We grew up with Skippy on t.v. With a deft nudge of his nose and a twitch and “What’s that Skip?” he’d be able to tell you that Mrs Brown’s daughter was stuck in the river over the hill, 5.3 km away and needed help, possibly with the truck and you should definitely go now.
We used to go to nature parks and giggle at the kangaroos hopping around. These days the closest I come to a Kangaroo is in Coles.
To be honest, for a lass who only used to eat the things that were white there’s not a lot I won’t eat these days. In fact, I’ll consume anything. Anything that is except Vegemite. It’s the first thing that The Hungry One and I bonded over. A mutual disgust for the black paste.
So to make up for the fact that I refuse to eat one Australian icon, I’m making up for it by heartily indulging in another.
These days we eat Kangaroo more than we eat lamb. And not just because it’s cheaper. It’s got less than 2% fat, and it’s a good source of protein and iron.
I just try not to think about Skippy too much.
* We have a waiver here. Some of our best friends are better people than we are. They’ve recently become Veg Aquarians ( eating only vegetables and sustainable fish products out of concern for the environment. And even they’ll eat Kangaroo. Because of increases in in kangaroo numbers it has become necessary to harvest 10% – 15% of the population yearly to prevent economic and environmental damage.*
So that helps.
And the fact that it tastes really great.
One of my favourite Kangaroo recipes:
Seared Kangaroo fillet with Beetroot relish and salad of rocket, roasted red onion, toasted pine nuts and Persian Fetta.
Marinate 2 150 g fillets of Kangaroo in a splash of balsamic, some olive oil, a teaspoon of seeded mustard, a crushed garlic clove, some fresh thyme and a splash of maple syrup.
Turn on the oven and roast 2 red onions cut into eighths with a splash of olive oil and some salt and pepper for about 30 minutes.
Take two or three beetroot and cut off the leafy bits that form the stems. Don’t cut too close to actual beetroot or else the colour will leach everywhere when you cook them.
Simmer the beetroots in salted water for about 30 minutes or until a skewer goes through to the other side easily.
Transfer them to the sink. Put on some rubber gloves and something that isn’t white/ pale pink/ precious. The skins should just slip off.
Get someone nice to turn on the barbeque so it’s nice and hot.
Take the onions out of the oven.
Toast a handful of pine nuts in a fry pan. Don’t let them burn.
Transfer the beetroots, half a handful of toasted pine nuts, a tablespoon of Persian fetta, a teaspoon of thyme, a splash of balsamic and olive oil into a blender and blitz until you’ve got a smoothish paste.
Get someone nice ( The Hungry One is very good at this) to quickly cook the Kangaroo. You want to sear it on the grills at a very hot heat for about a minute and a half each side and then let it rest for five minutes. Because it’s so lean don’t even think about cooking Kangaroo beyond medium rare, because it will taste like a boot. And a cheap one at that.
Make a quick salad out of the rocket, onions, the left over pine nuts, flake through some Persian fetta and dress the salad with a bit of balsamic.
Serve the kangaroo sliced and fanned on a plate on top of the beetroot relish.
Eat on the balcony and enjoy with a glass of pinot.
