Contemplating Canada

In a little bit of down time at the office between phone calls and while on my lunch break I have been following the visit by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to Canada and seeing what their experience of Canada will be like. To be honest, I am a little jealous of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the stops they are making along their visit to Canada, but the one place I wish I could have been was at the Canadian feast they had with various foods from across Canada.  I was rather surprised when I discovered what was being served from Alberta.  It wasn’t beef, bread made from Alberta wheat, or even corn from down south. 

 

Alberta has been known for its beef for a number of years so to not serve the royal couple beef really confused me. In Kendra’s little world, beef is an essential protein in Alberta and could probably be considered to be indigenous to the prairies (although this assumption could be wrong, it is what I have believed since moving to this province). So why was the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge not served beef?  

 Because they were served yak!

This is a picture of a yak.

I was a little embarrassed, not because the couple was not fed beef, but because I had no idea that yaks existed in Alberta.  I thought Yaks existed in India and areas with high altitudes as a form of transportation, but after a brief search online I found the blog for the ranch that produced the yak consumed by Will and Kate.  Here’s the blog for Springridge Ranch that you can visit.

This is what the cross between a cow and yak looks like

So from my understanding this is not pure yak, but is a yak crossed with black angus to produce yak-cross beef.  If I am completely wrong in this assumption please let me know. All of this talk of yak makes me want to buy some and see what it tastes like, but it is currently available only in Calgary or from the producers website.

Here are some
Yak Jerky Sticks
you can buy from
Springridge Ranch.

Now don't get me wrong, but I am not meaning to offend anyone by criticizing the lack of Alberta beef on the menu, I was just surprised by the fact that yaks are edible and that there are some bred right here in Alberta.