What Does Elephant Meat Taste Like? Is It Even Legal To Eat?
Apart from the usual beef, chicken, and pork, there is a world of other animals, with their uniquely flavored meats. This article will discuss what elephant meat tastes like for those who have wondered but never tried it. Before starting, however, it must be noted that eating elephant meat is illegal in most parts of the world and, therefore, is not recommended.
The taste of elephant meat
From the few who have tasted elephant meat, the flavor is described as being very gamey with a strong red meat taste. It is considered to taste similar to venison. Generally, onions and garlic are used to mask some of the strong flavor.
How do we know what elephant tastes like
Generally, it is almost impossible to eat elephant meat as it is not available in supermarket stores or online. However, man has eaten elephant meat for centuries, especially in Africa.
This is because elephants used to be hunted specifically for the ivory trade. Often, after ivory hunts, the hunting party would cook and eat the meat. This form of wild animal meat is called bushmeat and includes other wild creatures as well, such as hippopotamus meat.
In some parts of the continent, African elephants are still hunted to this day, albeit illegally. In many countries, killing elephants is banned, however, poachers still take the risk for the ivory. During this process, in order to supplement incomes, other edible parts of the elephant are also harvested, leading to their eventual sale in small markets in rural villages. This practice occurs notably in Central Africa.
Thanks to these sources, quite a few people know what an elephant tastes like.
Why does elephant taste like venison
A few factors help explain why elephants taste like venison. Firstly, it is worth noting that venison is the meat of deer which are wild herbivores that get a fair bit of exercise, unlike their domestic counterparts. Elephants are also wild animals that consume similar food and get a fair bit of exercise.
However, there are still a few crucial differences to note between the taste of elephants and the taste of deer. Unlike venison, elephant meat has a more robust flavor because elephants consume different species of grasses than deer. Those who have eaten it say that elephants taste even gamier than deer. This is due to the fact that elephants do not run as much as deer and, hence, get comparatively less exercise.
Due to this, to cook elephant meat, there is a strong emphasis placed on additional ingredients to help mask some of the gamey elephant taste. Cayenne pepper, some sort of sauce, or flavor, plus vegetables may all be cooked together with the elephant meat in order to combat some of the flavor contained within its natural fat.
This fact also makes elephant meat much more of an acquired taste than other game. It certainly does not compare in taste to beef, lamb, and other red meats that humans have grown accustomed to as a source of delicious food.
Why is eating elephant illegal
One of the main reasons that it is so challenging to use elephants as a source of protein is simply down to the laws surrounding the animal. In many parts of the world, elephants are a protected species. In their natural habitats, in Africa and Asia, these animals are endangered thanks to a series of issues they face.
Firstly, there is the fact that their habitat has reduced significantly in the past centuries due to human expansion and encroachment which has led to elephant numbers dwindling in the wild.
Moreover, the ivory trade has also decimated elephant populations and led to hundreds of thousands of these beautiful creatures being killed over the years so that their tusks could be turned into ornaments and pseudo-medicine.
These factors have led to a large decrease in the number of elephants present throughout the world. Moreover, these creatures have become extinct in some parts of the world where they once roamed.
Lastly, it is also worth noting that elephants are not farmed and cannot be due to the long time needed for them to reproduce. Moreover, wild elephants are more valuable as tourist attractions than they are as meat. For these reasons, it is not possible to eat this animal legally. It is not recommended either, considering that alternatives like beef, chicken, and lamb taste much better and are more economical.
Final Verdict
It can be noted that elephants, as majestic and incredible as they are, do not make for good food as they are not particularly tasty when cooked. This is because they taste like extremely gamy deer, making their meat unpalatable to most people.
Additionally, even if someone were able to make an edible dish out of elephant meat, that would only be done by using lots of other ingredients to mask the meat itself.
Lastly, the stringent laws making the consumption of elephants illegal also pose a severe challenge to anyone wishing to consume this meat. At worst, you could be looking at a huge fine or even potential jail time for trying a steak that was not even particularly good tasting.
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