Exotic meats in Los Angeles? Camel? Nutria?

[Lynndsey Rigberg]

Hi Chowhounds,

My friends and I are thinking about putting on a very exotic meal - we're talking camel, nutria, and any other exotics we can get our hands on.

I heard that some Halal places sell camel, but I don't know if that's true?

Thanks!

[ipsedixit]

Check out LAX-C.

If you order a large enough quantity, they might order camel meat for you. Deposit required.

[Servorg]

Take a look at the offering from Exotic Meat Market in Perris.

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Exotic Meat Market
130 Walnut Ave Unit A-18, Perris, CA 92571

[Lynndsey Rigberg]

Holy moly. Pay dirt. This is it. Camel meal, emu, elk, hartebeest, all USDA approved. Thank YOU SERVORG!!!

[Servorg]

Glad it had what you were looking for. If you post on the Home Cooking board about your meal I hope you'll come back here and post a "pointer link" to the write up over there.

[j8715]

most pet stores have guinea pigs. peruvian delicacy. very fresh.

[silverlakebodhisattva]

Them's ain't EATING guinea pigs, those are "cute cuddly" guinea-pigs!

BTW, will your search for exotica be confined to animal meat? On the plant side there's that SE Asian "stink bean", and durian, and then there's a load of more or less exotic fungi. Then there's some fermented products, including exotic kimchees, and strange cheeses, and stuff like natto....

If you're not sticking to mammals, a quick pass through the seafood section at a couple of good Asian markets will allow you to cut a swath across several phyla and classes. A stop off at a Oaxacan place for some chili crickets and you're good to go!

[Lynndsey Rigberg]

Great idea to extend beyond meat - we'll be sure to include the other exotics too. CHILI CRICKETS? Hmm, maybe I should get live crickets???

Thanks to "silverlakebodhisattva", I am now including this search to insects, fowl, etc.

THANK YOU!

[silverlakebodhisattva]

BTW, if you haven't looked at Eddie Lin's "Deep End Dining" blog,

http://www.deependdining.com/

you haven't really explored far enough. It will either give you many new ideas, or make you decide that you never want to eat anything more challenging than dry toast and applesauce ever again.

Particularly memorable is the footage of the still-moving octopus tentacle dish from K-town...

[J.L.]

A la "Old Boy"...

[Will Owen]

"If you're not sticking to mammals, a quick pass through the seafood section at a couple of good Asian markets …" One of our favorite Asian markets, especially to take visitors to, is Hawaii Supermarket in San Gabriel (Valley and Del Mar). Yes, they have a very comprehensive seafood section, but their frozen meats range into exotica most of us aren't prepared to deal with, including fox and armadillo. Okay, fox IS on the menu at one Vietnamese restaurant we've been to, but armadillo?? Mrs. O's theory is that some Vietnamese immigrants down in Texas developed a taste for road kill, a class in which the armadillo is overrepresented in the Gulf states, but that seems unlikely. Of course, so does eating armadillo …

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Del Mar Cafe
712 S Del Mar Ave, San Gabriel, CA 91776

[Servorg]

You know the old joke in Texas about "How do you eat an armadillo?" "With one eye on the 'dillo and one eye on the highway."

[J.L.]

Guine pig meat is called Cuy in Peru. Had lots of it on the Inca Trail a few years back. Tastes like rat.