Guess what? My husband got a very generous Christmas gift this year from a colleague at work. Several hundred pounds of meat. Yup, you read that right: meat. Several hundred pounds of it.
Here’s what our deep-freeze looks like now:
And yes, that does say "ground buffalo" on the smaller packs:
My husband figures it’s nearly two hundred pounds of meat. Free! That’s gotta be worth upwards of a thousand dollars, since many of the cuts are premium ones, like top loin, sirloin, rib steak, etc. Which would be great except for the one thing…it’s not beef, it’s buffalo (or, more accurately, bison).
This would not be a problem for a lot of people…in fact, ’round these parts, bison, elk, deer and moose are all the rage in avant-garde Canadian Cuisine at fancy restaurants, especially in Banff. I guess the rich tourists like to sample the local game?
But I just can’t. And we’re talking about farmed bison, here. I haven’t even mentioned the wild elk and moose meat that also made its way into our freezer.
My hubby and his friend were genuinely surprised when I balked at the thought of bison meat. "It’s BEEF!" They insisted. And, technically, they’re right. According to Wikipedia, "beef is muscle tissue obtained from bovines". Bovines, in turn, are "a diverse group of about 24 species of medium-sized to large ungulates, including domestic cattle, Bison, the Water Buffalo, the Yak, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes". Okay, so it IS really quote-unquote beef, but in my mind, eating cow is okay, eating bison…not so much.
This irks my husband and his friend, because they feel it’s backwards for me to be grossed out about the bison which, after all, was grain-fed and raised on a farm, then humanely slaughtered and butchered by a local (health-board certified) professional butcher. They maintain that what should really gross me out is the grocery store meat, raised in industrial feedlots and processed at huge industrial packing plants. Ergh.
So here’s the deal…Husband and M. were trying to make me feel better about the bison by contrasting it to the stuff I buy at the grocery store. I’m sure it seemed like a good plan, but it backfired. Their vivid depiction of feedlots and packing plants did not, in fact, make me slather at the mouth for some lovely bison. It made me completely turn off meat altogether. I couldn’t even eat the (cow) steak I made for dinner last night.
Isn’t it amazing, the power your mind has over your tastebuds? I’ve actually tried bison meat on two occasions before, and you know what? It does taste exactly the same as cow. But my mind knows it’s not, so I have to make myself eat it. And then I don’t enjoy it.
Is it just me? I actually went through a phase as a child where I wouldn’t eat eggs or honey, after seeing movies in school about where they came from. Oh, and if I ever go to your house for dinner, don’t tell me if there are mushrooms in the sauce. See, I really like the taste of food made with mushrooms, I just can. not. eat something if I know it has mushrooms in it.
So I think for the next little while, my life is going to be meat-free…at least until I can wrap my mind around all that bison in the freezer.
What do you think? Is Elizabeth nuts? Do you have mental blocks about certain foods? Or perhaps a good recipe for bison, moose or elk? Let us know below in comments.