The first time I ate kangaroo was ironically in a Indonesian restaurant in France. Doesn’t that sentence sound bizarre. I was curious to see how it tasted and my “try anything twice” attitude got the better of my imagination.
See when I was about 7 years old my Dad spent 2 months in Australia for work and when he came home he told us stories of kangaroos and their “joey”s. Well that was little me done. I mean how cool is it that the babies are called Joey’s! (I was called Joey! ), but they got carried around in a pouch.
In my mind kangaroos looked just like their cartoon versions and thats the image I held right up until I moved to Australia and saw them in real life. I was shattered to discover they weren’t “cute”, are actually rodents and are pests. ( I know I’m not painting a good picture of the dish above but bear with me)
The flip side is that kangaroo meat is a very healthy source of protein. Its ultra lean(2% fat) and contains a compound called conjugated linoleic acid, which actively reduces blood pressure. It is also a very sustainable meat to eat as kangaroos are in mass overpopulation and are actually culled here in Australia. It has a somewhat game-y but pleasant taste (for the South Africans reading this.. it reminds me a lot of ostrich meat in taste. ( crazy huh?) and a texture almost exactly the same as beef.
Hot tip: Kangaroo is best cooked rare or medium rare. Because of the low fat content it can turn out really tough if overcooked.
- 4 small kangaroo fillets
- 1 punet cherry tomatoes
- 4 handfuls of rocket
- 80g block of parmesan cheese
- ¾ cup balsamic vinegar
- ¼ cup red wine
- 4T Chimichurri Sauce
- 2 stalks fresh oregano
- Salt and pepper
- Preheat the oven to 200C
- Pat the room temp kangaroo fillets dry with paper towel then brush with olive oil. Season with cracked pepper.
- Heat a pan on the stove until it is smoking then add the fillets and cook on either side for 2-3 minutes until browned then remove from the heat, season with salt and allow to rest uncovered for 10 minutes before slicing into thin pieces
- For the balsamic reduction place ¾ cup balsamic vinegar and wine in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and let the liquid reduce to a thick syrup consistency then set aside
- Place the cherry tomatoes on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil. Bake in the oven for 10 mins until soft and bursting open
- On a large serving plate scatter the rocket. Arrange the meat slices and cherry tomatoes amongst the rocket. Drizzle the balsamic glaze over, concentrating it over the meat. Grate the parmesan over the salad and dot the Chimichurri sauce (recipe here) over the whole dish. Scatter the picked oregano.
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