If you know where to look, certain Phoenix butchers have more unique offerings than your typical steaks, pork chops, and chicken. Whether it’s wild game from across the U.S. or exotic meats from around the world, there are certainly opportunities for adventurous eaters to make a show-stopping potluck dish or challenge their cooking skills. Here are five unique meats to try.
Porchetta di Testa
Available at: Underbelly Meat Co.$20.00 per pound Described by Underbelly Meat Co. owner Dustin Dahlin as “face Bologna,” Porchetta Di Testa is a great introduction to unique meats. Rather than a cut of meat from an exotic animal, it is a unique preparation and cut of pork. The cut consists of the desirable meat from the entire face of the pig, particularly the cheeks and joules, which is cured and seasoned generously with herbs and citrus. The meat is then rolled tightly and vacuum sealed, and usually cooked sous vide. After cooking, the cut is soft and fatty, but it should then be refrigerated for about 48 hours to allow for better flavor development and for the meat to firm up. It then becomes similar to deli meat and is best served sliced thinly as part of a delicious sandwich. This cut embodies the ideas of true nose-to-tail butchery and zero-waste harvesting, creating delicious and unique meat with what some would consider scraps.
Elk New York Strip
Available at: Hobe Meats, Off The Hook Meat Shop, Lil’ Town Butcher$39.99 per pound One of the most sought-after large game animals in the western U.S., the elk is a massive creature, known not only for its majestic visage and large antlers but also for its lean, mild-flavored meat. Depending on the supplier, elk can be harvested from the wild or farmed. The majority of farmed elk come from New Zealand and are a hybrid between the native Red Deer and the American Elk. American Elk hold great cultural importance to many native peoples and are a highly valued animal for sustenance hunters to this day due to their large amount of usable meat and other resources.
As elk is a red meat, it is often compared to beef when it comes to taste, but with a notably sweet flavor. It also contains significantly less fat than beef, and a diverse array of vitamins and minerals such as zinc and B12 according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. An elk New York strip cut comes from their long, flat loin muscles, also called their back strap. The low fat content of the meat and the relative toughness of game, as opposed to traditional beef, requires special care to mitigate, with a cut like the New York strip best after marinating overnight and cooked for a short duration on high heat. It can then be served medium rare, as you would a normal steak, for a delicious centerpiece perfect for adventurous eaters.
Ostrich Steak
Available at: Hobe Meats, Off The Hook Meat Shop, Lil’ Town Butcher $49.99 per pound The Ostrich is an animal near and dear to the heart of Phoenix, as evidenced by the popularity of the local attraction Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch and our yearly Ostrich Festival held in Chandler. However, the giant birds are also becoming more popular internationally as farm animals due to the profitability of selling their meat, leather, feathers and eggs. They have been farmed in the U.S. for over 100 years, meaning almost all of the commercially available ostrich meat is farmed.
Though they are the world’s largest flightless birds, they taste nothing like other fowl. The meat is often compared to high-quality beef and other red meats, but it contains significantly less fat than beef and even less than the aforementioned elk meat. It also contains more significant amounts of iron, magnesium and potassium than beef, according to the USDA.
Ostrich steak cuts are largely from the thighs rather than the breast, and cooking methods differ wildly. Some recipes recommend treating the meat just like lean beef, quickly searing it and serving it medium-rare or rare, while others recommend treating it more like wild game, pairing it with a sauce and marinating it to tenderize while still serving medium-rare or rare. Either way, the meat is lean and should be treated as such to avoid drying it out. When cooked, it has a unique savory or nutty flavor that is unlike any other meat and certainly worth trying.
Jalapeño Rabbit Python Sausage is sold at Valley butchers Hobe Meats and Off The Hook Meat Shop.
Kenneth Quayle
Jalapeno Rabbit Python Sausage
Available at: Hobe Meats, Off The Hook Meat Shop $19.99 per pound This pairing of meats in a sausage is almost comical, as a very lucky python could also be thought of as a rabbit sausage. But the mixture is a carefully balanced filling for traditional sausage casing. Python is known for being somewhat chewy and tough while tasting, as many things do, like chicken. It has more flavor than our native rattlesnakes, which are also edible but significantly harder to find commercially. This flavor, or relative lack thereof, is well countered by the inclusion of rabbit's richer, gamier flavor that lends a unique decadence to the sausage. The inclusion of jalapeño peppers both heightens and cuts through the meat's flavor and adds a kick of spice.
Both of these animals have been eaten in their native ranges for centuries, but the python in particular comes with a new ethical benefit: abundance. They have become a prevalent and destructive invasive species in the southern U.S., so adding them to the dinner table in American households is a great way to drive up demand and remove the snakes from already fragile ecosystems. This combination of rabbit and python is quite lean, meaning these sausages are a good, low-fat choice. The python meat also adds collagen and amino acids to the mixture, while the rabbit adds B12 and niacin. Cooking methods are essentially the same as a normal sausage, but consideration should be taken with cooking time to ensure the meat doesn’t dry out. Serve them on a bun for a great way to spice up a backyard cookout and expand your guest’s palate.
Kangaroo Tenderloin
Available at: Hobe Meats, Rusty Nail Meats, Lil’ Town Butcher $45.99 per pound If sustainability is a concern when buying your meat, look no further than kangaroo tenderloin. These animals were once an important food source for native Aboriginal peoples in Australia, and have now become one of the most carefully and successfully regulated wild-harvested animals in the world. They are entirely free-range and their harvest is carefully monitored to ensure sustainability and carefully monitor populations. They are also significantly less environmentally impactful than most farmed animals, producing far less methane than cows and having negligible impacts on their habitat’s vegetation when compared to other grazing animals.
The tenderloin cut on kangaroos comes from the back, just above the tail, and is similar in size to a pork tenderloin. The meat is notably rich in iron, zinc and omega-3s, while being on the leaner side. It should be seared on a very hot pan, and cooked to either rare or medium-rare to make sure it does not dry out or become tough. Once cooked, it should be served as any other steak would. The meat’s truly unique quality comes with its bold and earthy flavor, notably much stronger than beef or lamb. While it is certainly a very unusual meat to cook, it is well worth it as a special treat.
