Yak Shaving – Tech geeks finally get a real gold medal event. Imagine the ad revenue from Gillette, Schic, and Bic. (man that’s fun to say!)

Yak Skiing – Redefines extreme sports.

Yak Racing – The pageantry will take the opening ceremony to new heights.

Yak Sack – Pure exhilaration.

Yak Assing – Controversy? I would like to see Evgeni spin around four times on that horn!  (Gotta apologize for this one because yaks are generally gentle creatures. Everyone has their breaking point. For this yak-its Johnny-with me-its spiders.)

Come to think of it, it’s clear that if the IOC doesn’t adopt at least some of these events, the yak movement will be forced to create its own winter games. I think you can guess the fate of the short sighted Olympic Commission. Bickering over how to score a lutz will become a luxury of the unemployed.

Please take immediate action. Contact the IOC and demand the addition of yak events to the winter games. If the IOC does not immediately add yak events to the winter games, the Winter Games will become just another entry on the Fail Blog.

In this area I think we could model our behavior on the yak’s. Contrary to popular myth, yaks have very little to say. When they do, they mean it. But yaks are fully and completely, tragically hip.

Yak is a bovine, so from a technical standpoint the meat is called “Beef”. As with any meat, flavor is dependent on a number of factors. Breed, genetics within a breed, diet, age, environmental conditions,and the process used to “finish” the animal all play an important role in the end result. Yak meat is fairly rare at this point and each ranch or producer provides a unique product.
At the top of the “what does yak meat taste like?” question is: “Are you tasting 100% yak or a cross with a domestic cattle breed?”. Yaks are crossed with domestic cattle for various reasons including hybrid vigor, growth characteristics, hardiness, etc. Crosses will produce very different results as you are introducing genetics from any of dozens of breeds of domestic cattle.
Within domestic yaks, there are varying characteristics as well. Full-blood yaks are typically less marbled than production beef cattle with most of their fat being carried on the outside of the carcass. This produces a lean product that has a jump on even grass-fed beef.
Finishing may have as much to do with flavor as anything. There are various methods and philosophies. Grain finishing: corn, wheat screenings, various rations, all produce different results. Grass finishing has just as many variables.
Add in age of the animal, environmental factors including stress, the butchering and aging process, etc. and you are dealing as much with art as you are science. Consistency in the flavor of the end product is elusive.
Oh yeah,  someone has to cook it! or not…….
The great thing about yak meat is that you are starting with a naturally lean, high protein, meat with a great balance fatty acids that is tender and delicious.
Any good yak meat discussion should end with a little “cheese, “Once You Go Yak, You Will Never Go Back!”

Click here to get Yak Meat.

Some links from around the web offering their opinions.

Weird Meat – Yak in Yunnan

Weird Meat – Raw Yak Meat

Real Food Mama – Ground Yak

Moscow Food Co-op – Yak

San Diego Reader – Yak Burgers and Steaks

Yaks Meat. from andre 3000 on Vimeo.

On the way back from Seattle, we stopped at a little place that had Yak on the menu. I decided I must try some. Didn’t taste different from beef, maybe it would in a steak cut.

Farmed in the region for centuries, the yak has been a traditional source of sustenance.

But now, Yaks are also providing luxury fibres and gourmet cheese to some of the world’s leading fashion houses and hotels.

They’re apart of social enterprises – businesses which aim to achieve social, environmental and financial goals.

Follow the original link to watch the video.

more…..

Denver Post article on Yak Yarn and Bijou Basin Ranch

Rest of Everest – Yak-Tastic!