As a former vegan, I never imagined I would one day say that one of the best things I know of to eat is Moose meat.  Yet here I stand, writing to the world about how good it is.  In Sweden, if you live outside of Stockholm, Göteborg, or Malmö, you likely have an Älg (Moose) hookup.  Either this is a hunter who you know who will give you some, or a hunter who will sell you some.

It is not farmed in any way, so there is absolutely no chance that it has been injected with any of those funky things that farm-raised meats can have in them.  Depending on how you view hunting, it is either a service or a disservice to animals and their population, but Swedish Moose hunters have a really interesting perspective – for example they will not kill a mother Moose and leave the young one – either they take them both or neither.  So the Moose is highly respected here, and I feel super lucky to have to opportunity to eat it regularly.

Of the “wild meats” (vildfårs in Swedish), Moose is above Deer, Reindeer, and Wild Boar, in my opinion.  I think for me this is because Wild Boar can be really tough (but makes stellar sausage), and Reindeer is not really wild (it is kind of raised by the Saami people in northern Sweden – a story for another post). I think one of the things I like about Moose is that it is super diverse.

When I say diverse, I really mean it.  You can cook it straight up, for example by grilling the steaks.  Earlier this week we had some bits in a stew, today we had Moose tacos, and last weekend we had Moose burgers.  It’s also lean, but not so lean that it is hard to work with (like it doesn’t get super dry too quickly).  If ground, it also works blended with other meats, like beef and pork.

So, if you are ever presented with the opportunity to try Moose meet, give it a shot, I promise you it will be worth it and you just might get as hooked as I am. 😉