Comments on: Elk Backstrap Recipe

By: Angry Brit

Angry Brit — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:50:30 +0000

I love game meat. The red wine sauce is awesome- I did something similar (sans juniper) a few years ago with ostrich. I’ve never had elk before, but I will keep an eye out for it.

By: White On Rice Couple

White On Rice Couple — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 22:48:10 +0000

Matt, you do amazing things things with meat! The addition of lard is truly decadent and I can only imagine the flavors. I’m also digging the use of juniper berries in game meat, an ingredient that we have in our pantry but don’t use enough of. Thanks for the wonderful recipe.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 06:29:27 +0000

I never know that elk is edible, well I guess any kind of meat is edible in a way. I know that in the Black Hills area, they serve buffalo burgers.

By: Robin at Caviar and Codfish

Robin at Caviar and Codfish — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:33:03 +0000

Hooray, lard!

And that was a sneaky trick to play, but one that I find almost always works well.

By: matt wright

matt wright — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 18:10:16 +0000

Heya everyone – thanks for the wonderful comments on my guest post here! To answer a few questions:
The taste of elk depends on a few things – what the elk has been eating (since it is wild, it has quite a choice), how old it is, how long it has been hung, and I am sure a few more. Elk tastes somewhat similar to venison, and a little beefy too. Apparently this one was shot in a grass field, so it tasted more like a grass fed beef – there was very little gamey taste to it.. I don’t have any idea how long it was hung.

The older the elk gets, the more prone it could be to toughness. This wasn’t a young spritely elk apparently, the meat wasn’t amazingly tender, but it was very flavorful.

I think I am going to try Danika’s mum with a rolled pork head next… Stay tuned!

By: bruleeblog

bruleeblog — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:52:56 +0000

June – elk is closer in taste to beef and venison than pork, so wild boar may not work in this case.

By: Giff

Giff — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:45:19 +0000

Love the story and the recipe, but then I always enjoy everything Matt creates. I didn’t know that about crushing the juniper berries — will have to try that next time to amp up the flavor. You also remind me that I need to get grapeseed oil. I remember reading Charlie Trotter’s cookbook at dozen years ago and that’s what he used for really high heat.

By: NYMY

NYMY — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:29:55 +0000

Never tried elk before, but great recipe and an interesting story. That’s what always happen, don’t tell and won’t know. My friend once ordered snake soup (yes, snake soup) for me in China, and I didn’t know. After tasting it, my friend told me it was snake, but of course, I thought it was just very tender chicken.

By: Jay

Jay — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:29:34 +0000

Referring to June Ong’s comment …

If I had “san che yok” (wild boar), I would be cooking curry instead. A bit heaty, but haven’t eaten “san che yok kah lei” since my secondary school years, and that’s like 20+ years already.

Neighbor used to hunt them and give us a few pieces. Good old days.

By: Eating365

Eating365 — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:28:21 +0000

Wow, I’ve never tried elk meat, in fact. The closest thing I had was probably venison. From the elk picture, it looks like the meat might be tough?