Eat the Invaders

In case you missed it, ‘Eat the Invaders’ is an ABC show that kicked off earlier this year, with the complete season available to stream for free on ABC iview. Not an original idea, as a quick google search will show you, but interesting and entertaining, nonetheless. There are six episodes, starting with rabbit, followed by carp, cane toad, camel, cat and deer.

The show is based around two things. How to deal with an introduced animal, can it be done by eating it? Ideally to eradicate, but we’ll accept controlling the numbers. Secondly, what kind of weird fancy meal can it be turned into? If you have ever seen Heston Blumenthal, this is the feel they are aiming for with that.

Host Tony Armstrong travels Australia looking for these invaders, talking to locals, scientists and anyone who has tried eating that animal before. Each episode generally follows a pattern: history lesson, catching the invader, cooking it as an everyday meal, taste testing, researcher/scientist input and a finally onto MONA for the Heston-style dining experience with a special guest/s.

For those that have never been, MONA is the Museum of Old and New Art located just outside Hobart in Tasmania. It’s the largest privately funded museum in the Southern Hemisphere. To say that MONA, and its curator/artist Kirsha Kaechele are a bit different, would not be a stretch – it’s kind of what makes them famous!

As you would predict there are those who don’t come out of this sparkling with gold. This includes the invasive animal (although plants do get a mention) itself and the those who introduced the invader to Australia.

For those of us that partake in hunting, we are given a reasonable hearing, although unfortunately never really considered a major part of the solution. Skipping to the last episode on deer, more than a passing interest of mine, Victoria and Tasmania get a bit of a bad rap for deer’s ‘game’ status. As we know, being listed as a game species is about hunter management, not species protection. Welcome information, for example, would be the recent removal of bag limits for does in Tasmania, freeing up both hunters and farmers to take more animals. This would have shown an acceptance of change. Also, the offer from hunting groups to help control deer numbers that have entered national parks.

The scientists view themselves as the answer and some agree, although I’m not so sure they can do it on their own. I hope they see hunters as a piece of the complex puzzle to help bring the numbers under control.

Each episode runs for about half an hour and are well worth a watch, just take a deep breath and remember it’s entertainment trying to discuss a serious topic in a limited amount of time.