You know you're in Australia when you see kangaroo on the menu. In fact, it's a popular dish on the menu right here at The Meat & Wine Co, where we serve it medium rare, with hot buttery potato, native bush spice, tomato chutney, and crispy onion rings.
Kangaroo meat was legalised for human consumption in South Australia in 1980. In New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria it could only be sold as pet food until 1993. Kangaroo was once limited in availability, although consumption in Australia is becoming more widespread.
In Australia, it is very common for restaurants and grills to serve this. In fact, many people do not think twice about this type of meat being served at restaurants.
gondii is known to cause significant morbidity and mortality in macropods. Increasing consumption of kangaroo meat has been identified as a potential new source of Toxoplasmosis infection for consumers, and as such may be a significant long-term health risk.
Ordinarily, it is illegal to kill, buy, sell or possess a kangaroo in Australia. However, in response to the growing kangaroo population, the Australian government permits licence holders to 'cull' or shoot kangaroos.
A permit is required to export protected animals, or the carcasses or eggs or specimens of protected animals, from a place within South Australia to another State or Territory of Australia. Under the Act it is an offence to export a protected animal without a permit.
What Does Kangaroo Taste Like? Kangaroo meat is uniquely lean with a rich and robust flavor, comparable to game. Foodies love it for its bold and earthy flavors whilst still being low in fat yet high in iron and zinc. It has a stronger flavor than beef or lamb and is similar in lean-ness to chicken or rabbit.
Toxoplasmosis and Salmonellosis — two bacterial infections affecting kangaroos and human health. The infections can spread to humans through the handling, processing or consumption of infected kangaroo meat.
Many people think kangaroos are farmed for their meat, but all the kangaroo meat on supermarket shelves and served up in restaurants comes from kangaroos harvested from wild populations. Four species are commonly harvested – red kangaroos, eastern and western grey kangaroos, and the common wallaroo.
Compared to beef, kangaroo contains double the amount of iron and triple that of chicken and pork. Eating wild meats such as kangaroo is also better for your health as you can be sure there are no added growth hormones, antibiotics or chemicals.
It was always eaten by aboriginal Australians, for whom the succulent tail, roasted in a pitful of embers, is a particular delicacy. The early European settlers ate kangaroo out of necessity, and many eventually came to enjoy a red meat that didn't really taste so different from venison, hare or beef.
However, Australia is not the only country to eat its national emblem (it may be the only one to do it in the plural though). The elk is consumed in Sweden; the brown bear in Finland; the camel in Saudi Arabia and the bull in Spain (where it is also taunted and killed in public, occasionally vice-versa).
K-ROO is produced by Australia s leading manufacturer of kangaroo meat, Macro Meats. Based in South Australia, we re a family-owned and operated business that have a long history of innovation and excellence and have been proudly supplying Australians with kangaroo meat for the past 30 years.
Koalas, like the platypus and echidna, are a protected native Australian animal, and harming or killing them could bring you a hefty fine or time in jail. So no, you can't eat koalas.
Tenderloin (fillet)
This is the premium cut of meat from a kangaroo and by far the most tender. Because of kangaroo's low fat content, it has a tendency to dry out if cooked for too long.
While kangaroo is more environmentally friendly than sheep or cattle, the long travel time from Australia to other countries ups the meat's carbon footprint. This long journey increases the cost of roo, making it much more expensive than meat farmed in Peru.
Kangaroos are not farmed. Every year the kangaroo industry slaughters millions of kangaroos and their joey's in the wild for their meat and skins. It is the largest land-based wildlife slaughter in the world.
Chicken meat most popular meat in Australian diet, new trends for other meats.
Thanks to our Aussie-first supplier policy, 100% of our fresh meat is proudly Australian grown. Our suppliers are some of Australia's best farmers, like the Thomas family, BE Campbells, the Bandari Food Group, Golden Cockerel and the Benders… just to name a few.
Kangaroo meat carries a naturally heavy parasite load — a single Western or Eastern Grey Kangaroo can be infected with up to 30,000 parasitic worms from up to 20 different nematode species, according to a summary report on the relevant research.
E-coli and Salmonella
Several studies show that the meat can be infected with relatively high numbers of E-coli, Salmonella and Toxoplasma gondii. The Australian kangaroo meat industry flouts the most basic hygiene rules, as research of the Food Standards Australia New Zealand shows.
Kangaroo meat is highly nutritious
With less than two per cent fat and being one of the highest protein sources in the meat section of the supermarket, kangaroo meat is one of the healthiest meat choices you can make.
Kangaroo meat can be served as more than just steaks. Purchase minced, as burgers or sausages. Throw it into a stir fry or create a healthy roast.
Giraffe. “Properly prepared, and cooked rare,” pens celebrity chef Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall, “giraffe's meat steak can be better than steak or venison. The meat has a natural sweetness that may not be to everybody's taste, but is certainly to mine when grilled over an open fire.”