At the Youth Centre young women work over big pots making healthy camel stew with lots of vegies, beans and
spices. On Monday and Tuesday nights kids and young people come from the community to have a big feed of stew
and rice. The old people used to say that camel was no good and you should not eat it because of the ‘Three Kings
Dreaming’. These days even the old people enjoy Docker River camel stew...
For camel meat recipes check out
How to cook camel meat
Camel meat can be cooked in lots of different ways. It can be
curried, roasted or minced to make sausages and burgers that are
good for selling in community take-away stores. A lot of people
think that camel meat is dry and tough ‘too hard to eat’.
Camel meat is good to eat if it is cooked properly. Camel meat is
low in cholesterol. It has less fat then beef, so it is important to
seal in the juices when you cook it. If the meat is not sealed then
it will loose moisture, shrink and become dry and chewy.
Do not grill camel meat!
You can kill and butcher your own camel meat like they do at Docker
River. If you are going to sell meat, special camel handling,
butchering and health regulations must be followed. Community
stores can buy bulk camel meat at wholesale prices from the Central
Australian Camel Industry Association (phone: 89518183).
Docker River camel stew
Mincing camel meat...
Photograph: Pauline Fietz
Raelene Mitchell
Cooking camel stew...
Ralene Mitchell, Joanne Andrews, Pauline Feitz, Selissa Teamy,
Kumana Andrews, Brenda Tjuwara
Photograph: Pauline Fietz
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