Pronghorn meat question

[alsatian]

My son and I each took a pronghorn last October. My son took a buck, I took a doe. The doe has a milder flavor than the buck. The buck has a strong flavor which is unfamiliar to me. Right off, let me say "strong" doesn't mean unpleasant or spoiled or wrong. To those unfamiliar with the flavor, commercial lamb has a strong flavor. Also let me note that the meat of both animals was properly cared for by me and that the weather was cool when we hunted in mid-October, highs in the mid-50s.

The meat smells like and tastes like the animal smelled when I cut it up. I have a hard time describing the flavor of the meat. It seems sweet. It also has an herbal flavor, a zingeyness. I have heard people talk about pronghorn tasting of sage as a result of eating lots of sagebrush, and I'm tempted to call this distinctive flavor a sage flavor, but it is kind of an indefinite term. I raise sage in my own backyard, and the flavor is not exactly like that flavor of sage, which is not a big surprise.

My wife likes this pronghorn meat A LOT and thinks it tastes substantially better than venison. I cook it in exactly the same way I cook venison. I coat in seasonings including 4 crushed juniper berries, 1/2 teaspoon marjoram, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, 1/2 bay leaf crumbled, salt, fresh ground pepper. I sear it on all sides in a heavy casserole. I pour about a cup of water into the casserole and bring to the boil. I then cover the casserole and put in the oven for 3 hours at 330 degrees, turning the meat in the liquid every half hour. If needed, I add extra water. At the end, I thicken the liquid with a cooked mixture of butter and flour.

Can anyone comment on this distinctive, very different flavor? Is this the reputed sage flavor I have read about?

It seems that this special flavor cries out for some distinctive cooking preparation, something particularly suited to pronghorn meat. Any ideas? I have thought maybe grilling a pronghorn roast over a hickory fire, maybe with the coals excluded from the middle of the grill where the meat will sit to avoid excessive direct heat, basting frequently with olive oil, maybe with minced garlic in the olive oil.

[Ramrod]

The little antelope meat I have had did not taste strong, but I did notice a sweetness also. I think you are on to something with the garlic and oil for a roast. If you add rosemary, you will have a very traditional Italian method of cooking lamb. I rubbed a boar roast with this mixture and was very pleased with the results.

[gwindrider1]

alsatian,

It's very interesting fare isn't it?  I've taken a couple dozen of them over the years, and it has become one of my favorites.  I have noticed a flavor intensity difference amoung the various animals, although even the stronger ones were still damn fine eating.  And yes, bucks are generally stronger flavored than does.

The flavor you commented on is from sage.  It is the mainstay of their diet, so that comes as no surprise.  One thing that I have found that seems to go well with Antelope is German Gewurztraminer wine.  Not only to drink along with the meal, but to cook with as well.  I mix with mushroom soup and smother the braised meat and some chopped up veggies, then bake until all is tender.  Delicious!  Hope you will try it, and congrats to you and your son.

[Mikey]

alsatian - I would say that flavor you taste is the sage, or some other wild herb, nut or fruit the proghorns eat.  I have noticed the same with norther whitetail - the males taste a bit stronger than the females and the meat from both will taste differently depending on what sort of a feeding eyar they have had.  If the Oak trees drop a lot of acorns the meat will have a dry, nutty flavor to it.  If there are lots of berries and herbs around the meat will take that flavor.  

One year the whitetails had a picnic with the local farmers alfalfa hay and corn and they were some of the best eating whitetails I've taken.  Mikey.

[alsatian]

gwindrider1:

The idea about the gewurztraminer wine is interesting.  I will be cooking a pronghorn roast for a family dinner Easter Sunday night.  Normally I drink red wine with roasted game, but my two sisters don't really like red wine much.  I'll serve them the gewurztraminer.  In my case, I will probably serve Alsatian Gewurztraminer.  I don't see many German gewurztraminers, and the only one I ever sampled was rather sweet.  The Alsatian wines resemble German wines, but are vinted substantially dry, which I prefer for dinner wines.  I love the german Auslesen for sipping independently of a meal.  I don't know if I will experiment with them on your recipe, but I'll save it for future reference.  I will have one more roast after the roast Sunday, and I hope to do the experiment I described in my opening post.  Instead of putting the garlic in the olive oil, however, I plan to cut slits in the meat and insert slivers of garlic.  I have done this with other meats with success in the past, noteably leg of lamb.  I'll adopt the rosemary suggestion someone offered too.

Hopefully I'll make another antelope hunting trip in the not too distant future, but not this year I fear.  My son got his buck's head mounted.  Not overly big horns -- measure 12.5" now, but measured 13.5" freshly killed, I have read they shrink substantially as they dry -- but they are such an unusual, distinctive animal that the horns don't have to be too big to make a cool mount, in my opinion.  I may want to take a buck and get that head mounted (my son is planning to put his head in his bedroom where we won't be able to enjoy it, so I'll need my own, right?!), but thereafter I think I would just take does and save money on the tag and enjoy more tender meat.

[longwalker]

My family loves Antelope. I find it very "lamb like". We however like to serve it rare to medium. I prepare roasts by butterflying them and marinate in lemon black peper and olive oil. I cook them on the grill very high heat until just warm in the center.

Of course proper handling of the animal is required .

longwalker