Rules of the Game

Unless you're shooting it yourself, you want to get game from a reputable dealer.

by Tim Hyland

Out shopping recently at a local supermarket, Sonny D'Angelo was surprised to see a package of ground buffalo meat for sale.

Or maybe repulsed would be a better word.

"I saw this buffalo that I wouldn't feed to my dog," says D'Angelo. "Nobody would buy a package of ground beef if it was sitting in a puddle of blood. But here was this stuff, vacuum-packed, looking nasty ... like it was drowning."

You'll have to excuse D'Angelo for being dramatic. Game is his game. Owner of D'Angelo Bros. Meat Market in South Philadelphia and author of the cookbook Are You Game?, D'Angelo may be Philly's top expert in fresh, wild meats.

He offers both good and bad news for local fans and bold home cooks: Game, he says, can be bought in more places and in greater variety than ever before. The only problem is that some of it's pretty wretched. D'Angelo's advice, then, is the same offered by local chefs: Trust your butcher.

"Unless you're shooting it yourself, you want to get game from a reputable dealer," says Daniel Stern, chef and owner of Queen Village's Gayle and Rae Restaurant in the Cira Centre, both of which offer game dishes. "That's the best way to make sure it's a quality product."

D'Angelo Bros. may be a good place to start. The store, at 909 S. Ninth St., sells everything from standards such as venison chops ($14.48 per pound) and rabbit legs ($6.48) to more adventurous cuts like kangaroo medallions ($11), ostrich fillets ($11.45) and even nutria ($5.48 per pound for something that looks like a huge rat).

It may seem rather exotic, but chef Amy Lettiere says picking out and preparing game isn't that different than roasting a tired old Perdue chicken. Lettiere offers a special winter game menu (including wild boar, elk and alligator chili) at Lambertville Station Restaurant in Lambertville, N.J., and says cooks seeking good game should start with the obvious. If a cut looks bad, it probably is.

"If the meat is discolored in any way — with color on one end but not on the other — it has been frozen, then thawed, frozen, then thawed," says Lettiere. "Those are very identifying marks."

Game that looks unusually fatty or sinewy should also be avoided, says Lettiere. Stern agrees, adding that simple marinades (pepper with herbs and garlic will do) accent game meats nicely. Lettiere offers one other bit of advice: While your roasted wild boar may taste wonderful, be prepared to explain yourself.

"We get the question a lot: 'What does wild boar taste like?'" she says. "And our answer is always, 'Well, it tastes like wild boar.' People want to equate game meats to other meats, but it just doesn't work like that."

(editorial@citypaper.net)