Tiger Meat

Tonight the hubby and I are watching one of our favorite shows, No Reservations. Anthony Bourdain is visiting the rust belt which includes Detroit, Baltimore and Buffalo. While in Detroit he is eating at an Iraqi restaruant and they bring something to the table that looks familiar to me. Hubby says "hey honey it's tiger meat" and sure enough it is, well at least a version of it. I am so proud of hubby because I taught him that term and he remembered it! So where did I learn about this dish and what is it are the questions we need to address.

When I was growing up we always had Christmas Eve at my grandparent's farm. Grandma made tons of little cookies, ham sandwiches, fruit and veggie plates, cheese and venison sausage spreads, and this weird thing called tiger meat. I loved our Christmas Eve meals with the exception of that meat stuff. Everyone breathe, it is not literally tiger meat but it is instead a mixture of raw, fresh beef mixed with seasonings and a binder (probably egg) and then put on crackers - seriously gross in my opinion but my family seemed to like it. I have to be honest and say I did not actually try the stuff. My mind just wouldn't allow me to. Eventually I ignored it really well or it disappeared from the menu because I don't remember it being around for quite some time. As I got older, I actually didn't know if tiger meat was what it was truly called but sure enough when you Google it, the dish I am describing pops up. I learned that it appears to have a German heritage, which is why Grandma would have made it, and very local to the Midwest states of WI, MN and the Dakotas. Good thing I am in AL now!

This is not a dish I would seek out, but it seems that there are other people and cultures that have a similar take on this meal. As a Midwesterner living in the south, I am supposed to advise you where you could seek this option out. However, this dish still gives me the heebie geebies so I won't be doing that, but I welcome anyone to share if they have any thoughts on tiger meat in the south!