Wild Game
may 2010
This month’s aphrodisiac was inspired by a recent trip to South Africa. It’s not unusual for a visitor to South Africa to get excited about the wildlife. But I doubt many visitors get the most excited about eating it.

For me, a 10-day trip through South Africa’s Cape region was highlighted by the seamlessly never-ending variety of game meats to taste. First there was springbok—essentially South Africa’s version of venison. It, along with ostrich, are the two most popular game meats in South Africa and were both on nearly every menu I encountered.

Next came impala and kudu, two animals I became familiar with on safari. (The restaurants in Yellowstone would never dream of serving bear but in South Africa, the custom seems to be see an animal by day, eat it by night.) I also tasted warthog, the ubiquitous boar that seems to be a favorite snack of lions.

But the absolute highlight of my culinary odyssey was wildebeest. Anyone who knows me well knows that I absolutely love game meats, be it rabbit or venison. But a wildebeest?! (Frankly, I wasn’t even positive that was a real creature. I actually thought it was something invented to protect the sorcerer’s castle in fairy tales.) I’ve now seen one roaming the planes of Kwandwe, a private game reserve in the Eastern Cape, so I can confirm its existence. [also known as a Gnu]

The wildebeest was as delicious as its name is fantastical. Tender and lean with a faint gamy flavor, it reminded me of the kangaroo tail I loved to eat when I lived in South Australia. It was, dare I say, orgasmic! (Of course, I had the privilege of tasting my first wildebeest prepared by one of the finest chefs in South Africa, Margot Janse of The Tasting Room in Franschhoek.)

Now why, you might be wondering, (beyond my personal penchant for nibbling exotic morsels), is wild game aphrodisiac? To start, there’s the obvious connection that eating wild game makes even the most mundane of us feel a little like we’re living on the edge—never a bad thing in the romance department.

Leaner than beef and lamb, wild game meats can increases dopamine and norepinephrine production in the brain without all the saturated fat of domestic meats. And game is also an excellent source of the protein needed for a long, lusty night of sustained energy.

Game animals generally feast on organic leaves and grasses, which means the meat comes without all those synthetic hormones that mess with our natural ones. Many wild game meats are high in nutrients needed for sexual hormone production. Bison and venison, for example, are remarkably higher in iron than most meats.

In conclusion, you can stick to your chicken and beef if you like. But I will tell you that everyone I met in South Africa seemed awfully happy—and they weren’t eating chicken!

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