Your Chance to Name a Meat!

CANBERRA (Reuters) - How do you like your kangaroo -- medium rare? Doesn't sound too appealing, does it?
So in a bid to make Australia's national icon more palatable, Food Companion International magazine and the Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia are running a competition to find a more palatable culinary name for the meat of the hopping marsupials.
More than 300 entries have already been received from around the world including marsu (taken from marsupial), marla and wallagang (derived from the Aboriginal language), agaroo and the more unlikely Cyril, Skippy, yummy and roadkill.
"We need to come up with a catchier name for kangaroo meat. The current name inhibits some chefs from using the product because they know people will be put off ordering it," Mel Nathan, editor of Food Companion, told Reuters Monday.
"Overseas visitors tend to think that the koala and kangaroo are cute and cuddly animals there is no way they would ever dream of eating the product."
Australia's kangaroo population is conservatively estimated at more than 57 million. The Kangaroo Industry Association said around 15 to 20 percent of the population is harvested annually with the industry worth about A$200 million ($147 million).
Suggestions for a culinary name for kangaroo can be made at www.foodcompanion.com.