Wednesday, December 21, 2005

From The Independant:

Q: When is a kangaroo not a kangaroo?
A: When it's being served up for dinner
By Kathy Marks in Sydney
Published: 21 December 2005

Australians could soon be tossing a chunk of australus on the barbecue, because of plans to rename kangaroo meat and divorce it from its cuddly Skippy image.
While kangaroo is a lean and delicious red meat, Australians have been squeamish about consuming their national symbol. Most kangaroo meat ends up as pet food, although it is also exported, particularly to Europe, where the Russians love to eat it in sausages.
A food magazine hit on the idea of organising an international competition to come up with a euphemism - akin to beef for cow and venison for deer - to make kangaroo more domestically palatable. Among the suggestions received from 2,700 people in 41 nations were kangasaurus, marsupan, roadkill and jumpmeat.
Mel Nathan, editor of the magazine Food Companion International, told The Sydney Morning Herald that "australus" sounded dignified and linked the meat with its country of provenance. The winning entry was submitted by a US citizen, Steven West, who is employed at a hospitality school in the Blue Mountains near Sydney.


I read this & thought 'what a load of bollocks' or bollaus, as they would probably say in Australia.