Kangaroo meat is unique to Australia. It’s lean, green and inexpensive, quick and easy to cook, versatile
and flexible. It’s a terrific source of high-quality protein, low in total fat (with less than 2% fat), low in saturated fat and a source of heart-friendly omega-3s. What’s more, it’s a particularly rich source of iron and zinc, plus an important source of several B-group vitamins (riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12).
Kangaroos played an important role in the survival of Australia’s indigenous peoples. The animal was hunted for tens of thousands of years, for both meat and skins, and when Europeans arrived in the late 18th century, they also depended on its meat for survival.
Today, kangaroo harvesting is carried out under the strict environmental controls provided by the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Most come from New South Wales and Queensland, with smaller numbers from Western Australia and South Australia.
They aren’t herded together in close confines, transported, or have food withheld from them which a big difference to the final quality of the meat. The ultimate free-range animals. They’re not farmed, but are “harvested” in the wild by licensed hunters.
Kangaroo has an unique flavour. The intensity of the meat ranges from subtle (young animals) to distinctively gamey (older animals). It is fine textured and soft, and can hold its own with aromatic spices, pepper, chili and garlic.
Kangaroo meat is a wonderfully easy and healthy barbecue meat, but it’s best served medium rare, or rare, because having almost no fat it can dry out if over cooked. Popular techniques for prime cuts include pan frying at high temperatures, rare roasting on a high heat, barbecuing, char-grilling and stir-frying. But it can also be marinated in Asian pastes and curry sauces for grilling.
Kangaroo is a very lean red meat that has less than 2% fat content, it is very low in saturated fat and trans fat, which helps lower cholesterol. Research shows that it may also be the highest known source of the healthy fat conjugated linoleic acids (5 times more than other animals), a naturally occurring fatty acid found primarily in the meat and dairy products of ruminants and have been shown to reduce obesity and heart disease as well as having anticarcinogenic properties.
Environmentally consuming kangaroo meat conforms to the “step lightly” principle in that kangaroos are soft-footed animals, so damage to the land is far less than that of sheep and cattle. Kangaroos also need less food than sheep and cattle, and can better adapt to drought conditions. But apart from these reasons, in more recent findings, it has been reported that eating kangaroo meat can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Kangaroos feed on the same sorts of grass as cattle and sheep but produce very little or no methane gas. Therefore choosing kangaroo meat over other meats as part of your every day diet, is recommended to help save theworld from global warming.
This climate friendly meat can be a small way in which we can lessen the impact our food sources have on our environment.