Venison, the flesh of the deer family, is one of the best of meat foods. It is nourishing, easily assimilated and flavorful. Many people, for different reasons, will disagree with me when I make this statement, but most of those who have eaten the meat of deer which has been properly killed and taken care of, will say the same thing.



Some people are prejudiced and would not eat venison under any circumstances. Others have sampled this meat on an experimental basis, and, being prepared to dislike it, have disliked it. Still others have eaten venison that as not fit to eat and have therefore condemned all venison because of the sample. It is a fact that a large portion of the deer which are killed are not fit to eat by the time that they reach the table. There is no real need for this and it is too bad that so much good meat should go to waste each year for the lack of proper care. Venison is easily spoiled by improper care and it is a mystery to me how so much of it remains edible as long as it does after the treatment that most of it receives.

Most of our domestic meat animals are killed and handled under the eyes of Government inspectors in as sanitary a manner as possible. Every effort is made to see that the meat reaches the consumer in an edible condition. If a beef animal were shot through the body, perhaps several times; the viscera removed in an indifferent manner, perhaps in several pieces; blood and other foreign matter left in the body cavity; the carcass dragged over the ground to an un-refrigerated car and shipped, with the skin on, for two hundred miles, the meat would not pass inspection and would be condemned as unfit for human consumption. Many of our deer are handled in this manner and it is no wonder that some of the people who eat the meat from these deer decide that they do not like it. Some people object to the "wild" or "gamey" taste of venison and the meat of other wild animals. This taste is largely imaginative. Each has its own distinctive odor, and odor plays a large part in determining taste.

When the olfactory nerves are affected by a severe head cold, the food that we eat is almost tasteless, and a blindfolded man, holding his nose, cannot distinguish the difference in taste between a slice of onion and a slice of apple. We have learned to associate certain odors with certain foods and when we encounter these odors they give us an appetite. Food odors with which we are accustomed are, as a rule, pleasing; and when we eat the food, the entire digestive system is prepared to accept it, and we like it. On the other hand, unfamiliar odors are often offensive so we dislike the food, and often the stomach will refuse to accept and retain it. The French chef, with his many sauces, is able to overpower or disguise these odors so as to make almost any food palatable.

Venison, when properly cared for, needs none of these disguising sauces. The odor is no stronger than that of the domestic animals. It is different, with the same difference which exists among beef, pork and mutton, but anyone who approaches a good venison steak with an open mind is almost certain to enjoy it. It is a superior food and if the deer could be domesticated and treated as other domesticated animals, we would have an even better and tastier product.

Venison is easily spoiled by improper care; some people object to the "wild" or "gamey" taste of venison and the meat of other wild animals. This taste is largely imaginative. Each has its own distinctive odor, and odor plays a large part in determining taste. When preparing the venison, you can make some experiment for a better taste and odor.