Whole Emu Roast!

[donk79]

A couple of times a year, a friend of mine hosts an open house where 50 to 100 people come and go for food and conversation. He is more than a little on the handy side and has been known to construct various cooking implements on a whim, from oversized grills, to spits, to old-refridgerator-smokers. As such, he is always on the lookout for a new protein to put into these implements, even though his cooking knowledge is not always really up to the task. Past meals have included large fish, lamb, goats, and small venison.

This year, inspiration struck hard as he was driving past a local farm, and now there is an emu to be picked up tomorrow, slaughtered Friday, and cooked for Saturday. With the oversized grills, etc., he would like to prepare this animal whole. But, despite a couple of hours searching, I find no references to a whole emu roast. Most emu recipes seem to assume the removal of skin and fat for the purpose of rendering emu oil. Then consequently, the recipes shift to light cooking to keep the meat tender in the absence of its fat. We would like to attempt roasting this animal skin-on, but are not sure if this is a good idea. Is the fat/oil of emu palatable? Would the fat left on the animal penetrate the meat if left on for a slow roast?

Any sharing of wisdom or wild ideas would be appreciated. The animal is coming, so even if we cannot guarantee perfection, an emu dish is on its way that will at least contribute to the body of knowledge. However, it would be nice to have something tasty to serve also!

[Mjx]

It might be easier to find a recipe for roasting whole ostrich. I could swear that I came across one at least once, along with a discussion of it's popularity, owing to a passion for exotica during the late 1800s. I'll take a look and see whther I can dig it up again.

Wouldn't the general principals for roasting any whole animal apply?

[Snadra]

About ten years ago one of the food supplements had an article suggesting roast baby emu as an alternative to the Christmas turkey. It may have been a Maggie Beer recipe.... I seem to recall it was cooked pretty much like a turkey, but I didn't really pay much attention, because it was pretty impossible to get hold of (this was before kangaroo turned up in the supermarkets). I know the meat is quite lean, although I'm not sure how fatty the skin is - this may keep it moist. I'm sure the recipe kept the skin on.

My only cookbook that has emu recipes calls for fillets, so not much help there. However, if you do a search for old Aussie cookbooks on project Gutenberg, you will probably come across something, as colonists still ate native animals and tended to cook them in British style. For a more modern take, you could always try contacting Mark Olive, a Melbourne chef who has a catering business and has had his own tv show on the ABC. He has been a longtime advocate of using native ingredients and he or his staff may be able to give you some pointers.

[ChrisTaylor]

I've only cooked 'fan' fillets. It's a lean meat. A nice meat but very lean. I wouldn't be too shocked if, in attempting to roast the beast whole, you wound up with a great lump of warm, emu-flavoured biltong. I'd be nervous about cooking a 1-2 kilogram roast. A whole bird, though? Jesus.

There's no chance you can use, say, a BBQ and cook emu steaks, is there? I get that, 'hey, look at that whole emu strapped up over the fire' is maybe part of what your friend wants but I strongly suspect the result from roasting it will be shit. Steaks, however, particularly if you take it a step further and provide a lot of bread rolls, condiments and extra fillings (salad, etc) could be awesome. Just don't take them beyond medium rare. As with Skippy and Bambi, it dries out something awful. Even if the layer of fat on the skin is palatable, it won't stop a large piece of meat from drying out.

[Shalmanese]

Would it be possible to set up a rotisserie?

[Country]

Maybe one of those things people deep fat fry turkeys in? If it's large enough. If not, it sounds like your friend is pretty handy and maybe he could make something. Of course, it would take a lot of oil...

[andiesenji]

After seeing this query early this morning, I phoned someone who raises rheas (the South American bird) and asked about cooking one whole, as I know they have had parties with rhea as the featured meat. (Although I have not attended one.)

She said her husband, who is from Patagonia, cooks them in a pit in the ground, same as for a whole pig.

The meat gets very dry if it is cooked "open" and don't even think of barbecuing it. Rhea tastes somewhat like young beef, doesn't have a lot of internal fat.

It takes overnight to get the pit hot enough and about 8 hours to cook a young adult weighing up to 35 pounds, and shouldn't cook any larger birds whole.

You can "poach" the liver which makes a great paté. Cook the other organ meats as you would sheep or beef.

[lesliec]

Sounds like sous vide's the way to go. Does your friend have a spare spa pool lying around (à la Blumenthal with a whole pig)?

[Peter the eater]

. . . an article suggesting roast baby emu as an alternative to the Christmas turkey

Snadra, I love that idea. I also lack the courage to float it with my in-law hosts this xmas.

So how much does the roast weigh? Spatchcockable? How about a brine & bard?

[Peter the eater]

Sounds like sous vide's the way to go. Does your friend have a spare spa pool lying around (à la Blumenthal with a whole pig)?

I missed that one -- did it work? Thirty years ago my father poached a salmon in the dishwasher. Didn't go so well.

[nickrey]

If you were to serve emu and kangaroo, you'd be eating the Australian Coat of Arms.

I agree with all comments above. If you think roasted turkey is dry, eating roasted emu may change your mind - turkey will be moist in comparison.

I really like Andiesenji's suggestion of doing it in a pit. Give it the whole banana leaves treatment/covering with vegetation and then covering with soil and you will have something approaching a Hawaiian Kālua or New Zealand hāngi.

[donk79]

Thanks for all the help everyone! I think pit (emulated if not actual) is the way we are headed. The words "wrapped in kale leaves' came from my friend's lips, so we will see where this ends up. Reports will follow!

[lesliec]

Sounds like sous vide's the way to go. Does your friend have a spare spa pool lying around (à la Blumenthal with a whole pig)?

I missed that one -- did it work? Thirty years ago my father poached a salmon in the dishwasher. Didn't go so well.

Hi Peter. Yep, as far as I remember it worked. It was in one of the 'Heston's Feasts' episodes, I think. The main thing was disabling the pool's thermal cutout so it would get hot enough (not many people would enjoy sitting in 60-70°C water, I suspect).

I've heard of cooking salmon in foil in a dishwasher but always been highly dubious.

Edited to correct TV programme name - memory returned!

Edited December 2, 2011 by lesliec (log)

[KatieLoeb]

I am fascinated by this idea. Full on photo documentation please of the pit roasted emu.

[Kouign Aman]

Do you think you'll put hot rocks in the interior cavity to speed cooking?

[andiesenji]

Do you think you'll put hot rocks in the interior cavity to speed cooking?

That's such a good idea.

[JBailey]

And with a pit, if it is not turing out as expected, the hole is already dug...

[ChrisTaylor]

And with a pit, if it is not turing out as expected, the hole is already dug...

Didn't think of it like that. Good point.

Too, keep the phone number of the local Domino's handy.

[donk79]

Thank you for all of your help, everyone. Unfortunately, I do not have as much to post here as I was hoping. While I was able to assist with dispatching and plucking the bird, I was not able to be around for a lot of the rest of the process (including tasting and consumption!), and I am afraid that not a lot of advice here was heeded. However, I was assured that the result was wonderful, and while some of the more well done bits were dry, the inside, rarer meat was marvelous.

So far as process goes, About noon on Friday we slew the bird with knife, cleaver, and various restraining implements. This was not a job to be taken lightly, and did not happen easily or even quite as planned. I'm not sure how old our bird was, but I learned after the fact that it probably would not have qualified as a young bird.

We had prepared a scalding drum, but quickly realized that scalding was not necessary. We hung the bird neck down to drain, and eventually realized that an emu does not have large blood vessels running to the brain. The majority of the blood collected in the neck and had to be discarded later. We began to dry-pluck feathers while the bird was hanging upside down and soon discovered that the feathers pulled easily and we were able to save most of them for craft projects down the road. And feathers that would not come out with bare hands, we were able to pull with the assistance of pliers.

I had to leave at this point, but when I came back the next day (once again at about noon) the bird was on spit, stuffed with large amounts of garlic and rosemary (Skin left on the bird and stitched to contain stuffing). This was the point where I realized that I probably would not get to taste the bird. My friend also showed me 4 gallon ziplock bags of fat that he had removed from the bird out of concern that it would make the meat greasy. There was nothing around the bird, other than its skin, remaining fat, and stuffing.

The bird went into a large, once upon a time oil tank roaster, with a charcoal and wood fire underneath. Foil trays were placed under the bird to catch grease, which began dripping within minutes. Temperature probes were place in the thigh and drumstick, with final cooking goals of about 150. What the temperature actually was when the bird was pulled from the fire, I am afraid I do not know.

My friends only comment about something he would have changed, was to have left more of the fat on, in hopes that it would have lubricated the outer drier meat more. He did take pictures during the process, and if I manage to get copies, I will post them here.

Thank you again for all your input! It sounds to me like this would be worth trying again, especially with some more experience and control of variables. If you have any further questions, I will try to answer, but i am afraid there will be a lot of estimating and guessing in anything more I have to offer.

Edited December 5, 2011 by donk79 (log)

[Peter the eater]

To paraphrase J. K. Rowling, "Blimey Harry, that's one big bird". Sorry to hear you missed the tasting and consumption. The drumsticks must be inedible. The drumettes must be another story.