Wild Boar

Yesterday, much to our surprise, we had found out that the “pork chops” we had thawed for dinner were not pork chops. They belonged to a friend of ours who gave them to us for Sunday Dinner, who had gotten them from our neighbors. So I put them in the fridge to thaw, and yesterday when I went to look at them and see how many were in the packages, I had to take a second and third look. These were small pork chops, and dark in color. In fact, they really didn’t look like pork chops, so I had Andy look at them, and he agreed. We thought they looked like lamb chops. (But shaped like pork chops, if that makes any sense). So Andy happened to catch our neighbor outside and went to ask him what they were. I mean, lamb means we cook it one way, pork another. We really didn’t expect the answer we received.

Wild Russian Boar.

Apparently our neighbor had gone on a hunt in recent weeks, and thought he’d share the bounty. I admit, that at first I was leery, then a little excited at the prospect of trying something completely new. Then I grew concerned, because how does one cook wild boar properly? An online search didn’t reveal very much. But what I did find suggested that we prepare the wild boar similar to lamb. That we wanted to be careful not to overcook it, and basically treat it like lamb. So I actually found a marinade and cooking procedure for the grill on Recipezaar, and we ran with it. Until it came time to put it on the grill. We ran out of gas for our grill, so we went with plan B under the broiler. And while I did overcook it just a tad (I think) we all were a bit surprised with the results.
Wild boar is delicious! It’s really, really good! The best I can describe it is that it is almost like a cross between lamb and beef, in that it is better slightly pink in the middle and more tender that way as well. Yet it doesn’t really taste lamby, it’s flavor is more of a cross between beef and pork. And what surprised me the most is that it wasn’t gamey in the least. No gamey flavor whatsoever. In fact, this morning I’m seriously regretting that I didn’t go ahead and eat a second chop last night, they really were very good, and I would eat wild boar anytime. I have the recipe I used in the recipe Trove for Grilled Wild Boar Chops for anyone interested. Not only did we enjoy the wild boar, but Andy and I were discussing getting our hands on some more of it, and I would be remiss if I did not share the source I found online for Wild Boar products. In fact, I’m eyeing up the ribs for once Andy is back at work and we can afford to give them a whirl. So for those of you who don’t have access to a crazy neighbor who goes hunting for such creatures like Russian Wild Boar, you should really check out Broken Arrow Ranch. They offer free-range Venison, Antelope, and Wild Boar, and the pricing seems really reasonable to me.

We were so thrilled with the boar last night, as well as some wild-caught salmon, which I’ll talk about tomorrow, that we’re thinking about the goose that our neighbor offered and the bear that a friend can get his hand on sometime. Hey, so far it’s paying well to be adventurous. And one thing we learned for sure last night? Wild boar should be eaten by all.