Get some emu on your plate

Try It Emu Farm manager Brendon Schmidt with 15-month-old emus that could soon be a tasty part of dinner.

Sarah Harvey

EMU might not be in your fridge yet, but it might be part of regular meals sooner than you think.

Marburg's Try It Emu Farm has been selling emu oil products for nearly two decades, and has launched a line of emu meats.

"We tried it before years ago but people turned their noses up at it," said Try It Emu Farm co-owner Sarah Schmidt.

"But now people are more willing to try different meats and it's been really successful."

Unlike other more popular poultry like chicken, emu is a red meat, which farm co-owner Stephen Schmidt said was actually similar to beef.

"If I cooked it for you you'd think you were eating a great bit of beef," he said.

"Once I told you what it was you might think it was a bit like turkey or something."

While the farm's emu meat isn't going to be on supermarket shelves any time soon, Mrs Schmidt said it had been well received by chefs.

"They just love it and they love cooking with it," she said. "It's so quick to cook and so tasty."

Mrs Schmidt said having meats like kangaroo available in supermarkets had made people more curious about other meats.

"As more and more people are trying new things they're more likely to try it," she said.

"Some people still turn their noses up to it, but they are fewer and fewer."

Mrs Schmidt said emu meat was very versatile.

"As soon as we opened the store in Coolangatta we had the owner of a little Italian place come saying he wanted to make emu pizza," she said.

The Schmidts sell their meat at their Marburg farm as well as at stores in Redcliffe and Coolangatta.

It's so versatile Emu is a red meat, high in protein and low in fat and cholesterol.

It is sold as steaks, sausages or minced and can be used in a variety of dishes including curries, stir-fries and casseroles.

Emu meat contains up to three times the iron content of beef.