Times Advocate, 1997-07-23, Page 14a low fat lect.meat alternative
By Heather Mir
T -A Reporter
FJURON COUNTY - At Ieast five restaurants along
Ontario's West Coast have started serving a home-grown
red meat alternative that's beginning to capture the interest
of many alternative farmers. -
Emu, a cousin of the ostrich; is a large flightless bird .:.
native to Australia. Emu meat is being served on the menu
of some of Huron County's-best"restaurants including
Bayfield's Little Inn and Red Pump as well as the Lakeview
Cafe in Grand Bend and the Benmiller Inn; near Goderich.
St. Joseph's Brentwood on the Beach also serves emu
.sausage to guests at breakfast: Owners Joan and Peter
Karsten are partners in an emu business named Vogel
Sanctuary (vogel is the German word for bird
reflecting Peter's heritage) and began raising ,.
'the ratites two years ago with Philip Knight at
his farm nearZurich.
• Why eat emu meat? - . -
Emu is a versatile red meat that can be'
served as a.steak or roast, processed into
sausages and patties'or smoked but
should not be overcooked. The meat has
. a taste similar to beef but is -low in fat
and cholesterol. It is a dense, finely
• textured meat that can be used in a -
wide range of international cuisines. .
Guests at Brentwood commented a small
amount of meat is very filling and the taste and
texture are pleasant. .
•
Lakeview Cafe. chef Greg Murray serves emu
sausage as a regular item on the lunch menu and
features -emu steak several times a week for dinner.
"It's been a success so far," he said, adding; he often
combines 4 oz of beef tenderloin medalions with -4 oz of
emu for. people to have:a taste.
Murraysuggestsgrilling both,thesaus,age and the
steaks arid using classic marinades such as red wine,
fresh herbs, garlic and a bit of Sugar for grilling
- steaks.
Jamie Stearns, head chef at the Little..Inn, also
features emu on the lunch menu in combination
• ..with -smoked vennison, wild boar and a$ed
cheddar cheese creating a coldmeat platter. ,He
agrees the lean meat'should not be cooked
longer than medium or medium_ rare. Stearns
poaches the sausage.
Bayfield Foodland meat manager Bob, •
Diebold says people are curious about the
frozen•emu steaks and sausage he stocks
but are uncertain how to prepare the
meat. He added the price, $8.99/1b for
sausage and $12.99/lb for steaks, can
be a deterrent. However, at three per
Centfat content, some local residents and cottagers are
trying it out. . .
"It's really low in cholesterol," he said, adding, "It's just -a
matter, of getting people to try it." .
About emu' -
Emus are similar inappearanceto the ostrich but only
grow to about two meters tall and weigh up to 50 kilograms.
They reachmaturity at two years and produce eggs that are:
dark green on the outside of the shell and white on the , -
inside,
The meat as well as theoil, hide and eggs are usable..
Many people carve designs in the shell of these -eggs -because
of their natural coloration. - - .
Emu oil is a traditional medicine used throughout -
• Australia by aboriginal tribes. It is said to have
therapeutic benefits and is used to temporarily -
ease joint pain. It is also used in soap, ' -
moisturiser, eye cream,-shatfoo,
massage oil,liniment and lip balm. The
oil has been found to contain unsaturated
fatty acids: • .
Emus are very inquisitive birds that-
• can't help being attracted to„anything
shiny. -•According to Peter,.they. arequite _
friendly aridarenot as aggressive as
ostriches.. The birds are relatively easy -to.raise
and require a draft -free, well -lit, well-.
ventilated building with bedding of straw,
wood chips or sand. 'Adultsusually adapt
well to -Ontario winters and do not require al
heatedbuildingbut chicks may need heat
depending on when they are hatched. -
Outdoors•emu runs should be as large as
space permits and a -minimum of five feet -
tall: -
Joan and ,Peter became interested in
fanning emu as somethingtooccupy their
time and supplement their bed and breakfast
income during: the off-season. They -began
With 40 chicks and this year hatched 150 eggs
With the help of Brenda and Walter Vermunt,
near Zurich, who incubated the eggs and .
raised the young chicks:
.The birds are housed indoors during the -
wiriter and are fed a cotnbihation of ratite feed
and corn screenings. In the summer, the larger
birds are kept outside in a large pen where
visitors are permitted to get up close and
personal with the ratites.
The average hen will produce between •
30 and 40 eggs during the breeding
period between the end of November
and the end of April: She lays an egg -
approximately every three days and
AIM AIM
AIM AIM ma
in the a.clutch would consist -of eight eggs incubated by
the male. Iniproductiori, the -eggs and gathered and
incubatedseparafely-wjth each pair usually producing 20=30
offspring. Emu eggs take the longest of any bird to incubate
at -52 days.
A proven breeding pair costs between=$1,500 and $2;000
• but some range as high as_$5,000 to $1o,000.. - . -
Approximately seven Huron Countyfarmers are raising -
emu and Joan, Peter arid Philip Knight are currently
supplying meat to the Bayfield-Foodland grocery -store. •
They also -sell patties, sausages and_ steaks to Brentwood -
guests to take home. -Metzger's Meat in Hensall_processes all
their emu and Veal's Meat Market near Exeter also prepares
the meat for local. producers.
Gerry and Lionel Wilder have been raising emu •since
1989. They were the first to farm emu in Canada and now -
have morethan 500 -birds: Gerry explained the industry his
only recently been, able to market a consistent product. due --
the construction of a $2 million emu processing facilityin St:
Anne in the Niagara region and changes in legislation
governing where.red meat and-poultry'could be processed.
- Raising interest -in emu is the jointeffort of Huron County
restaurants; grocery stores, abattoirs and producers.. • .
Although the Wilders'also raise some ostrich, they -
concentrate on emu because they have abetter survival rate
-and allow'a more intense operation.
Joan and Peter Karsten; partners with Philip Knight in an
emu business near Zurich, are. pictured with some of their
feathered flock. Emu is how featured by several of Huron -
County's best restaurants:
EW
LASER
COLOUR
COPIES
•
Sized onto 8-1 /2x11”
Cost $2.00 each
: $1.00 each (additional of same copy
rk,
1
1
1
1
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II
424 Main St. Exeter
(519) 235-1331
•
•
Second largest living bird.
. • Can run ;up to50km/h
Lays 20 to. 50 eggs a season
• Eggs are about 75 centimetres long and weigh
about 0.7 kilograms f
-
•, Native to Australia
• Defends itself by kicking
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