As promised, with the weekend barely half over, here is the third and final installment of this mammoth update. When last we met, I had been attacked and physically injured by a deceased crustacean, which makes me among the lamest of people. However, I gamely battled on, and continued in my quest to devour as many of God's creatures as I could.
Once again, Wednesday night rolled around (seriously, I need to sort this out!) and I had to again find something for dinner. My friend Richard was visiting, and so we decided to go out and grab some food, but where to go? Well, we wandered my local area, searching for something that was both tasty and within constraints, coming up with a few options - including goat curry at the brilliantly named Jamaican Me Hungry - before deciding upon Esteban, a lovely tapas restaurant, in the sure and certain knowledge that, with so many dishes to choose from, there would surely be something for me. And there was - an old favourite that I was more than happy to welcome back into my circle of meats. When our dishes arrived, I reached for the plate, and took my first piece of squid of the year.
Squid is brilliant. It's certainly an acquired taste, as the texture, in particular, tends to put people off. When alligned with the fact that it's squid - not the best looking of creatures, if we're being honest - many people would turn their noses up. I, however, find them delicious. However, squid is something I have yet to cook at home myself, as it can be quite difficult to cook correctly. I was told a few years ago, by a chef in a pub I worked in, that it needs to be cooked for either 40 seconds or 40 minutes - there's really no middle ground. In fact, squid is the only thing I've ever sent back in a restaurant for being badly cooked. We were at a place in Edinburgh, and the dish came out so tough and rubbery that it was incredibly difficult to eat, which just cemented my feeling that I probably need a little more experience before trying it myself.
Anyway, we had calamari at Esteban, and they were done perfectly. The meat is chewy, but not too tough, and has a lovely 'seafood' flavour, which was complimented perfectly by the garlic mayonnaise that came with it. Just delicious, and certainly something I'm glad to be eating again, because although it's not something I have regularly, it's certainly one of my favourite things for when I eat out.
The next day, Thursday, saw me go with Richard down to Birmingham, in preperation for his 30th birthday party that weekend. We had decided a few weeks earlier that at some point we would go to a French restaurant he knows and I would have my first ever frogs legs, and so, on Friday, we celebrated his 30th birthday with lunch there.
Although when we arrived we were offered the lunch menu which did not have frogs on there, the manager was more than happy to accommodate my request, and soon enough, the amphibian limbs were placed in front of me.
The first surprise was how obviously like frogs legs they looked. That may sound like a ridiculous statement to make, but I didn't think they would come in pairs, still attatched to the animals pelvis. However, they did, which I thought was brilliant. Secondly, I had heard from so many people how frogs taste just like chicken, but I had never believed that, as people tend to say that everything new they eat tastes like chicken. However, the meat on these legs did indeed taste exactly like chicken. I don't know how much that had to do with the coating on the meat, although the meat itself certainly had a very similar texture and look to chicken as well, so I can't imagine it was too down to what was on it.
So, since I already like chicken, it should surely be fairly obvious that I like frogs too. However, I doubt it will be something I will go too far out of my way to get in the future, unless they're reasonably priced in a restaurant. Basically, they didn't have enough meat on them to make paying a lot, or really going the extra mile, for them worthwhile. I suppose that's only to be expected, as frogs aren't really that big, but the amount of meat on these powerful limbs was still slightly disappointing. However, it's definitely something I'm glad I had, and certainly wasn't a bad thing.
Later on that day, I picked up the spare. Ben, AKA Captain Meat, was also up for the celebration, and had gone and bought oysters and champagne for Rich's birthday, and so, despite knowing that they would not count, as I had already had my meat for the week, and would not count for any future weeks once I'd already had them, I dove in and shucked one from the shell. And it was...well, an experience. Not one I'll be in a rush to repeat, to be honest, but certainly an experience. Essentially, it tasted like an incredibly salty ball of what felt like mucus. If that doesn't sound particularly appetising, well, I don't think it was. Of course, they have a massive following in certain areas, and, if they are an acquired taste, I'm more than happy to have another go to see whether I'm able to acquire it, but as things stand, I'll be happy to know that I've tried them once. It's just a good job I know that there are plenty more molluscs out there, because if I'd eaten that for no meat week reward, I'd have been very disappointed...
So, in a very busy few days, I'd had three different new animals (two which counted), and then, on the Saturday, we went to the International Market which Birmingham was playing host to. We perused the stalls, and I bought a delicious bratwurst, before beginning to head back to the flat. However, on the way, we passed a stall selling meats of the world. Well, I just had to have a closer look, and was able to find some kangaroo steak, so I was able to back up my earlier processed kangaroo meat (it was gorgeous by the way, cooked quite rare, and had a delightful game flavour), and, even more excitingly, a small piece of crocodile meat. I'd never seen crocodile before, so was very excited to pick this up.
When the weekend was over, we went home, with a few days left until the week was over, and my meat already done. Strangely, this time, I could not wait for the weeks to tick over though, as my crocodile had only a limited shelf life, and so would be eaten on Thursday. Two early meats in a row. I must have been ill...
When Thursday came around we had friends round for dinner. Now, there was no way that this piece would have served two, let alone four, so I made one of my famous chicken pies, and then had the crocodile as a little extra. The meat was £5 for a piece approximately 2.5" square, and around 3/4 of an inch thick. I had no idea what it would taste like, although I had an idea that it might taste slightly fishy, for some reason. It didn't.
The guy at the stall had said to cook the meat as you would a normal piece of beef steak, although he did mention that it should be as rare as I can take it. Well, that was fine by me, as I eat my steak bleu, so, just to be on the safe side, I cooked it for around the length of time I would cook a rare steak. All four of us tried the meat, which I was surprised about, but none of us could quite put our fingers on a flavour. It certainly didn't taste of fish, or chicken, or beef, or anything really. Texture wise, it was quite like pork, in that there was quite a thick fatty layer on top, and a certain unyielding consistency to the meat - not overly chewy, exactly, but certainly not melt-in-your-mouth. If anything, it was quite bland, but in a way that left me wanting more - possibly just so that I could figure out what it tasted like! It was certainly one of the more unusual meats I've had so far this year, and I'll definitely look out for it again, although I know that it will never be a regular thing until we have more crocodile farms in this country - at the moment it's just too expensive to be a staple of my diet.
Of course, after a few weeks of organization, I had to slip back into my old ways again, and waited till the final day of my next week to panic about what to have - which was a period of almost two weeks without a new meat. This led toa real worry a couple of weeks later when I was trying to remember which meats I'd eaten. I keep a diary of what I've had, in order that I'll remember for this here blog, and generally write every few weeks what I've had. Well, due to my having a weekend event in the wrong week in my diary, and the length of time between the crocodile and my next new meat, I had a full day of trying to figure out what animal I'd eaten after crocodile. When we finally worked it out, the relief was immense - I really thought I might have failed just by completely forgetting. Thankfully, I'm too good for that.
Incidentally, two weekends after Rich's birthday, a few of us went camping for Ben's birthday. The guest of honour was Jade, a whole pig, which was spit-roasted for about eight or nine hours before being ravenously devoured. Between about 15 of us, we caould barely eat half of the thing, with everyone absolutely full to the brim. That was a superb weekend.
Anyway, back home again, and back to the rush to fit in a new meat. With Wednesday fast running out, I fell back on an old friend - the goat burgers in the freezer. Goat is an ok meat, not as good as sheep, which it is quite similar to, but certainly very edible. Unfortunately, as we were cooking the burgers from froaen, I messed them up and cooked them too fast, meaning that one side got a little burnt and a little tough. Thankfully, I know that there will be a chance again to eat actual goat meat, so I wasn't too worried, but I was once again disappointed to have ruined something which had been in the freezer waiting patiently for its moment to shine. Sorry, Billy, I promise the next goat I eat will be better treated.
The very next day I took a bus to London in preparation for a Friday flight to Fuengarola, just outside Malaga in Spain, for one of my uni friends' Stag nights. Ahead of me was three days of fun, sun and too much alcohol, and, I was hoping, one of my more unusual categories of animal.
Within an hour of our arriving at the hotel, I got my wish. As soon as we'd dropped our bags and freshened up, we went out. Directly opposite our hotel was a small square in front of a church, in which a local restaurant had placed tables. Sitting outside were all manner of people - old, young, families with their children - and it was here that we decided to grab a quick bite before heading off to the bars. As I scanned the menu, I immediately saw what I had hoped for, a new meat from an as yet untouched category - dogfish.
In Britain, dogfish is sold as rock salmon, presumably because that sounds more appetising than dogfish. It used to be a staple of fish and chip shops, although it is now more difficult to get hold of, and so I grabbed this opportunity with both hands. When it arrived, it was in a light, yellow batter, and had no ditinct flavour. It basically tasted like other fish and chip shop fish, quite a lot like cod, although it was not white. Whether this was just because of how it had been cooked or not, it had a yellow hue, which at least made it look a little different to most other fish. Other than that, it was unmemorable, but if I found it in a shop somewhere, I'd be more than happy to have it again.
With my week's task discharged early, I was able to relax and enjoy the rest of the weekend, which was certainly a lot of fun. I was very thankful, however, that I had managed to get my meat out of the way, as, by the time I arrived back late on Tuesday, I really couldn't have been bothered to think about what was going to happen the next day. And my next deadline was a whole week away. Plenty of time to figure something out, right? Absolutely right...
Which was why, the following Tuesday night, I found myself taking my monkfish fillets out of the freezer in preparation for Wednesday evening. I had found a recipe which sounded lovely, and was raring to go. However, I couldn't find some of the ingredients, and so, despite having planned a meal, I was now unable to have it, and instead, again, found myself looking round for an easy stop-gap. I decided to take a trip to Liverpool St John's Market, and see if anything in there would catch my eye, and, once again, I found salvation at a fishmongers'.
As far as I can remember, I hadn't had cockles before. The thing is, I'm fairly sure I will have done, as we used to go to the seaside a lot when younger, and I know that my grandad, in particular, was a fan of visiting seafront seafood stalls and picking up pots of things which my sister and I would usually try, but I couldn't say for sure, so I was entering new territory, as an adult at least.
I got the cockles home - I had opted for fresh rather than any that had been prepared in any way - and sat down to eat them. I have to admit to expecting something along the lines of mussels, and so was surprised when I put them in my mouth. They have a very sharp, salty taste that isn't overly pleasant, but the worst thing about them is the texture. Although they are like mussels in themselves, they leave a horrible grittiness in the mouth which I assume is from the salt that they've taken in. It took me forever to get rid of that grittiness, and left cockles well down my list of favourites for the year. In fact, they were the first thing this year that I've had to throw some of away - I had got around 100g, and couldn't get close to finishing them. Cockles are just really not very good.
And still my monkfish was sitting defrosting in the fridge. I knew it would have to be eaten soon before it went off, soo on Thursday, we went to Asda, where I knew I would be able to get another monkfish tail (mine was only 100g, and I needed 350g) and the rest of the ingredients for what would be my most extravagant new dish since the wood pigeon dbacle - lemon risotto with monkfish and parma ham. Having never cooked risotto before, I was wary of how it would turn out, but was confident I could do it, as the recipe () looked pretty simple. Unfortunately, we were only able to get another frozen tail, which meant my culinary expedition would have to wait till Friday. But would it be worth it? Well, what do you think...?
In a word, yes. Very much so. The risotto was an absolute triumph, even if I do say so myself, and will be going onto my list of special meals I can prepare. Not only that, but it will come in very handy through my vegetarian week, I'm sure. Now, I'd never had risotto before, as I had no idea, or indeed inclination, how to prepare it, and would never have ordered it in a restaurant when there were more substantial, meatier options available, so was unsure about the consistency of it, and all that kind of thing, but I managed to get it bang on. We enjoyed it with broccoli, and it was topped with monkfish tail, wrapped in parma ham, which was baked in the oven for around 25 minutes, and was just delicious.
Monkfish is quite a meaty fish in texture, which doesn't taste entirely dissimilar to cod. It has a real bite to it, and the flavour matched up incredibly with the parma ham, which I love anyway. It feels considerably more substantial than most fish, and really felt as if you were having a proper meal, which I don't think most fish would with the bite size pieces I utilised, and, as I'd had the tail boned at the fish counter, taking away some of the weight, it was much less expensive than I had expected. Although parma ham is by no means cheap, and will probably push this dish into the realms of 'a treat,' it's something I'm going to make again, and I will definitely endeavour to search out more monkfish. It may well be one of the ugliest looking creatures you'll ever eat, but, as seafood goes, it'll be one of the best.
And there we go, finally up to date after my ridiculous lack of effort for so long. I know this has been a long one, but I figured it was best to get entirely caught up as our internet connection disappears (for the time being) tomorrow. But fear not, I'll be back as soon as possible. We're well over the halfway mark now, still ticking along, but I think I'm going to find it increasingly difficult to fulfill the rest of my categories now. Although a new attraction has opened at the Liverpool docks recently - BugWorld, where, among the dishes on offer in the cafe, you can eat baked tarantula. Guess I'll be paying them a visit pretty soon.
So, until the next time, and the next, much shorter update, please, everyone...
Stay Meaty!
As usual, for those keeping score, here's the updated table, up to and including, weeks 30 (completed categories in bold):
Herbivore Mammals
Bovine - Cow, Week 2; Buffalo, Week 19.
Ovine - Sheep, Week 5; Goat, Week 27.
Marsupia - Kangaroo, Week 21.
Rodentia - Rabbit, Week 13.
Omnivore Mammals
Porcine - Pig, Week 1.
Rodentia (a different one to the herbivore one)
Carnivore Mammals
Canine
Arthropods
Insecta
- Winged - Crickets, Week 12.
- Unwinged – Mealworms, Week 10 (Mealworm Beetle Larva); Ants, Week 15.
Arachnid - Scorpion, Week 20.
Crustatia
- Land
- Sea - Prawns, Week 17; Crab, Week 23.
Reptilia
Crocodile, Week 26.
Amphibians
Frog, Week 25.
Fish
Scaled fish - Salmon, Week 6; Eel, Week 14.
Flat fish - Monkfish, Week 30.
Shark - Dogfish, Week 28.
Mollusca
Bivalvia – Mussels, Week 11; Cockles, Week 29.
Cephalopoda - Octopus, Week 8; Squid, Week 24.
Gastropoda
Plus 10 different types of Bird - Turkey, Week 3; Chicken, Week 4; Ostrich, Week 7; Wood Pigeon, Week 16; Duck, Week 18, Goose, Week 22.
Plus 2 Animals from classifications NOT on the list – Deer (Cervine), Week 9.
