Cajun Kangaroo

The content of this weblog has been pretty heavy lately what with funerals and philosophy and crushes on long-departed writers. I think it's time to do something more relaxed and homey so here is my recipe for Cajun Kangaroo with Macadamia. This is a satisfying dish but is very different from the stodgy Nasta recipe I posted here several months ago.

Ingredients: Kangaroo, Macadamia Nuts, Onion, Celery, Capsicum, Corn Kernels, Mixed Cajun Spice, Risone Pasta.

There are only two things that make the dish in anyway authentic Cajun fare. One is The Trinity which is a mix of finely diced onion with celery and capsicum. Apparently this three-veg combo is the basis of any Cajun dish. The other is a jar of mixed Cajun spice from the spice shelves at your local supermarket (which incidentally includes the Trinity in powdered form in most contents lists). The Cajuns (ethnic French living in the US state of Louisiana) will also use maize (in the form of corn bread used to wipe the bowl clean) but I simply throw in a small can of corn kernels for added interest. They will use rice (abundant in swampy Louisiana) while I prefer to use Risone pasta which is shaped like rice grains. They will traditionally use whatever meat they can hunt but I somehow think that kangaroo has never lived in the swamps of Louisiana. They may use 'gator' but I use 'roo'.

I also throw Macadamia into this dish to cook this native Australian plant product with a native Australian animal product. The kangaroo makes the shopping list for this dish cheaper than for other dishes, but the macadamia makes it more expensive, so it averages as the same as another dish using more conventional ingredients.

Preparation and Cooking

There are a small number of kangaroo products one can get in most supermarkets in Melbourne now (look for the Macro Meats brand). As there are only ever a small number of products on shelf, you can never be sure if what you want will be there. Technically the simplest thing to get for this dish is the pre-cut kangaroo for stir fry, however the last few times I have done this dish I have had to select the herb and garlic fillet. This has worked well for me as all the marinade on the meat makes covering it in mixed Cajun spice most convenient. I dice the meat and then throw it into a pan with some vegetable oil and then shake a whole lot of the spice onto the meat then mix it all in with my hands and do this till all pieces are well covered in the stuff.

Next prepare the Trinity by dicing one onion, one or two celery sticks and one capsicum (I choose red for a more interesting selection of colours) and mixing them together in a bowl. Then fill a pot with boiling water and whack in the risone and one tin (the smallest you can find) of corn kernels (both cook in the same way so may as well cook them together). Turn on the element for both pot and pan and start stirring both.

Once the meat has turned brown throw in the Trinity and stir vigorously. Continue to stir the pasta and corn at the same time. The Trinity makes a nice smell as it is cooking. Finally throw in a generous handful of macadamia. You can make the dish even more interesting at this juncture by throwing in flavours you like such as a dollop of honey and a dash of lemon juice.



Once the pasta and corn is cooked, strain and throw into the pan with the kangaroo and macadamia and mix all together. Serve into bowls and enjoy with some refreshing drink to compensate for the spicy roo.