News and notes from the San Antonio food scene
Ostrich: Tastes like cow
Crumpets Restaurant and Bakery, 3920 Harry Wurzbach, owner and chef Francois Maeder has made some exotic additions to his menu: tuna steak, breast of duck, bison, ostrich, veal, shrimp, elk, lamb, beef, and lobster - each served "with a feral flair," the announcement reads.
If that conjures up images of Bill the Cat, consider a muscovy duck breast char grilled and served with a port wine goose liver demi-glaze, a loin strip of bison, also char grilled, and served with either a cabernet mushroom béarnaise or a green peppercorn sauce, and a grilled ostrich filet served with or without the aforementioned sauce options.
Ostrich, the largest living bird (10-feet tall, 400 pounds) is naturally lower in fat than chicken, beef, veal, pork, deer, and even turkey, and is lower than all but turkey in cholesterol. But how does it taste ... feral?
"I wouldn't use that term," says Maeder. "Ostrich is a dark red meat that tastes very much like prime tenderloin, but with a little more wild flavor. We recommend eating it rare or medium-rare. It dries up fast, so if you tried to cook it well it would be like eating your shoe."
For more information about Crumpets, call 821-5600.
