From the plains to the sea.

Meat weeks: 7 & 8. Thursday 12th - Wednesday 25th February.

After a couple of weeks of narrowly making my meat deadline, week 7 was going to be a more relaxed affair. Granted, once again it was going to be Wednesday night, the last possible time for my new meat to be eaten, when the meal would take place, but this time there was to be no hassle - we planned well in advance what it was going to be, and I was looking forward to my first less-usual animal - deer.

Now, venison isn't completely unusual, but it's not your regular day to day meat, and I was interested to have it, as it's something I hadn't had for a long, long time. So, when Wednesday rolled around, Laura went to try and pick up some venison. Unfortunately, Morrison's had none, and so she rang to see if I could pick some up. By this point, however, it was quarter past four, and so I quickly jumped on a bus from town (which I have just this moment realised was pretty stupid, when I could have gone to St John's Market) and headed up towards Allerton Road, where I knew of a couple of good butcher shops. Neither of which had fresh venison...

So suddenly I had a little panic. From being so organised, we now had a slight pickle. However, I was in a butchers. Surely he must have something interesting for me? Frozen venison wasn't going to cut the mustard, as it wouldn't have time to thaw. All the other interesting meats he had were also frozen...until he mentioned the prime ostrich steak he had, fresh, in the back. A quick call to Laura to check that it was ok, and away we went.

So, my first step into the world of not-easy-to-get-hold-of-in-a-supermarket meat was with ostrich. Ironically, we actually have a bundle of ostrich burgers in the freezer, as Phil-San had accidentally left them here when he was over in December, but I'd held off having them until we could have proper ostrich meat, as I didn't want to sully the task with processed meat as my first tasting of the year, and had decided that I'd get them out of the freezer after I'd had ostrich steak for the first time. Now was that time.

The steak that was brought out was just shy of a pound and a half in weight, and about an inch thick - perfect, essentially. I bought the whole thing, got it cut into two - the knife went through it like a hot knife through butter - and set off to pick up the ingredients Laura wanted for out revised menu - blue cheese and parsley, for a delicious blue cheese sauce. Being unsure of whether or not ostrich was safe to eat bleu, which is my usual steak preference, we cooked it a little more, although the thickness ensured that it was still lovely and red in the middle. Served with the sauce on the side for me, and drizzled over the top for Laura, and with a selection of vegetables, it looked delicious.

Taste wise, ostrich had a hint of something I couldn't quite put my finger on. It tasted very very slightly of iron, I think, although Laura felt that that could have been just from the fact that it was so pink. I don't agree, mainly as I always have my steak practically raw, and it doesn't taste like that, which leads me to believe it's something in the meat itself. The main thing about ostrich is that it is exceptionally lean - there wasn't an ounce of fat on the cut I got, and the outdoor lifestyle of the animal is clear from the taste. It's quite gamey, and has a lovely clean texture. I assume we got a very good cut, as the meat really did just fall apart, and melted in your mouth. The sauce was a nice accompaniment, although I tended to eat the meat without, just to get the full flavour of it.

Althogh not cheap (my piece was £15.50, and the kg price was £26), ostrich is something that I will definitely be putting on my list of occassional meats - those that are for more of a special occassion than your everyday beef or pork. To be fair, for two roughly ten ounce steaks, that wasn't actually too bad a price, although it will have to be a treat-y thing in the future. Unless we can get some deals from the ostrich farmer that comes to the farmer's market...

I had an interesting discussion with the butcher while figuring out which meat to get, though. I outlined the challenge to him, and he came back with a list of meats he can get me - from kudu and various 'boks, to numerous birds, to crocodile. I think I may have found a supplier for many of my future meats...

Week 8 was going to be nowhere near as close to the bone. I already knew when and where I would be having my meat - I just didn't know which one yet.

Last weekend, as I'm sure you'll all know, was Valentine's Day. The celebration of love, and all things cherub-y, however, had passed us by slightly, as we were doing friend duty. This is a Good Thing, as it allowed us to save our Valentine's Day for this weekend, the 20-22nd, meaning we got to go to the restaurant we actually wanted to, and didn't pay stupid, over-inflated prices. On top of that, it gave us an extra week to find presents...

Laura is mildly obsessed with Teppanyaki, a Japanese style of cooking which involves you sitting around the chef's workstation as he prepares your food in the middle of the restaurant. The experience, as dining out goes, is wonderful - the chefs invariably put on a show, flipping eggs, throwing bowls, generally juggling all manner of kitchen implements, and having fun with your food. It's really interesting to watch the cooking process, on top of everything else, and every time we've been, the food has always been superb. It was yet another place, however, where people looked surprised when I asked for my steak bleu - even stranger when you consider what I had had for a starter...

When the menu came round, I knew that there were going to be lots of possibilities. I had to throw some out though, for logistics purposes - eel, which I've never eaten, went out the window as there are just too many fish, and they would not be difficult to complete. It seemed pointless to have prawns or giant clam, as molluscs or crustaceans are so easy to get hold f. What to have, what to have..? Then I saw it. I had been thinking about having squid, because it was annoying me not being able to have it when we went out, but when I spotted octopus on the sushi menu, I decided to have that. Being much more difficult to get hold of, in general, than squid, it seemed like a good idea to do it now, and, if I did stumble across it on any other menu, then it would serve squid's purpose nicely.



I'm not often a great fan of sushi - for some reason, and I don't know if it's something to do with the rice or possibly soy sauce, which I really don't like, I always finds it tastes slightly of ammonia. Still, I was willing to take one for the team on this one, all the while prepared to dispense with the rice and just eat the octopus. When it came out, though, I was pleasantly surprised, as there appeared to be no sauce on the thing at all, and so I popped one in my mouth.



This was the first totally raw animal I'd eaten this year, and it still messes with my head that they just don't bother cooking the animals at all. I'm still not fully sure how that works, as we're constantly told not to undercook meat, and I really should find out. I'll try to remember to do that. Anyway, octopus shares certain characteristics with squid, in that it's exceptionally chewy. Other than that, it's texture is quite unremarkable, as the creature is very smooth. Taste wise, it tastes, well seafood-y. That is to say, slightly salty. Really, it's not a very flavoursome meat, although it's certainly not offensive, and doesn't even start to worry the gag reflex, as some seafood can have a propensity to do. As a starter for a wholly wonderful meal, it was lovely, and a nice change of pace from what I might usually have. On top of this, it's the first meat yet for which we have pictures, so that's exceptionally exciting, obviously.

Most importantly of all, however, is that it's the start of another category of animal. As I predicted, weeks are now starting to take a little more planning, although are beginning to get more interesting for it. Each week brings a new and exciting challenge, and we're coming very close now to things I've never before eaten. I'm sure you're all as excited as I am. So, for now, and until next time...

Stay Meaty.

And, for those who like to keep up to date...

Herbivore Mammals
Bovine - Cow, week 2
Ovine - Sheep, week 5
Marsupia
Rodentia

Omnivore Mammals
Porcine - Pig, week 1
Rodentia (a different one to the herbivore one)

Carnivore Mammals
Canine

Anthropods
Insecta
- Winged
- Unwinged
Aracnid
Crustatia
- Land
- Sea

Reptilia
Lizard/Snake

Amphibians
Frog/toad

Fish
Scaled fish - Salmon, week 6
Flat fish
Shark

Mollusca
Bivalvia
Cephalopoda - Octopus, week 8.
Gastropoda

Plus 10 different types of Bird - Turkey, week 3; Chicken, week 4; Ostrich, week 7.
Plus 2 Animals from classifications NOT on the list