A lot is known about badger fat and its therapeutic properties, and the benefits and harms of badger meat remain a mystery to many. This product is very rarely present on most people's tables. Only those families in which there are experienced hunters manage to feast on them. To receive from badger meat maximum benefit, it is worth familiarizing yourself with some of the nuances. As for lovers of badger fat, they should also learn more about the sought-after folk remedy.
Composition of badger meat
Opinions about the quality of badger meat can be heard different. Often, people who have tried a product refer to its specific taste and pungent aroma. In fact, if you handle the meat properly, you can get a delicacy with a soft texture and a pleasant smell. But the violation of the technology of extraction and processing will spoil the product irrevocably. In terms of benefits, meat is not inferior to fat with its well-known therapeutic properties.
This is due to the fact that in the composition of badger meat there is a whole staff of useful substances:
- Vitamins A and E. Responsible for strengthening immunity, starting from the cellular level. Stimulates the synthesis of collagen, which is necessary for youth and beauty.
- B group vitamins. Important catalysts of metabolic processes, which also normalize the water balance in tissues. They also take part in hematopoiesis, without them the muscles cannot function normally.
- Vitamin K. Its deficiency in the body leads to the fact that the blood begins to clot worse.
- unsaturated fatty acids. They have a positive effect on the heart and blood vessels, do not allow their walls and partitions to wear out.
The ratio of all elements is balanced, so there is no need to be afraid of oversaturation and hypervitaminosis.
Factors affecting the benefits and taste of the product
There are several factors that affect the gastronomic characteristics of badger meat and its therapeutic properties:
- The maximum nutritional value of meat and fat falls on the autumn period. At this time, the animal is just preparing to hibernate, so the muscle fibers are saturated. beneficial substances. If the badger is caught in the spring, then it has just come out of hibernation and the products obtained from it contain practically nothing useful.
Advice
After suffering a fracture, badger liver should be included in the diet. It contains substances that promote uniform and rapid restoration of bone tissue.
- Badger meat will not have a very pleasant taste if the animal is caught in a noose or trap. Due to the long torment of the animal, the meat has a specific smell and unnecessary density.
- If dogs were used in the process of catching a badger, it is highly likely that they will beat the carcass pretty well. Even when the quality of the skin does not play a big role, this negatively affects the condition of the meat part. damage to the gallbladder or Bladder is fraught with the fact that unnecessary elements will fall on the fibers. Because of this, the taste characteristics of badger meat will suffer, and the severity of beneficial properties will decrease.
- When cutting the carcass yourself, you must handle the skin very carefully. It is removed carefully, paying particular attention to the groin area. Moreover, this must be done as soon as possible after the slaughter of the animal.
If you spend a lot of time transporting and storing badger meat, then even after a long heat treatment the product will be tough. The same factor must be taken into account when buying a carcass from a hunter. Unfortunately, it is not so easy to establish the freshness of meat without the necessary experience.
Taste and beneficial features product is influenced by the way it is prepared. According to experienced cooks and hunters, badger meat is best processed in one of the following ways:
- Boiling. The carcass should be cut into small pieces and boiled in salted broth with vegetables until tender. It's hard to say how long it will take. It all depends on the age of the animal and the size of the pieces. You need to wait until the meat begins to easily separate into fibers. But it is better to refuse to use the broth, it is too fat, and there is not much benefit in it.
- Extinguishing. In this case, they should act as additional ingredients. They are perfectly combined with meat unique in taste, filling it with the right notes. The processing time here can also be different - from 1.5 to 3 hours. True, you won’t have to count on a pronounced benefit here, many vitamins will simply collapse.
- Baking. Another good option for cooking badger meat. So that it does not turn out dry, you should use a sleeve, even foil here will not give the desired result. When choosing additional ingredients, you should limit yourself to spices and aromatic herbs. Before you send the meat to the oven, you can hold it in the marinade for a couple of hours.
Steaming badger meat is not recommended. No matter how much time it spends in the pressure cooker, the final product will be too dry and tough. True, as in the case of boiling, with this approach, the fibers will be able to preserve the maximum set of useful and nutritious substances.
Badger meat should not be fried. Firstly, it loses almost all useful components and is saturated with carcinogens. Secondly, its texture and taste deteriorate. Thirdly, this type of processing does not guarantee complete elimination of harmful components, which are sometimes found in the tissues of wild animals.
The benefits of badger fat
Properly cooked, it does not at all resemble the taste and texture of beef, pork or lamb. And yet it is used exclusively as a drug. Here are just some of the positive properties of the product:
- Metabolic processes improve, digestion normalizes. The body receives enzymes, the synthesis of which is slowed down or impaired due to malnutrition.
- Immunity is strengthened, the body does not react so sharply to viral and bacterial infections.
- Recovery processes are stimulated, wounds heal faster.
- The work of the heart improves, the walls of blood vessels are strengthened. The composition of the blood is normalized, the risk of atherosclerotic plaques and blood clots is reduced.
- The synthesis of hormones is being established.
- The quality of hair, nails and skin is changing for the better. Physiological aging slows down.
Badger fat can be prescribed for yourself and on your own, but only as a preventive measure, in the absence of health problems. In case of any diseases, its use must be agreed with the attending physician. It is not recommended to give badger fat to children under three years of age.
Harm of badger meat and fat
The chemical composition of badger meat is so balanced that it does not harm a person, even if consumed in large volumes. But there is another danger here - there is a risk of infection with helminths and infectious diseases. Wild animals are often carriers of serious, including life-threatening, diseases. If possible, the meat should be checked by the competent authority, but this takes time. Unfortunately, even thorough heat treatment does not always guarantee that pathogens will be rendered harmless.
As for badger fat, there are a number of contraindications to its internal and external use:
- chronic and acute diseases of the pancreas, kidneys, liver;
- kidney stones and gallbladder;
- chronic pancreatitis;
- children's age up to 3 years;
- susceptibility to dermatitis and allergic reactions.
Important
Badger fat is often used as a warming external remedy - it perfectly helps with mild hypothermia, coughing, replacing caustic eucalyptus and burning mustard plasters. However, fat clogs pores and is difficult to wash off. Therefore, in no case should you grease the entire skin - only a small area on the chest or between the shoulder blades. It is strictly forbidden to lubricate babies with badger fat!
With all the positive properties of badger meat and fat, their specifics must be taken into account. Meat should not be consumed constantly. It is a delicacy that is most beneficial and enjoyable in small therapeutic doses. The same goes for fat. It should only be taken when indicated or for prophylactic purposes.
If badger meat has to be obtained independently or purchased from hunters, then it is better to buy fat at a pharmacy. This guarantees its deep cleaning and high quality. In case of any unusual reactions to the use of products, you should consult a doctor to exclude the possibility of negative consequences.
The badger is an animal that prefers to hide from people, so it is difficult for a hunter to get such a trophy. Badgers try not to go far from their place and just sleep for 5 months out of 12. Hunters say that the best time to hunt a badger is autumn, when he tries to accumulate as much fat and nutrients as possible, which will allow him to fully rest during hibernation.
Experts point out that not only fat, but also badger meat is of great benefit. Badger meat is a real delicacy. There is a misconception among people that this product is of poor quality and extremely unpleasant taste. Harvesting badgers with the wrong methods, as well as poorly processing the meat, can result in a bad taste. In the case of proper extraction and processing, a dish with badger meat will turn out to be juicy, tasty and healthy.
The benefits of badger meat
Badger meat contains a large amount of vitamins A and E. When ingested, they strengthen the immune system and are involved in the production of collagen, which slows down the aging process in the cells of the body.
The product contains B vitamins, which the body needs in order for the metabolism to proceed as well as possible. In addition, they normalize the water balance in the body, take an active part in the process of blood formation. The muscles cannot fully function without this vitamin.
Another important for the body is vitamin K. If it is not enough, the process of blood clotting is disturbed. Badger meat also contains unsaturated fatty acids, which have a positive effect on the cardiovascular system.
Badger liver is of great value. Even at the time of healers and shamans, it was used to treat fractures. Many studies have been conducted, on the basis of which it was possible to prove that badger liver accelerates the process of bone tissue repair.
So, we can draw the following conclusions about the benefits of badger meat:
- badger meat has important chemical elements (vitamins A and E) that prevent premature aging of the skin;
- meat contains B vitamins that activate the functioning of the brain and nerve impulses;
- The main benefit of badger meat for the body is that it contains vitamin K, which promotes blood clotting, which is important for the normal functioning of the body.
The harm of badger meat
Despite the benefits of this product, it can harm the body, as meat can be infected with trichinosis. Before eating it, it is necessary to do an analysis. Do not neglect to check the product for the presence of this disease.
It is best to eat boiled meat - after such processing, many nutrients remain in it, and pathogens are removed.
Every self-respecting hunter knows for sure that the meat of wild animals is tasty and healthy. From it you can cook many dishes that are qualitatively superior to chicken, pork and beef. We are aware of extraordinary medicinal properties wild meat and lard, everyone knows that beaver streams are used to treat joints, and badger fat heals stomach ulcers, it is not without reason that it is popularly called "ulcer". Badger can be cooked in the oven, oven, on the fire, and it tastes like the meat of a young bull.
Let's start cooking the badger...
Before proceeding with direct cooking, the badger must be checked at the sanitary and epidemiological station for the presence of trichinosis. In the spring, male animals are often infected with this type of infection, which can harm human health even after heat treatment. Next, we proceed to butchering the carcass. When you remove the skin, carefully inspect its inside, on which there may be tapeworms, they are washed under running water, and then scalded with boiling water. If you do not see the worms with the naked eye, treat the carcass with boiling water anyway.
If the meat sticks to your hands a little, then the badger is old, it needs to be cooked longer than usual.
To cook badger meat at home, you will need vegetables: onions, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, fennel, parsley or celery root, Chinese cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and honey to give piquant taste, sugar, salt, spices.
Badger Recipes
First, all animal fat should be removed, as it has a very sharp specific smell. It is used exclusively for medical purposes and is not eaten. In order to make the dish tasty, it is better to use the meat of a healthy young badger.
Fried badger
- The meat needs to be cut into small cubes, for this, after cutting the carcass, you need to hold it for 30-40 minutes in the freezer: the meat will be cut into beautiful and even slices.
- Fry carrots and onions in a pan (3-4 carrots and 2 onions are needed per 1 kg of meat), at the end of frying, add a few potatoes, cut into circles.
- To obtain vegetable garnish, you can separately sauté Brussels sprouts and put them in a dish at the end of frying vegetables.
- We fry the meat separately from the side dish, for about 15-20 minutes in a well-heated pan under the lid. It should be salted and peppered.
- When the vegetables are covered with a golden crust, put the meat in a common pan, mix and give another 10 minutes to make it a little softer and more tender.
- Put fennel and parsnips in the stew after cooking, before serving the dish to the table.
To surprise guests with something interesting and tasty, you should cook a badger in the oven. Before starting, the badger is soaked for 10 hours, changing the water every hour so that the specific smell goes away.
- We cut the meat into small pieces, add each one, add seasoning and spices to taste, put the meat on parchment or foil.
- On the sides we put carrots, which should give the dish sweetness, a little celery and slices of fresh pineapple.
- The contents should be wrapped tightly in foil and placed in the oven for 45 minutes. The dish should be cooked in the oven at 180°C.
- When time is running out, unfold the foil and pour honey over the meat so that the badger in the oven acquires a slightly tart taste and piquant aroma.
Cabbage goes well with wild meat. For soup, take Chinese cabbage, since it is softer, 1 onion, 2 carrots, 2 tbsp. l. butter, 2 tbsp. l. olive oil, parsley and celery root.
Vegetable ingredients are finely chopped with a knife or on a coarse grater and put together in a saucepan, salted meat should be fried with chicory on olive oil. When the vegetables are half cooked, put the fried meat in a saucepan, melt at the end of cooking butter and add to soup for flavor. Badger meat resembles young beef, it quickly boils soft if it is pre-soaked in cold water.
Most hunters ask how to cook a badger, since its meat makes a lot of delicious and healthy meals. We can confidently say that this meat will be the most beneficial for health. However, it must first be checked for trichinosis.
If everything is fine with the meat, feel free to start cooking. With the right approach, it will be difficult to distinguish it from beef.
Recipe number 1. Fried badger
Cooking utensils:
Ingredients:
Recipe:
1. At the beginning of cooking, you need to do the cutting of meat - gutting the carcass. In the process, we remove all the fat from the badger, as it smells very unpleasant. From an old animal, the meat will be too hard, which can spoil the dish. Therefore, select the meat of only a healthy, young badger.
2. Then you can proceed to cutting meat. It is best to cut it into small pieces and fry for sunflower oil until golden brown. Here we add chopped onions, potatoes and carrots, which are cut into circles two centimeters thick. You can add a little Brussels sprouts so that the dish comes out tender. Salt the meat and mix the ingredients thoroughly. A dish with vegetables is stewed for about fifteen minutes. Served on the table with the addition of grated parsnips and fennel sprigs.
Recipe number 2. Badger soup
Ingredients:
Recipe:
Cut ingredients, fry vegetable oil badger meat with chicory and onions, salt. We cut the remaining vegetables and throw them into boiling water, add meat with chicory there. Melt the butter, add it to the broth. Cook the soup for about 17 minutes.
Recipe number 3. Stew with badger
Ingredients:
Recipe:
Before cooking, badger meat should be soaked in cold water for about 10 hours. After that, we cut the meat into small pieces, cook in a cauldron. After cooking, you can fry the product.
Frying is done with different vegetables: potatoes, carrots, rutabaga and celery. To make the dish festive and delight the taste with its sophistication, add pineapple pulp instead of these vegetables. In this case, you do not need to salt the meat, but sprinkle it with sugar and pour over liquid honey. Mustard honey is best, as it makes badger meat savory, somewhat tart in taste.
Bon Appetit!
Probably everyone knows or at least heard about healing properties badger fat. It is used for problems with the musculoskeletal system and the muscular system. Fat relieves the inflammatory process and eliminates pain. At the same time, few people know that badger meat is characterized by a high content of vitamins and minerals necessary for normal human life. At the same time, you need to learn how to cook it properly in order to get the maximum benefit for the body. Next, we will take a closer look at how to cook badger meat at home.
In order for the dish to turn out not only healthy, but also tasty during cooking, you need to remember two important rules:
- As you know, badger has healing fat, which must be removed before cooking meat. Fat negatively affects the taste of dishes due to its specific smell. Fat is removed and used to treat various diseases of the musculoskeletal system.
Also on the topic: How many calories are in a pancake?
We will consider the main badger dishes recipes below. Everything is very simple and even a beginner can easily cope with this task.
Braised badger meat
- Carefully remove fat.
- Cut the prepared meat into portioned pieces
- Deep fry over high heat until golden brown.
- Separately fry the onions and carrots.
Add vegetables to meat and add to meat broth.
- Simmer until done.
- You can add any vegetables, such as cabbage or potatoes.
- Add spices to taste.
Baked badger meat
Before roasting the meat, it is recommended to marinate it thoroughly. As you know, badger meat, especially old, is very tough. Therefore, you need to use ingredients with acid to prepare the marinade.
Each hostess has her own unique recipe for cooking meat, a marinade for a classic barbecue is suitable. At the same time, experts recommend soaking the meat for a day in dry wine, then add spices to taste, wrap in foil and bake for up to 4 hours in the oven. The foil is essential for the meat to retain its juiciness and softness.
Also on the topic: How to cook real Italian pizza?
Badger meat ragout
- In order for the meat to be tender and juicy, it is recommended to soak it overnight in salted water.
- If the meat begins to turn white around the edges, then you can safely start cooking it.
- For the stew, you need to cut the meat into small pieces, about 3 cm.
- Boil in water with spices until tender.
- After that, fry over high heat, which will allow the meat to retain water.
- Add any meat to the meat seasonal vegetables and simmer until done. It can be cabbage, carrots, peppers, tomatoes.
How to cook badger meat? You can try frying it and serve it with potatoes, pasta or rice.
Fried badger meat
- We process meat, namely, remove excess fat.
- Cut into portions. In order for the meat to cut better, you can put it in the freezer for a few minutes.
- In a frying pan, fry chopped onions and carrots until cooked.
- Separately, you need to fry the badger meat until cooked.
