Home Again on the Kitchen Range

ON fancy china and in hot dog rolls and burger buns, buffalo is finally coming of age as an alternative red meat. But it almost didn’t happen.

The first time buffalo ranching took off, in the 1990s, the public wasn’t ready. People wanted only the fancy steaks and burgers; the other cuts were seen as tough and gamy, and producers couldn’t give them away. In 2000 the market collapsed. Bulls that had sold for $2,100 were going for $500.

The producers who held on until 2003 found a different climate as sales began to perk up. By then many Americans had started looking at their food with a more critical eye, and they were ready for buffalo, also called American bison.

Today buffalo meat, shunned no longer, has achieved an enviable position: simultaneous praise from chefs, nutritionists and environmentalists. At last, steak without guilt.

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