Bison

[kengk]

I tasted bison for the first time last night at a restaurant. Gracious was it good. Braised short ribs served with mashed potatoes.

Not sure how much credit was due the restaurant rather than the cut of meat. Our other items were also very good.

What is the chow hound take on bison?

[echoclerk]

Oh I've never eaten Bison (or Buffalo). So I assume you ate American bison?

- American bison, ( Bison bison) also known as the American buffalo (although it is only distantly related to the true buffalo)

There is also a
- European bison, or wisent (Bison bonasus), found in Europe and the Caucasus.

which seems to be different to the buffalos
- African buffalo (Syncerus caffer)
- Wild water buffalo (Bubalus arnee), also called Asian buffalo and Asiatic buffalo, is a large bovine native to Southeast Asia.

Its interesting then that Buffalo Mozarella is made from the milk of the Asian Water buffalo.

I've never seen the meat of any of these beasts for sale in restaurants or the supermarket in London or in Europe. Are they available over here?

[vanderb]

We get bison from time to time at a high end restaurant in my neighbourhood in Brno, Czech Republic.. so I'd say "yes, we do see it in Europe" but it's not at all common.

Bison can be a bit less flavourful than beef, as noted by Eric, but it takes very well to flavouring from accompanying ingredients and spices. When I've made bison burgers, I always season very well, add garlic to the mix along with whatever else is looking good in the pantry/fridge and then top it with fresh chevre when it's finished cooking... one of the best burgers ever. We also found wilder mushrooms (morells in particular) paired extremely well with bison, whether it was roasted or braised. And no arguement at all about berries going well with bison, add to that mustard melon and you've got a great bison charcuterie plate.

Although this was done back in Western Canada when I was living there. At that time we had replaced bison for most red meat in our cooking... we weren't big steak eaters which worked well as bison steaks were really hit and miss due to the low fat content (similar to ostrich steaks).

[EricMM]

Maybe it's just my sources, but I find bison to be much less flavorful than beef. Given the choice, I'll take grass fed beef over bison any day.

[chefathome]

Forgot to mention this but bison goes extremely well with wild berry applications such as blueberry, cherry or blackberry gastrique. It is complemented also by wild mushrooms and earthy things such as lentils and wild rice. Sort of like "what grows together goes together".

[Bacardi1]

Delicious, but SUPER lean. DON'T overcook it unless you plan to stew it.

[Veggo]

There are numerous sources for bison in Colorado, and restaurants that serve it, usually as burgers. There are buffalo grazing along I-70 just west of Morrison. Lean, tasty, easy to cook. Check the White Buffalo Meat Company site.

[maplesugar]

We really like bison. I use it in place of ground beef all the time and lunch was soup & a sandwich with ham style bison deli meat. Thankfully, like chefathome, bison is fairly easy to come by here.

[FrankJBN]

Lucky. Small "medallion" steaks and ground are what's available in my neighborhood.

How do they make a "ham-style" meat from red meat?

[maplesugar]

I'm not sure how but it's as though they process it like ham... I wish I had a picture for you. It doesn't look identical to ham but it's close. The same producer makes bison ham, smoked meat and salami, as well as venison and elk pastrami.

[lcool]

"pastrami" is corned beef first,a process,cure that translates well to other firm fleshed meat

[lagatta]

I'd suggest a search of this site; I'm sure bison, also called "buffalo" (though it is not the true buffalo) has been a topic of several threads.

I love bison, but keep in mind when cooking it that it is a much leaner meat than beef. That makes it heart-healthy, but also means cooking times and methods can be a challenge.

[chefathome]

Love it. Bison is fairly common where we live, thank goodness. We've had all sorts of cuts. It is very lean. We both prefer braised bison dishes to cuts such as steak as they are more forgiving but have enjoyed what we have had thus far - and that has been quite a lot! :)