11 December 2007

Eating my words - Ostrich steak

Several weeks back I did a couple of posts on Ostriches, which elicited a number of comments on the taste of Ostrich meat. In the second post I made the brash statement, "So, if it is a toss up between lean, cholesterol free Ostrich meat and a fatty lamb chop there is no contest – I’ll take my chances with cholesterol".

Mmmmm.....my bluff was called 12 days later when I ended up in hospital as a result of heart attack, caused by clogged arteries, which could have been avoided with a healthier diet.

One of the features of Greenacres Hospital is that you get to choose what you want to eat, from a very wide menu, which includes fish, beef, lamb, chicken and ostrich. Every morning someone comes around and you get to choose your next three meals. Feeling very brave one day I decided to have an Ostrich steak for supper. After all it is considered heart friendly and after my earlier comments I decided to keep an open mind.

The verdict - the vegetables were nice.

Where do I start? The presentation was impeccable. There was a cube of Ostrich steak on my plate, a la nouvelle cuisine. That's where it ended. For starters it was not easy to cut and then when I put a piece in my mouth it had the consistency of an amalgam of leather and rubber. Taste-wise it was akin to bad beef with a bouquet of chicken pooh. As I said the vegetables were nice.

I am not sure that I will try it again. After that experience I stuck to the fish. And by the way I never once ordered the lamb.

As for my brash comment, anything fatty I now consider "toxic waste" and it will not pass my lips.

6 comments:

dot said...

Maybe the hospital cooks just didn't know how to cook it. LOL

Anonymous said...

LOL. That is exactly how I would expect ostrich to be...all tough and leathery. Perhaps they should have marinated it for a while. Then again hospital food is usually a pretty bland affair.

LiD

photowannabe said...

Me thinks that it wasn't cooked properly. I have had it and it was tender, and had a wonderful taste. Try it again when its not Hospital food....that never tastes good.

myonlyphoto said...

Max, I still think of ostrich like a pet, so I don't know if I would want to try to eat it, lol. And never big fan of hospital food. Hope all is welll with you, I can see the progress, Anna :)

Anonymous said...

Hey Max. It is a pity they did it wrong. Ostrich Must be done medium and nothing else. If you do it anything more than medium it gets tough. If you ever go to Oudtshoorn again go and try an ostrich steak at The Oude Meul Guest Farm's restaurant. They are halfway between the town and the Cango Caves. I used to stay there with tourists all the time and never had a bad ostrich steak. Although their Karoo Lamb Chops are super as well.

Neva said...

OK I am not sure I would try ostrich meat again....a valiant effort but not for me! I hope you are recuperating and feeling very well.....love your blog!