Thai red kangaroo curry
I like kangaroo. A lot. So much so that, at a recent Conference in Australia, I was introduced with a line that my hobbies included – amongst other things – “eating kangaroo.” I was, therefore, a little disappointed by Xander’s recent post – a waste of a perfectly good pun in my opinion!
It did send me on a little trip down memory lane though. In November and December 2008, I was in Australia for a few conferences, and ended up in Adelaide at the Australian Institute of Physics’ National Congress. I was presenting a paper on educational outreach here in the Cavendish, and so got talking with a lot of people from the Physics Education group – they invited me to dinner on a few occassions; as I was on my own on the other side of the world, I was glad of the company.
One sunny evening we headed down Rundle Street towards a Thai restaurant; I forget exactly which, but a little help from Google and Street View leads me to think it was LemonGrass Thai Bistro. Three of us, students, at one end of the table opted to share a couple of dishes between us – a Thai red curry, with kangaroo, and a crocodile-based stir-fry. The latter, if I recall correctly, was in a spring onion and cashew nut sauce.
What I do recall, however, is that both were delicious. Kangaroo is a lot like beef, only a little gamier, and stood up well against a surprisingly spicy sauce; crocodile is like fish with the texture of chicken and benefited from a lighter sauce. I can’t say I’m entirely surprised that what I ate sticks more in my mind than exactly where I was at the time; if I’m ever in Adelaide again, I think I’ll go hunting for the right place though! Thai me kangaroo down, indeed.