Alpaca

moikel · May 14, 2012

Just got in the door after dropping in on the farm on the way back from coast. I now have 5kg neck noisettes,6x shanks,burgers & 2 x of shoulder.

Farmer tried to give me more but I didnt think it was fair. But you gotta love the barter economy. Restaurants take all the liver,heart,kidney. Great little operation but the ones they were ear tagging & weighing were pretty ornery & spitters! Came from out west hadnt been handled much.

Big females going 105kg ,plenty of meat maybe 60-65kg dressed.

Now what to cook?

. Shanks in Calabrian style if Calabrians had Alpacas.?

I have some photos on phone but cant find plug in for transfer.

chef jimmyj · May 14, 2012

Dude I am soo Jealous! That Alpaca sounds Great...JJ

moikel · May 14, 2012

430pm here. 6x shanks = 2kg. I wont do them now by the time they defrost its to little time. Will try for tomorrow.Might do them in MES over alder then finish them in sauce.Tomato based,root veg ,wine you know the deal..

I asked for the neck noisettes I think they scream osso buco or done like oxtail.Lets face it Alpaca have long necks.

The farmer is a guy who made his $ in his own big city business sold up at the right time,retired got bored got into Alpaca farming.

He is obviously very switched on he doesn't miss suits & ties one little bit

, he has a lovely bit of country to live on,younger employees to do the heavy lifting he just gets out & promotes it as a meat. He & real good chef from the Hungry Duck in Berry run cooking demonstrations to get chefs up to speed on it.He has a curing room so he is doing prosciutto & pastrami as well.He has sunk a lot of $ into it & its starting to move up the charts a bit. I can see a lot of him in my future.

usineess

moikel · May 14, 2012

Chef JJ BTW if you have any suggestions on what to do with other cuts just stick them in here.

I am thinking a tagine with dried figs, maybe a hunters style dish with red wine & bitter chocolate like the Northern Italians do hare.As long as its low,slow & wet I can just put it in MES.

fatback · May 14, 2012

I thought Alpaca were too valuable to eat! There aren't that many here in the states, and my limited exposure to them made me think they were prized for their wool -- warmer than sheeps wool, but softer than angora.

Who knew.

thoseguys26 · May 14, 2012

I'd love to try that.

smokinhusker · May 14, 2012

Sounds interesting as usual and can't wait for what you decide!

moikel · May 14, 2012

fatback said:
I thought Alpaca were too valuable to eat! There aren't that many here in the states, and my limited exposure to them made me think they were prized for their wool -- warmer than sheeps wool, but softer than angora.

Who knew.

It was all about the wool to begin with but fleece quality declines after year 3. Lot of small holders,hobby farmers got into them here. They have become a meat item in last few years. The guy I met has 600 I think , he is doing about 10 a week for restaurants.You can even get an Alpaca burger at the local pub!

moikel · May 14, 2012

Marinate overnight in red wine,garlic,cbp,bay leaf. Slices of pancetta on top into MES at 100c for 2 hours.

I will finish them in sauce in oven tonight.

moikel · May 14, 2012

So far so good,but man these Alpaca's are lean.I figure in the sauce then in oven for 2 hours will get it done.Put it in fridge until tonight then will skim fat from pancetta drippings top it up with some stock. Kept rest of it simple,got good colour in 2 hours of smoke..I figure just looking at the animals that the shanks are going to need a lot of cooking to get them to fall of bone. Figure your shanks would be pretty tough if you were bred to live in the Andes.

moikel · May 14, 2012

Trying to change ear tags without getting spat on hence the headlock!

thoseguys26 · May 15, 2012

Very cool. How would you describe how Alpaca tastes?

moikel · May 15, 2012

Its somewhere in the neighbourhood of lamb but not. It looks like a cross between lamb & venison fresh. I will have a better answer in about 2 hours when these shanks are ready.It is lean &dense as in tightly grained.There are lots of health reasons to eat it,cholesterol etc.

I just like the variety that it gives me , I like the story that goes with it & I want to support the little guy where ever I can.

The topside that I did in a previous post was just a knockout. I hope to go to the restaurant that serves a lot of it near my office.Called Morena chef is Peruvian.

moikel · May 15, 2012

Maybe 3 hours ,went to gym put it in oven but did not have it hot enough.They arent exactly falling off the bone.

chef jimmyj · May 15, 2012

Mick, There is not anything I can add to what you are doing. You have some terrific ideas. How long since your last Curry?...JJ

moikel · May 15, 2012

This was a lovely tasting meal but I could have cooked it for another hour.The formula is right,its old school cookery.The thing is the meat is so dense. I do lamb shanks a bit this way,sometimes in North African way they take about 3 hours.I reckon these could be a 5 hour cook + 2 hours in the smoker.

There was a bit of a difference between fore 1/4 & hind 1/4.

I have 4 left so I will add a bit more stock & redo them in the oven.

Taste wise, the

meat has a sweetness thats hard to compare .You sort of expect it to be bolder because its so dark it doesnt have that taste that goes with other dark meats like venison or kangaroo .Its closer to lamb . Its a bit tricky with so little fat,I think I will get my hands on a cut that I can make a better comparison maybe a bit of rump.

moikel · May 15, 2012

Chef JimmyJ said:
Mick, There is not anything I can add to what you are doing. You have some terrific ideas. How long since your last Curry?...JJ

I can do a curry with the shoulder but its not smoked if thats OK. I think its a great meat for curry,but Indian not Thai. Cook for a couple of hours just keep topping up the liquid until its done. Maybe one of those Sri Lankan ones with curry leaves,black mustard seeds,fenugreek etc or adapt the Fijian Indian goat curry recipe that I posted a while back.

moikel · May 15, 2012

Starting to wonder if I should have cut through them to break up sinew. Or just cook them for longer.

frosty · May 15, 2012

Beautiful results, looks outstanding.

moikel · May 15, 2012

Frosty said:
Beautiful results, looks outstanding.

Thanks ,the farmer said he was promoting it as a nose to tail product so I have a few cuts to choose from. I will just keep taking him bacon ,smoked cheese,sardines & whatever else he likes.

The neck pieces I have look really promising. I do an oxtail dish thats Roman,got raisans,pinenuts,celery,wine,tomato.Real low n slow classic,might adapt it. If this Peruvian chef takes all the liver,heart,tongues there is a message in that.

Wondering what potential it has as a fresh sausage ,you could add a bit of lamb fat & follow Africanmeats recipe for a mergez.

Suppose thats the fun part its a whole new deal.

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