Watched Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern lsat night. The episode was shot in Namibia, and I found it notable for several reasons.


Those not familiar with Zimmern, he's a trained chef that travels the world to investigate the various cultures through some of their strangest culinary habits. In other words, Zimmern will eat all the nasty stuff.

I give him credit for a couple of things in this episode. He unashamedly went hunting and bagged a wildebeest. This is a big deal in that so often these types of shows are so PC that they would never show or insinuate hunting for fear of protests from the wackos.

Another thing that impressed me was in a traditional tribal village, he had no problem whipping out a knife and cutting a goats throat. Definitely not PC there.

Zimmern visited a traditional Himba village and filmed some of the daily activities and interacted with locals. It was funny to watch him squirm when the mother of his guide, all slathered in ochre laced fat, propositioned him to come and sleep with her! Later on, the village chief offered up his 16 year old daughter to him as a bride. Could you imagine? He politely declined.

That's a part of Africa that I've only read about, and will soon vanish into the history books. The old timers still around from east Africa grew up seeing this sort of thing and writing about it, but traditional living is going, going, and just about gone.

I give Zimmern a toast for not being afraid to show where protein comes from instead of making a Leftist political statement which is so easy to do on these shows. Check it out in re runs.

http://www.travelchannel.com/tv-shows/bizarre-foods/episodes/namibia

i like his show, he actually joins in on hunts pretty often....he knows where protien comes from and isnt scared to get his hands bloody

I've been to china many times and eaten many of the same things I saw him eating.

He has also gone boar hunting in Hawaii and bat hunting in Samoa.

I'm not sure if that was the same episode (as I only caught the tail end of the one I'm about to refer), but I recall an episode where he spent the day with the San Bushman. The way they prepared (lack there of) and cooked a wart hog was rather unappetizing.

I watch the show regularly but I haven't seen that one.

He's got a cast iron stomach, I'll give him that.

I think Bourdain was there with the Kalahari tribesman. They shot a warthog with a poisoned arrow and hacked it up and cooked it including the last 12" if it's poop pipe. He called it "the very special piece for the very special guest." He said it was the single worst thing he ever ate. Fun.

2 of the shows I actually enjoy when I get to watch television programs,

Yes, it was Anthony Bourdain.

Interesting enough, my last trip to Namibia I witnessed the indigenous folks feasting on Gemsbok anus. They pulled out roughly 18-20" and squeezed the poop out, and stuffed it with some concoction of rice or maize and roasted it on the fire.

They affectionately called it "puff adder" as it swells up when cooked, and resembles a fat snake. The "aroma" wafting off as it cooked and sputtered on the fire was absolutely nauseating.

I grew up with the puff adder and now you know an African redneck!

Thing is we cleaned it real good, flip it inside out and then stuff it with any combination of the heart, liver and kidneys. Add some onions and spices and you are good to go on a slow fire. Kidneys and the heart are not the best so later we just added liver. My local butcher has them on the shelf.

Also, remove the thin fat layer around the stomach and wrap a piece of liver in it. This helps keep the liver moist and the fat roasts crispy. These we call baby tortoises and taste great if you like liver.

Eating an anus? Nope, but I know a few who act like anusses.

Pieter

I had puff adder prepared by Philemon, Kevin Robertson's camp cook. Kevin was in camp for a couple days and the dish was made in his honour. I think it was stuffed in the colon and was as good as any sausage or haggis I have ever eaten. I am very fond of haggis as well.

I think our minds sometimes get in the way of eating some very good food. People forget that sausage has always been the domain of less desirable cuts from an animal.

Randy

I saw that show. It was very eye opening

I ain't eatin' no anus, ever, not even if it's attached to Christie Brinkley.

Evening Randy - thanks, thats the word I had trouble finding. Inside out and clean as a whistle it's really good casing.

JGRaider I can understand not wanting anything to do with Christie. After all, one guy stays away from another

Yeah, but you had to think a minute before you excluded that one!

I was talking about the books of Alexander Lake in another thread.

He seems to have hunted with a lot of clients who rather liked unusual foods and he discusses it in detail in his book 'African Adventures' where he gives a variety of recipes........ the most bizarre or which to me is this:

Smoked Hippo Hams:

To the fleshy side if a 120 pound hippo ham apply 4 tablespoons saltpetre & 1 1/2 pounds brown sugar, rubbing well into the hock. Now lay ham on it's side, fleshy side up, in a wooden tub or cask and cover with a 1 inch layer of good salt. Cover and set away for 6 weeks. Rub off salt and rub in black pepper. Hang up and let drain for 8 days. Smoke with any green wood for 10 weeks. Cool. Return to tub and cover with salt mixed with 1 ounce saltpetre. After 6 days put ham in strong brine to which has been added 2 ounces each of saffron, ginger, rosemary, cumin and 4 ounces of cloves. Soak in this brine for 7 weeks, hang up, drain well, rub with pepper and smoke again with green wood. Note: Rhino, wild pig and warthog hams cured according to the foregoing recipe are equally delicious.

That adds up to a preparation period of about 25 weeks plus the 2nd period of smoking that he doesn't stipulate the length of time........ All I can say is rather him than me!

Steve the above almost sounds like the rock soup recipe

Pieter

Ain't that the truth...... I'd have thought it'd be more likely to kill you than taste good!

That said, a Portuguese friend of mine tells me it's a bit similar to one of the ways they make some kind of special ham here.

I hate it when I get a craving for a nice lettuce, tomato and hippo ham sandwich and I have to wait more than a half a year to get it!

John

Steve I travelled to Namibia in January with a Spanish family on one of those we'll do it ourself deals. The old man brought some of that ham along and explained how they made it. A herd of hogs get chased around by a guy on horseback every day for about a year. Add a special diet these hogs become muscular and lean before being slaughtered. The hocks are hung in a cave and almost left to rot. The more rotton they are on the outside the better they are on the inside and the more expensive they are.

The real expensive ones cost more than caviar I believe.

The stuff he brought was not too bad actually.

Pieter

Certainly a lot of the special hams and snorkers (sausage) here are truly wonderful but that long a preparation period (esp in the African climate) would make me a tad concerned about eating it........ although I have to say, I'd prefer to eat a pork based product like that than I would a hippo based one....... I hate hippo at the best of times!

I wonder if they meant domestic hogs or domesticated javalina/wild boar?

Going slightly off topic for a moment, we get red deer and wild boar around the house here and I'm itching to whack a wild boar for Christmas.

No pictures no hunt Steve. Show us the money...

Mate the ones around the house are too quick for me to get a pic of but here's the one I hunted.

Bearing in mind the image theft that's going on, I reserve the copyright.





Portugal seems to be the best kept secret in the hunting world..... This was my first ever Iberian red deer but FWIW, it's no more than a good representative of the species. The area I hunted holds MANY larger trophies.

The animal was shot at 200 yards with an open sighted K98 Mauser in 8x57 and it was a few degrees off of a texas heart shot so in behind the ribs and out a couple of inches below the antler on the opposite side.

Very nice!

That is a pretty deer Steve. It reminds me a little of an elk.

'Fraid I've never seen an elk so can't comment however..... I enjoyed hunting that stag more than some of the buff hunts I've done.

I guess it's all about the quality of the people you're with, the stalk & the shot.

Good going there Steve. I would love to hunt one of those for myself one day.

A lot of truth spoken referring to the company you are with when hunting.

Pieter,

That area (Castelo Branco) is a hunter's paradise and game populations are fantastic (esp by 'non Africa' standards)...... it's only about a 1 hour drive from our home here but I like it so much we may well have another bout of house hunting in that area next year.

I thought that when I retired from the safari industry and left Africa, my (biggish) game hunting days were going to be over and I'd made up my mind that I'd shot my last 4 legged animal but it's just so good here, I couldn't resist it....... I guess it's a case of once a hunter, always a hunter.

I don't have any commercial interest but if anyone want to know the agent handling the hunting in the area, please send me a PM and I'll be happy to recommend them.