OddThinking

Favourite Animals

Everyone has their own favourite animal. There doesn’t have to be a reason behind it. It is not something that is weighed up rationally based on objective criteria. It just happens that you like one animal above all others.

For an old friend of mine, it was the moose. It just was, all right?

There aren’t many moose in Australia. We visited a zoo once, to see one, but there was a sign saying the moose was on holidays!

So, when I found myself working in Sweden, she was very jealous. I, on the other hand, decided that this was a perfect opportunity to sample moose meat, and to pass on my opinion.

Moose Availability

I asked my Swedish colleagues where to go to sample moose. They explained that moose hunting season would start in August and go into September. During that period, 100,000 moose would be culled (almost half of the population!) and moose meat would be prevalent. Most people would get their supply of this delicacy informally, from their mates who hunted, but restaurants would also serve it.

In fact, there was no need to go to any effort – the company cafeteria would have it on the menu.

Expectant Wait

I waited patiently. Hunting season started in August, but there was no sign of moose on the cafeteria menu. By the end of August, I was getting a bit antsy. By mid-September, I realised that the opportunity was slipping me by. I would have to go hunting myself – hunting for a restaurant that served moose.

In the center of Stockholm’s restaurant area, I searched the menus high and low, looking for älg, until I was like to drop. Finally, I found a restaurant that served moose, and went in.

Prices

If you want to eat in Sweden it is traditional to take a deep breath first… before you look at the prices. Paying double what you would pay in Australia is pretty much typical. This was a moderately high-end restaurant, which was always going to be pricey. However, this single course was equivalent to $AU50. In 1991 dollars, this was the most expensive single course I had ever bought.

However, I was committed now. What better way to sample a new meat, than expertly prepared in a quality restaurant? Taste extravaganza, here I come!

The Moose Experience

When the meal was brought out, I was a little taken aback. There, in the center of the plate was a small fillet of meat, surrounded by a couple of dabs of mashed potato. My $50 clearly wasn’t buying me much in the way of preparation or presentation.

Nonetheless, I tucked in. Here was my conclusion.

Moose meat tastes like beef.

Really quite like beef.

So much like beef, that I was convinced that I could hear the Swedish chefs giggling into their hands, as they peeped through the kitchen doorway at the idiot tourist who couldn’t tell the difference between a moose-meat delicacy, and a beef-steak that had been soaked in a unusual marinade overnight.

I left rather dejected and headed straight home, stopping only for a hamburger because I was still hungry after the most expensive meal I ever bought.

Coda

The following week, the company cafeteria was selling moose for lunch, just as my colleagues had promised. For $8, I tried it again, this time better appreciating the delicate, yet firm, gamey under-taste of well-prepared moose-meat slices.