What’s cooking today: Roast eland sirloin

Oom Wentzel Lombard gave me a beautiful hunk of eland sirloin. An eland is an enormous animal, much like a cow; it’s often regarded as wild game’s answer to cattle and is lauded as the king of venison. It’s also much like beef in flavour, though aficionados argue that it’s better. One thing it does not have, of course, being game, is that cap of fat you get on an equivalent hunk of sirloin from a cow. So, when cooking eland, you need to be generous with other fats, such as butter.

My cowboy friend came over and took charge of the cooking of this cut of meat, at my request. And it turned out to be a learning curve for me in the art of browning. Though he is a farmer, he trained in a cooking academy, and knows his stuff in the kitchen. And this hunk of meat was in for a thorough basting.

How to get your hands on a hunk of eland sirloin? Sadly, that’s not easy. The best way is to cultivate a farmer friend with hunting contacts.

(Serves 4 generously)

Ingredients

1 x 800 g eland sirloin (or similar)

½ cup butter

2 or 3 small rosemary sprigs

2 bay leaves

Peeled cloves of 1 head of garlic

2 Tbsp crushed coriander seeds

Salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

Method

Preheat the oven to 160℃.

Melt the butter on a gentle heat, adding two bay leaves, a few sprigs of rosemary (not too much as it can overpower), and a whole head of garlic, peeled and separated into its cloves. Salt and pepper the sirloin and scatter crushed coriander seeds over it.

Place it in the foaming hot butter and begin the browning process. Baste constantly with the butter, which is now flavoured with garlic, rosemary, bay and coriander. Keep scooping the garlic cloves on top of the meat whenever they slip back into the fat. This keeps their flavour going without them browning themselves.

Every now and then, turn the joint over so that the other side can brown. Give the sides of it some time in the fat too. This browning process could take about half an hour.

Remove the garlic cloves. Transfer the dish to the preheated oven and let it complete its cooking for about 20 minutes. Leave it to relax in the turned-off oven with the door ajar for 15 to 20 minutes before serving. DM

Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.

This dish is photographed on a platter by Mervyn Gers Ceramics.