Tastiest gamebirds

[Dimitri]

What are the top 3 gamebird species when it comes to the quality of their meat?

The system only allows me to list 10 options so I have not listed specific sub-species except in the case of geese.

Please indicate your "top 3".

[Carlc]

In die orde wat ek dit die meeste geniet.
Kwartels
Fisante
Patryse

[finch]

Ek kan wel vir jou se die volgende twee wil my honde nie eers aan raak nie:

1) Hadeda

en

2) Stad bosduif (staan ook bekend as rotte met vlerke)

[BeesBreet]

Duck


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[Geno]

Sandgrouse

[andre007]

Jy moet kaar n sterk maag vir Wildemakou hê

[THOMAST]

Jy moet kaar n sterk maag vir Wildemakou hê

En kakebeen!

[Lategan1]

Nee nou k...e..been julle op hierdie topic.



Beste.

[toelie]

Netso ja..

[Dimitri]

Of all the gamebirds, quail is my favourite. So tender and tasty. The only problem is getting enough of them to make a meal that feeds 5 people.

The best gamebird meat that I have ever tasted is snipe. But it was a once-off. In May 1994 my late dad and I were wingshooting in Nigel, Gauteng. My dad noticed flock upon flock of snipe flying past. Each flock consisted of about 10-40 birds and the flocks were passing continuously for about 2 hours after which no more flocks came by. A few thousand birds must have flown by during those 2 hours. By chance we must have been on a flightline of the snipe migrating to north Africa and Europe. Although I occasionally flush pairs of snipe near water while wingshooting I have never seen the phenomenon of the migrating snipe flocks since then. Those birds that my dad and I shot that day were like fat little chickens. They had a thick layer of fat under the skin and when we removed the intestines, our hands were all oily and shiny from the large quantity of fat that came out together with the intestines and giblets. The fat was pleasant when cooked and had no foul smell like the fat of gypos. They were succulent, tender and delicious. By far the best gamebirds I have ever tasted. I shot a couple of resident snipe later that year and the next but all the fat was gone and the birds were tough and nothing special to eat. I later read an article about declining snipe numbers due to habitat loss and pollution so I stopped shooting them from the mid-1990s.

I have also largely stopped shooting ducks and geese as well. Ducks that have been feeding on harvested grain fields - and prepared using the orange & brandy recipe I posted - are delicious. Those that have been feeding in and around the water are OK, but nothing like the "grain-fed" ones. However, around 15 years ago I got an email from SA Wingshooters in which they advised members not to eat waterfowl shot in Gauteng due to the high levels of pollution in our dams and river systems. I think that is more or less the time when all those crocs died in the Kruger Park - also due to pollution entering the river system and building up in the fat and meat of the crocs. Fish were dying every so often at Borakalalo (Klipvoor) Dam in NW due to pollution and the Vaal river became famous for high levels of raw sewerage. There are probably a hundred other examples of pollution including leaching from mines. The result was that it put me off shooting ducks and geese because I wasn't sure what contaminants might be present in the meat that I ate. If the farmer specifically asks me to shoot geese then I will and the farm labourers greatly appreciate it.

[Krobb]

Dag Dimitri
Ek het net ondervinding van tarentaal en bosveldfisant.
As ek tarentale skiet is dit gewoonlik in mielie en sonneblom lande. Dus is die voëls gewoonlik in n goeie kondisie. Ek haal ook die binnegoed so gou as moontliklik uit soos jy verwys in jou post oor die sherry gereg. Ek kies dan die jong tarentale uit, die met die grys koppe wat die vorige jaar aangekom het en die res gaan na die plaaswerkers. Ek trek dan die velle af en spoel baie goed onder water af en verwyder alle stukke bloed en binnegoed wat met die eerste sessie agtergebly het. Ook die longe teen die rug. Die agterpunt van n teelepel werk goed hiervoor. Ek gooi dan n bietjie biltong spice in die borsholte en vryf die karkas ook met n bietjie in en hang oornag. Daar is dan die volgende dag geen slegte reuk meer wat deur die stukkende binnegoed veroorsaak is nie.
Kook dan kerrietarentaal met aartapels en wortels tot die vleis net net van die bene begin afkom.

[Dimitri]

Ek kies dan die jong tarentale uit, die met die grys koppe wat die vorige jaar aangekom het

Hi Krobb.

Daardie jong tarentale is vir my ook baie lekker. Dis hoekom tarentaal in my Top 3 is.

If I shoot some young ones early in the season then I simply fry them in butter and olive together with the giblets. Add some garlic, squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkle of oregano, salt and black pepper and you have a delicious meal. I remove the birds - but leave the giblets in the pan - in which I fry up one small finely chopped onion until golden brown. I add a chicken cube and a cup of boiling water and let it simmer for five minutes. Thicken with some bisto / maizena and you have a nice gravy to go with the birds. My wife and kids love it.

But the older birds are a whole different story. I still enjoy the meat but the cooking process takes at least 3-4 hours.

[Malan123]

Min dinge wat loop soos 'n tarrentaal pie wat reg gemaak is! Ek meng gewoonlik 2 tarentale saam met 1 hoender.

[Methos]

Try this one with any bird. Will work great for Kolganse where the meat is rather dry and tough.

viewtopic.php?f=181&t=74988

Dmitri - Is a snipe a woodcock?

[jdpretorius]

Nee black-sam julle het my nou honger en lus vir voël jag

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[Dimitri]

Dmitri - Is a snipe a woodcock?

Methos they are the same family. In Europe you get both snipe and woodcock. In SA we only get snipe.

[Dimitri]

Interesting piece on the Eurasian Woodcock, which I assume you might have there in France.

Make sure you have a witness if you hunt them because:

Anyone shooting a witnessed 'right and left'—in which two woodcock are killed with consecutive shots from a shotgun, without the gun being lowered or reloaded—can be admitted to the Shooting Times Woodcock Club.[19]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_woodcock

[joe rocket]

The Famous Grouse is a very tasty bird. Very easy to prepare. You just gooi it in a glass with ice...and swallow.

[Dimitri]

The Famous Grouse is a very tasty bird. Very easy to prepare. You just gooi it in a glass with ice...and swallow.

Yes, once you have it you just gooi it in a glass with ice. But it's getting hold of it in the first place that is difficult. Those grouse are famous for being fast. Like a ... joh ... rocket!

[jdpretorius]

Snipe vs Woodcock
"Woodcocks didn't receive necks; their heads sit atop the body," the website explains. Also, the website says, snipes have smaller heads, smaller eyes, slender bodies and longer beaks. Woodcocks are stockier, with rounded wings in flight.