinade I put on them but when cooked on the Brai they were excelent.

To be honest all the meat was superb but the home reared goat chops were something else.

Rgds,
FB

What about puff adder that's been sitting on the dash of the bakkie for 2 or 3 days?

I'll tell you what's nasty...what is the name of that meat paste in a jar? I think it's English and some guys put it on their toast. Absolutely horrid. The PH warned me not to eat it.

This is a topic about bad food right?

hey it depends how you cook it. Even a tortoise cooked properly is good.

But nothing beats a good ole wildebeest liver or shnitzel. Elephant temple, hippo, . Wildebeest still kicks ass

Like all meats,preparation is key. After all, as one PH suggested to me several years ago, if he's doing his job well, I'm not shooting tender young animals.
That being said, the best eating I've had were eland tenderloins, ox-tail stew from buff, and roasted bush pig.

Eland. However, in two safaris, we never had any meat that was not very,very good.

I´ll take puff adder any day -stir fried creole

You can´t beat a nice piece of snake.

Yukon,

Do you mean the Aussies with their veggimite?

Brett

No, they had something else in the kitchen. I'm pretty sure they said it was English. Shakari or someone else might comment? Charles Helm, what was that stuff they had at breakfast...or maybe that was at the first camp?

Eland, Kudu, Impala, L. Hartebeest, are my favorite and I really like the tenderlions cut from inside the carcass of a buffalo if the bull is fat and in good condition. I also like warthog and croc tail meat..I have eaten most of Africas animals and most of it is very good, but like any animal range conditions, prepreation, animal condition, all come into play.

I don't particularly like Hippo, Wildebeest, Zebra, Gemsbok and a few other species.

Surprisingly enough Lion and Leopard can be very tasty. Buffalo nuts are terrible, but that is because we only shoot the old bulls I suspect...elephant foot is considered a delicacy but I can pass on that...

A meal I did delight in was a Springbok liver burned black over an open fire and a piece of intestine that was fried or grilled and the meal was called vet-derm or something like that and it was very good...I also revel in sawed up buffalo leg bones cooked and suck the marrow out of them and eat it with toast, its fantastic. I love oxtail soup cooked by Annalie van Tonder, Pierre's wife...its awesome.

I have drank ferminted cows blood mixed with homemade beer and it was a horrendous experience, and I have eaten raw liver and heart from a fresh kill and it had zero taste. but hey I love Mexican Menudo, my kids call me the coyote!

quote:

I´ll take puff adder any day -stir fried creole

You can´t beat a nice piece of snake.

I was wondering along those lines, since fried rattlesnake is such a delicacy here in the US. Very good eating!

And my son, who likes next to nothing, is wild about alligator tail.

Springbok first and then oryx. The springbok was awesome!
x 3, but more depends on the condition of the animal at and during hunting as well as the carcass afterwards.
Great to see such a variety enjoyed by posters.

My favorite is "my next one" there. Seriously,almost everything I have hadon Safari was good, but I really liked the Eland filets. You can keep all the organ meat, I do not like eating out of the gut pile, but a Eland chop or Kudu steak would be really tasty about now....

Someoldguy: My son said I was "trolling" when I wrote that piece so I guess I should apologize...but our second tracker (from Zim) said that he´d eaten every kind of reptile and that they were all good.

Warthog weinerschnitzel

Yukon Delta,

I think the spread that you are referring to is called "Beefy Bovril". It's not too bad, but it is salty.

I think I liked Lion the best; maybe it's because it tasted much better than I thought it would. It had the texture of beef and the flavor of the finest pork-tenderloin.

I've not turned up my nose up at anything offered in Africa but grilled leopard tenderloin, bone soup with buffalo, zebra filet, eland brisket fat cooked with wild onion over the tracker's fire, Western hartebeest steak, buffalo oysters and the best of all being grilled Tommie chops from a fresh kill stick in my mind as truly excellent fare. Puff adder offered as an appetizer by a camp manager trying to freak us out was just nasty but we ate it. Tasted like fishy fish if that makes sense. But I just can't do Bovril or Marmite. Yuck!

Mark

quote:

My son said I was "trolling" when I wrote that piece so I guess I should apologize.

No problem, cewe.

I'm out of the exotic food phase, anyway. They couldn't get me drunk enough to eat either puff adder or rattler nowadays.