Ocean shores for a water convention? Don’t they know that the Pacific is one giant salt water bathtub?
Does your wife get to come along too and enjoy the saltwater breeze?
I seriously have no idea why they hold this convention here. It couldn’t possibly be in a more inconvenient place for most of the state. But it is a nice place to hang out especially in the off season. Got a nice hotel room for only 59 a night close to the beach which doesn’t matter since you can drive right out on it.
No unfortunately the wife had to work. So I am solo, couldn’t even bring Pepper.
I wonder if my father in law is there. He works for Silverdale Water district.
You are certainly a man for all season(ing)s.
If you can’t get roo or emu, try the veal. Apologies it just rolled off the tongue there.
Camel steaks are also a regional Aussie food to source. (And there’s a railway backstory to that too.)
Oh I have seen a video of railways and camel, kind of like winter on Alaska RR and moose too stubborn to run sideways off the tracks. AKRR has a crew to harvest them and a list of people that will take some when that happens
So true Pete.
They seem to like straight lines. The cameleers in Australia used to say if you weren’t on the first camel, the scenery never changed.
Ironically, Australia’s wild herd are mostly exported to Saudi Arabia for food and racing. It tastes like a mix of beef and lamb.
I got a craving for camel steak after the last post so visited our local purveyor of game meat only to find out most of camel is being exported by his head office to Malaysia, so there’s a 2+ week wait. So I’ve picked up an emu steak or 2.
The advice is season with your favourite game spice, very hot pan, cook to medium rare and really let it rest.
We find it interesting that in the USA, fried chicken joints offer light or dark meat. Here in Australia, chicken is often jokingly described as vegetarian food.
Here is what emu fan fillet looks like…
I can’t wait to try it. Visiting the farm was interesting. It’s mating season and the males were making a grunting sound and the females a very cool sounding drumming noise. Neither were loud and was actually quite soothing to listen too.
The meat looks great. The gave me 3 steaks of different types. And then some tips to cook it and they were much the same as what you just said. #1 was DO NOT over cook it or you will have leather. He said you have to eat it as rare as you can stand it.
Devon,
I bought 2. I’m going to do one Sous Vide, and the other in a pan.
Do you have a sous vide stick? If you don’t, get one. It is the LSC“ pin nailer” equivalent for low and slow cooking game or tough meats. Once you have one you’ll ask yourself “how did I ever get by as the LSC celebrity chef without one? “ 
Sous Vide Emu Forum. has a discussion by Aussies on cooking.
For those of you who don’t have the luxury of a full size GP30 to tenderise your meat, here’s a brief history of how it works…
Sous vide cooking, meaning “under vacuum” in French, has a rich history dating back to the 18th century when Sir Benjamin Thompson, a physicist, discovered that food cooked in a vacuum-sealed container retained more moisture and flavor. However, it wasn’t until the mid-20th century that sous vide gained traction, primarily in industrial food production. French chef Georges Pralus further popularized the technique in the 1970s by using it to cook foie gras.
The science behind sous vide revolves around precise temperature control. Food is vacuum-sealed in a plastic bag and cooked in a water bath at a consistent temperature, typically lower than traditional methods. This gentle, even heat distribution ensures that the food cooks evenly from edge to edge, resulting in tender, flavorful dishes with minimal moisture loss. The temperature is hot enough to break down the collagen but not the muscle fibres per se.
The method’s popularity surged in the late 20th century with the advent of affordable immersion circulators, which made sous vide accessible to home cooks. Sous vide has been embraced for its ability to achieve precise results with meats, fish, vegetables, and even desserts.
The controlled environment minimizes the risk of overcooking, resulting in juicier, more tender meats. Additionally, the sealed bags preserve nutrients and flavors that might otherwise be lost through traditional cooking methods.
Sous vide cooking continues to evolve, with people experimenting with different techniques, ingredients, and flavor profiles. It’s also the reason why your steakhouse restaurants steak tends to reach the table faster juicier and more tender than your child hood memory. You may have also wondered how everyone got a perfect soft boiled egg at a dining room at exactly at the same time…. Sous vide.
It’s so effective that its use in BBQ completions have been outlawed. It’s cut my smoker time for brisket from 12-18 hours to 2.5 with better more consistent results. Meathead Golwyn has a neat little BBQ sous vide discussion on his website too.
Oh, and you don’t have to have a fancy vacuum sealer. Freezer bags will work. I can detail that if anyone’s interested.
While not familiar with it by that name I am familiar with the concept. One thing I have heard from many local hunters is that wild turkey isn’t fit to eat. Mainly due to being tough and lacking any fat. But a friend told me to cook it in an oven bag with lots of onions in the bag. Slow “pressure” cooking with controlled heat and moisture. . . Sounds like a candidate for the instapot but in slow press cooking mode.
I have a vacuum sealer, and digital cooking thermometers. This sounds doable.
Devon, this may be quite up your alley.
Imagine you can be cooking a steak sous vide, accidentally get delayed in getting dinner ready by 2 hours, and still have a perfect medium rare (+) steak.
You may find cheaper tougher tastier steaks will be your preference as they will be as easy to cut and less chewy because of sous vide tenderises without over cooking.
DIY sous vide machine.
Bill,
I am very excited to try something new. Tomorrow I plan to make as close to an authentic Australian meal as a main land American can.
I have no doubt it will be awesome
Yipes!
I guess I better pull my finger out!
Just remember there must be a reason why we don’t see this meat in the grocery store… it’s authentic Australian feral meal we will be making.
Let’s hope it tastes better than the skewers! 
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So emu was not a disappointment. I didn’t make a full blown tradional Oz meal. But I have plenty more for that. But just a hot pan, some coconut oil, and a host of savory fresh spices and seared until brown on each side but nearly raw in the center. I don’t eat meat rare or even medium rare. But I decided to listen to those in the know and made mine medium rare.
Delicious. Different than any bird I have ever eaten. But outstanding
Devon,
You are going to be amazed if you go down the “sous vide” pathway and start cooking to a lower doneness. Juicy, cut with a butter knife, tenderness.
If you have concerns about killing bacteria in the meat there are readily available SousVide Cooking Charts published.
I take it you haven’t put a blue steak or steak tartare on the to do list… yet?
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It has little to do with fear of consuming pathogens. It is purely a mind over matter thing. Will I do not eat meat raw or rare I don’t eat it well done either. I tend to eat everything, but fowl, medium to maybe medium rare. I like it red but not raw looking. Like I said I fully understand its mind over matter issue with me. But I also don’t shy away from meat that is more rare than I would prefer. I will eat it anyway. So its not a huge hang up as much as a preference.
But the emu needed to be on the rare side. The outer meat that was seared was much tougher than the almost raw meat in the center. I cooked it pretty rare.
Devon,
What’s your verdict?
Apparently the Ministry for Native Tucker has been following this thread, so reached out to the LargeScale Centralian Ambassador who asked a “friend of a friend” to forward you a quick survey.
Nice survey. Brings up one of my bucket list foods. Walrus. The Icelanders (i think) bury it in the ground and let it ferment. Kinda sounds disgustingly fun.
I bet balut gets under this! I’ll hold fire on my wildest menu experience, however, as this is about “cooking” not “consuming” fun foods!
Eric