It doesn’t taste like chicken

That’s the first thing to remember when you’re thinking about eating ostrich meat. Advocates will tell you that it tastes like steak – with less fat, less calories and less cholesterol. And they’re right – our photographer grilled us some ostrich medallions seasoned only with salt and pepper, and we had a mighty good dinner, with hardly any guilt.

Taking advantage of near empty roads during the Holy Week break, we motored out to Nueva Ecija to look for the Gross Ostrich Farm in San Leonardo town, owned by former chef Michael Gross, an amiable German who started the farm with his wife Liza in 1999, after traveling the world for two decades working as chef for top hotel chains. It was in 1981, when he worked in South Africa (Durban and Sun City), that he saw his first ostrich farm.

Fortunately for us we ran into him – almost literally, since the dirt road leading to the farm is quite narrow – on his way back to town, and he kindly turned back to guide us around the 2-hectare property.

The birds are huge (the largest birds in the world, standing up to 2.5 meters tall), they run fast (up to 70 kph), and they do look funny – with little heads (the only part of the bird that is thrown away, “since it’s so small anyway,” Gross points out), awkward wings and strange two-toed legs but beautiful plumage (deep black, white and grey-brown). Females fluff their feathers and strike poses to attract the male – and well they should, as one male has a harem of about half a dozen females, who emit guttural warning sounds to scare off potential rivals (or nosy humans). It takes 48 hours to produce an egg, and a good female can produce between 60 to 90 eggs a season, which is normally from November to June (they don’t lay eggs during the rainy season), although last year egg laying stretched until August because of the dry spell.

An ostrich eats about two kilos of feed a day, and the quality of the feed is crucial, Gross emphasizes, because it determines the quality of the bird and its meat. Gross mixes his own feeds, which is grain-based, and adjusts nutrient composition (vitamins, calcium, proteins) as needed. In the wild, ostrich are grazers, eating grass and shrubs on the ground as well as leaves in the trees, their long, flexible necks allowing them this wide reach. They allegedly have very good eyesight (and long eyelashes too), and can see danger from afar when they stretch their necks. They have good hearing too (ears are located at the back of the head), and can live up to the ripe old age of 80 years (although females are usually commercially productive for about 30 years, males a bit longer).

At the farm, eggs are not hatched naturally because of high humidity as well as dangers of contamination, but are collected and put in special incubators in temperature- and humidity-controlled rooms in Gross’ house in nearby San Antonio. Each egg is tagged with the date it is laid and when it is expected to hatch, usually in 42 days. Gross checks for fertility after two weeks, and infertile eggs are taken out of the incubators, destined for an omelet or leche flan. The empty shells are valuable too, used for decorative purposes with handpainting or even carving, and can fetch up to P500 for a good size, unblemished shell. An ostrich egg, said to be equivalent to 24 chicken eggs, – that’s quite a big omelet by any measure – sells for P600 to P700 in a few select shops in Manila.

The fertile eggs are turned automatically every hour, or every three hours, inside the incubator, to maximize oxygen distribution and even development of the chick inside the egg.

When cracks are seen at the top of an egg, it is taken out of the rack and placed on a stand in a controlled hatching chamber. It takes two days for a chick to make its way out of the thick-shelled egg, after which it stays one more day in the hatching chamber to dry out. By that time it is a surprisingly large (almost as big as a medium-sized chicken) wobbly bird with surprisingly long and coarse brown feathers. The chicks are brought out to a pen, where they start pecking (feeding) on the fourth or fifth day. At this stage they are pretty cute cuddly chicks, a long way from the lumbering, sometimes threatening giants outside.

Gross Ostrich Farm’s main business at this stage is selling chicks for breeding, and Gross is a full-service farm that helps clients set up their ostrich farm operations, with advice on farm lay-out and fencing, feeding, purchase of birds, etc. Gross reveals that there are quite a few ostrich farms in the country in various stages of operation. He estimates that the ostrich population in the country is now about 2,000 birds, but there is not much breeder stock available so there is still a need to import. Gross’ original birds are from the U.S. and South Africa.

Gross tags every bird on his farm so that he not only knows age but also parentage. A healthy chick costs about P12,500; for breeding purposes clients usually take two females and a male.

The hatchling ratio is 50-50 for males and females, and the males that are not sold as breeders go to the farm to eat their two kilos of feed a day for ten to 12 months, at which time they have grown to well over 100 kilos each – and ready to be slaughtered. I will not elaborate on the slaughtering method, except to say that it is very quick and painless. The feathers are plucked (after treating and sometimes dyeing they go on to adorn ball gowns and handbags and costumes and whatnot), the bird is skinned (ostrich leather has become a premium fashion item for shoes, bags and belts) and the meat harvested: the tenderloin from the back of the bird, and the leg and thigh. There is very little trim or marbling. Gross says he averages about 45 kilos of meat from a bird of 110 to 120 kilos.

The neck is quite meaty too, Gross shares, and makes excellent caldereta. The bones are chopped up and sold as soup stock, giving a rich flavorful broth without the fat (no sebo, he says).

Which brings me back to ostrich meat. The simple grill, which Gross says best shows off its “gentle gamey flavor,” is of course the easiest way to cook ostrich. Gross emphasizes the need to not overcook the meat so it doesn’t toughen or dry out, and to serve it very hot (never lukewarm). Some chefs do an ostrich tartare, he shares, by cutting the meat about an inch or so thick, marinating in spices and oil, then very quickly searing both sides of the meat in a very hot pan and serving immediately. “Anything you can do with beef, lamb, veal, pork or poultry, you can do with ostrich,” Gross says. “It marinates well, and is interchangeable with other meats in most recipes.”

After that delicious dinner (aside from the grill we also prepared a salpicao, which was good too), I’m a convert, but a caveat: it’s pricey at P700 a kilo (although there’s hardly any trim so there’s very little or no wastage). But if once in a while you feel like dining on the wild side and still claim to eat healthy, check out Struthio camelus.

* * *

Find out more about the Gross Ostrich Farm at their website www.grossostrich-ph.com, which also has recipes, or email [email protected].