NYC Kangaroo Dinners Now Legal, Delicious

I've long been an advocate for dining on kangaroo. Not just because Greenpeace endorses the 'roo as a low-emissions option—if anything, that made me slightly more wary. Nor is it because kangaroos are fast-reproducing, free-range pests in the native land and have to be culled anyway, making them the most guilt-free meat out there.

Nope, I've been a kangaroo booster for years because that stuff is downright delicious. Personally, I like my kangaroo cooked on the grill (or under a broiler for city-dwelling kangaroo connoisseurs) after some quality time in a fig marinade. I give my recipe at the bottom of this article.

Naturally, I was thrilled to learn that the New York legislature has repealed a misinformed law banning kangaroo meat on the grounds that the marvelous marsupials are endangered. (Only one species is in trouble. The commonly eaten varieties are as plentiful as they are savory.)

Esquire spoke with Andrew Jorda, co-owner of the SoHo restaurant Eight Mile Creek about the joys of kangaroo meat and his speedy victory over the kangaroo banners.

ESQ: So it's imported from Australia? Or do you have an "arrangement" with the Bronx Zoo?

AJ: It comes vacuum-sealed from Australia, and certainly doesn't taste frozen or freezer-burned. Kangaroo meat isn't from animals in captivity; it's completely organic, free range — not farms. They're culled every year by professional kangaroo shooters who shoot 'em in the head, which is very humane because the animals are dead before they hit the ground. They don't even know what's happening.

Read the whole thing. Lucky D.C. locals can pick up a cut of kangaroo at the butcher featured in this video by Reason.tv's Meredith Bragg.