Smarter Than The Average Bear

This week I ate the biggest bear in Ontario history.


.... ok, well maybe not all of it. But still pretty impressive, no?

I suppose I should explain. First of all, I know that some of my veggie friends may be offended or off put by the content of this post. If you know me personally you know that I am omnivorous, but also be aware that this post will reference hunting as well as meat consumption. Consider this my disclaimer...

I have a wonderful friend from work named Erica. She is definitely an unique individual, which is probably the reason why I love her to death. That, and because she fed me bear.

Yup, real honest to goodness bear.

Erica is from Northern Ontario. Like many Northern Ontarians, her family enjoys hunting. Unlike other hunters, Erica's family has a web-based television show about it: "Just Us Hunting". Recently, Erica's mother bagged a 700 pound bear, the biggest bear caught in Ontario history. Did I mention that she did not use a gun, but instead used a bow-and-freaking-arrow?!?! (For footage, check out the episode entitled "Louise's 700lb Bear of a Lifetime".)

One day at work Erica mentions that she has massive amounts of said bear meat, and has been attempting to consume it for quite some time now. Being the caring friend I am, I offered my services & suggested that I relieve her from the burden of having to consume all of that meat by herself.

In my lifetime I have eaten game meat before, but my experiences have been somewhat limited to moose & deer meat. Being of the mindset that I will "try anything once", I found the idea of bear meat rather intriguing.

After weeks of cancelled "Bear Meat Night" plans, Erica showed up at work this week with a special lunch for me: Bear Meat Stir-fry, made with Trapper's Rice...a family specialty. I took the delicious-looking care package to the lunch room & opened the tupperware container....the meat resembled steak (of which I am a fan) so I began to get excited as I warmed it in the microwave.

I headed back to where Erica was patiently waiting, considering that it was only fair for her to watch my reaction since she took the trouble to prepare it for me. I stabbed a piece of meat with my fork, took a deep breath, and put it in my mouth.

It was deeeelicious!

Bear meat is in fact a great deal like steak...except it is a bit tougher, and tastes almost sweet. If ever given the chance I urge you to try it....although, chances are that yours will not be such a famous, or large specimen!

Thanks for lunch Erica, and for the chance to try something new!