Less common meats

Lostvalleyguy

Lostvalleyguy

Veteran
Joined
8 Mar 2014
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Location
Vancouver
When I see venison on this list it reminds me of all the types of meat I don't eat because I never see. Beef, chicken, pork and lamb are usually available but look beyond that and it gets tough. I live on the coast so a variety of seafood is available and makes for a good alternative.

I used to know people who hunted game and as such, I had a supply of venison and moose meat as well as the occasional game bird. I really enjoyed having a little variety in flavour as well as having to think about how to cook these items.

Do you have these meats readily available?
 
Nope, not really. Beef, pork, chicken, turkey and lamb are easily found in most, if not all, supermarkets but apart from that it can get a bit harder.
I think it's because well first of all, a lot of people are fine with buying either beef or pork and that's it. Also, these more special meats would surely be quite a bit more expensive leading to even less people wanting to buy them.

I think the demand just isn't there. Getting in touch with people who hunt or trying to find a specialised shop might be your best bets.
 
Sadly, while venison is my favorite type of meat, it is not really available or extremely pricey. While I live in a forested area, I can only get venison from a single butcher shop in my city or by ordering online. I find it sad because venison is among the healthiest types of meat you can eat and is also very good for nearly any type of meal.
 
I've never seen venison sold commercially in a regular grocery store, but we have several friends who hunt, so I feel like any time I want some, I can come by it easily and usually free.

Duck is a seasonal food around here and was a Christmas tradition when I was growing up. Once, on a whim, my father cooked a Christmas goose.

My city has two or three local specialty meat stores where you can get a variety of gamey type meats all year round... but again, it seems to go with the hunting seasons. Ox tail, pheasant, probably venison.
 
Buffalo is a "non-traditional" meat this somewhat widely available, healthier than beef, and absolutely delicious! Buffalo chili and buffalo burgers really amazing. Unless you're hunting it yourself, I think buffalo is your best bet for finding "different" meat. I'm in the US, though, so if you're in Europe buffalo might be harder to come by...
 
Bison has become more readily available at specialty markets here in Northeast Ohio. I've had it several times, and the taste of it is OK, but my biggest problem with it is how far it has to travel to get here. Often times the fresh or frozen Bison meat that is available in our grocery stores looks rather old and grey-ish. I know there are a lot of tricks the chain stores use to make their meat look fresh, but the specialty stores and health food stores don't do that and when you look at the Bison and compare it to the beef available there, the Bison doesn't always look so good.

Some restaurants around here also sell Ostrich, but I think I will have to pass on that. I am not eating some freakishly huge bird from the dinosaur era.
 
I have never had Bison before. Would be a very cool experience, although I don`t think they sell Bison meat anywhere outside of the states.
 
I can't find mutton or lamb in any of the grocery stores I go to. Goat should be more common, but I guess I'd have to go to the farmer's market for that. (Come to think of it, I wonder why goat meat doesn't have a name of its own like cow can be beef, pig can be pork, sheep can be mutton, deer can be venison--if goat meat does have a name, I don't know it.)

Duck eggs are common, especially salted, but for some reason duck meat isn't. Turkey is my favorite bird meat next to duck, but I can only get that during the -ber months unless it's in cured ham form in a deli...which I'm not that big a fan of.

I've never tried venison, moose, or bison. I really want to, though!

I'm trying to think of seafood that must be available to me fresh that probably isn't as available to all you landlocked people... I should get to know and appreciate fresh seafood more...
 
I have never seen venison in a store but I do live not too far from a place known as the bison creamery. Additionally a number of the grocery stores around here sell ground bison meat. Haven't tasted it yet but I am curious.
 
I think what you classify as unusual meat depends on where you live. I wouldn't really think of venison as unusual, but I never really eat it because of the price. Like you, I live on the coast. However, fish is so expensive that it is an occasional treat rather than a regular part of our diet. There are lots of meats I would like to try but are not that widely available in the UK.
 
There aren't that many alternative meat products here, so I usually just stick to the regular ones like pork, chicken, and beef, and from time to time I have cooked lamb although not really that often. I guess lamb is the most different type of meat that I get here, though, I have eaten frogs legs at a restaurant once, and although it tasted alright, I don't think I would order it again because I can't get over the fact that it is a frog.
 
OhioTom76 said:
Some restaurants around here also sell Ostrich, but I think I will have to pass on that. I am not eating some freakishly huge bird from the dinosaur era.
Click to expand...

You're missing out. :) An excellently cooked Ostrich meal (eggs and steak), one of my favorite meals to date. :)
 
OhioTom76 said:
Some restaurants around here also sell Ostrich, but I think I will have to pass on that. I am not eating some freakishly huge bird from the dinosaur era.
Click to expand...

You're missing out. :) An excellently cooked Ostrich meal (eggs and steak), one of my favorite meals to date. :)
 
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