23 replies to this topic

[seanw]

apparently Hills Foods are importing Australian roadkill, i mean kangaroo meat, after getting the all-clear from the govt. which included prodding! Check the story out on Cityfood.com. So we can get roadkill but not other great products such as pata negra, can we not get the guy from Hills to prod the guy in govt. to rectify the situation?

[kurtisk]

Not a kangaroo fan?

Yes, Australia is overpopulated with them and they do end up here and there as (stinky) roadkill, but anyone who's had it will tell you how delicious it is, nice and lean, and quite versatile to many types of cuisine. I don't see it as pawning off roadkill, as you'll find it on the finest menus in any country who allows its import. I think this is a good thing, and opens the door for Hill's to import other proteins we can't currently get. Their diligence has paid off and I don't think that it should be slagged. I'm sure many other things are in the works...

k.

[Andrew Morrison]

Agreed. I'm keen to try some roo again. I'd love to see kudu, eland, impala, springbok, and cape Buffalo make it over here, too.

[SBonner]

I tried the roo at an event at the Vancouver Club back in the summer that was supplied by Hill's Food. I enjoyed it and look forward to some innovative Vancouver variations on its use. It seems pretty common on menus around the globe already. I've had it in London, Barcelona, Madrid, and Florence in the past two years.

Cheers,

Stephen

Edited by SBonner, 07 October 2005 - 07:32 AM.

[shelora]

apparently Hills Foods are importing Australian roadkill, i mean kangaroo meat, after getting the all-clear from the govt. which included prodding! Check the story out on Cityfood.com. So we can get roadkill but not other great products such as pata negra, can we not get the guy from Hills to prod the guy in govt. to rectify the situation?

Pata Negra is coming. Another couple of years or so.

[SBonner]

apparently Hills Foods are importing Australian roadkill, i mean kangaroo meat, after getting the all-clear from the govt. which included prodding! Check the story out on Cityfood.com. So we can get roadkill but not other great products such as pata negra, can we not get the guy from Hills to prod the guy in govt. to rectify the situation?

From what I understand by Canadian meat inspection standards Pata Negra is not slaughtered to our standards. Big deal! Spaniards have been meating this stuff hanging in tapas bars for centuries and they seem like a pretty friendly abd healthy bunch Thankfully Helen and I are going back to Spain next year for an extended period so we can eat more ham while hanging around in smoke filled tapas bars at 4am.

Cheers,

Stephen

[RooStew]

Give our pests a chance Sean, they really ain't that bad. 'Specially when ya back over 'em a few times with the Hilux, supa tender mate.
We had a roo tail braise last time I went home and it was amazing, alot like beef cheeks.
I've always wanted to put a dish on the menu with emu and roo cooked 2 ways. I'd call it 'Coat of Arms', don't know how it'd fly though.
Back on topic, a gentlemen down at Oyama told me he has a producer of this swine in B.C. and around 2007 will release his first version of Serrano. Can't wait they do some amazing charcuterie down there.

[SBonner]

Give our pests a chance Sean, they really ain't that bad. 'Specially when ya back over 'em a few times with the Hilux, supa tender mate.
We had a roo tail braise last time I went home and it was amazing, alot like beef cheeks.
I've always wanted to put a dish on the menu with emu and roo cooked 2 ways. I'd call it 'Coat of Arms', don't know how it'd fly though.
Back on topic, a gentlemen down at Oyama told me he has a producer of this swine in B.C. and around 2007 will release his first version of Serrano. Can't wait they do some amazing charcuterie down there.

Hey Roo,

We should do a wine and "roo" pairing event
Cheers,

Stephen

[MobyP]

I always heard it was 'Our Friends' of New Jersey (no, not the Perlows), and the pork lobbyists who started a scare story about 'European Swine Flu' - something you may not be too surprised to hear, no European pig farmer I've spoken to has ever heard of. Yes you'll get Pata Negra, but they've forced the producers to change the method of production for US importation, so it won't be the stuff you'd get in Spain. Like, I believe, they required the prosciutto makers of Italy to add another 100 days to the curing process. It's an older product. Again, not the thing you'd be served in the trattorias of Parma.

[SBonner]

apparently Hills Foods are importing Australian roadkill, i mean kangaroo meat, after getting the all-clear from the govt. which included prodding! Check the story out on Cityfood.com. So we can get roadkill but not other great products such as pata negra, can we not get the guy from Hills to prod the guy in govt. to rectify the situation?

From what I understand by Canadian meat inspection standards Pata Negra is not slaughtered to our standards. Big deal! Spaniards have been meating this stuff hanging in tapas bars for centuries and they seem like a pretty friendly abd healthy bunch Thankfully Helen and I are going back to Spain next year for an extended period so we can eat more ham while hanging around in smoke filled tapas bars at 4am.

Cheers,

Stephen

I think I ment to say " eating" this stuff...blame it on to many bottles of Rioja actually I'm lying just spent two hours at Cassis and Steamworks.

Cheers,

Stephen

Edited by SBonner, 07 October 2005 - 11:01 PM.

[Izzy]

They have pata negra at the Bearfoot Bistro. So I belive that it is legal to import pata negra in Canada but its not in the US.

[shelora]

They have pata negra at the Bearfoot Bistro. So I belive that it is legal to import pata negra in Canada but its not in the US.

I find that extremely hard to believe. Is there anyway that you can confirm this information?
The Bearfoot Bistro might be serving jamon serrano which was only just brought into Canada this year. This is from a different breed of pig than the pata negra and is being produced by Campofrio and imported through Serrano Imports out of Toronto.

[Daddy-A]

[host]

I've changed the title of this thread to better reflect the content of the conversation.

Carry on ...

A,

[/host]

[Izzy]

I have checked with the Bearfoot Bistro & they confirmed that they do serve pata negra.Checked with there Chef Melissa Craig.

[Memo]

I have checked with the Bearfoot Bistro & they confirmed that they do serve pata negra.Checked with there Chef Melissa Craig.

Hmmm... did chef Craig disclose the source/distributor of this pata negra?

Memo

[SBonner]

I chatted with a sales rep from Hills and he said that pata negra is not available in Canada. So I'm not sure where the Bistro is getting it.

Cheers,

Stephen

Edited by SBonner, 11 October 2005 - 09:57 AM.

[Memo]

I have been told that it's unavailable in the U.S. as well.

Maybe their pata negra is something else entirely (and is just, mistakenly, called that). My guess is it's pato negro (black duck)!

Memo

Edited by Memo, 11 October 2005 - 10:09 AM.

[Izzy]

Continental import brings it in for the bearfoot. It dos not come cheap $1800.00 for a leg. but its worth it, the meat tastes like hazelnut.

[SBonner]

Continental import brings it in  for the bearfoot. It dos not come cheap $1800.00 for a leg. but its worth it, the meat tastes like hazelnut.

Interesting to know. It does indeed taste like hazelnuts. In Spain we have paid between 30-85 Euros for a kg.

Cheers,

Stephen

[shelora]

Continental import brings it in  for the bearfoot. It dos not come cheap $1800.00 for a leg. but its worth it, the meat tastes like hazelnut.

According the CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency), the first Iberico ham that will be allowed into Canada will start curing (in Spain) in January 2006. The product Jamon Iberico will be available in Canada sometime in late 2007. I can hardly wait.
This seems to concur with the U.S. who will also be bringing it in around the same time. A company called Tienda is taking orders for them already with a $199.00 U.S. deposit. Sales are brisk. The whole leg will be around $1000.U.S. around $60.00 a pound.
We can be guaranteed a similar hefty price tag. We're talking thinly sliced!
According to Continental Importers (Vancouver), they only carry jamon serrano (serrano ham) at this time.
Exquisite in flavour none the less.

[Memo]

Continental import brings it in  for the bearfoot. It dos not come cheap $1800.00 for a leg. but its worth it, the meat tastes like hazelnut.

According to Continental Importers (Vancouver), they only carry jamon serrano (serrano ham) at this time.
Exquisite in flavour none the less.

Hmm...which brings me back to pato negro (black duck).
I hope the Bearfoot isn't selling Jamon Serrano as Jamon Iberico.
Maybe Izzy or others have actually tasted the product being sold at Bearfoot, with its nutty, acorn flavor - and are not just quoting descriptives (like I am now).

Memo

Edited by Memo, 13 October 2005 - 04:32 PM.

[Izzy]

Back in whistler confronted BB chef showed me the packaging she had it just pined to the wall Jamon Iberico yes it is.

[shelora]

Back in whistler confronted BB chef showed me the packaging she had it just pined to the wall Jamon Iberico yes it is.

My lips are sealed.

[SBonner]

Just finished dinner with a Spanish consulate official and he said it is still an illegal product in Canada. So...unless someone brought it in personally; we will not find it here or at the BB officially for another 14-18+ months. I have never seen it packaged for export so I have no idea of what packaging and labelling would look like. Here's how we buy it in Spain and in London.

Sevilla bar


Market Day Borough Market

Cheers,

Stephen

Edited by SBonner, 16 October 2005 - 07:56 PM.