Muskox ribs: 'They remind me of the Flintstones'

CBC North is telling the stories behind recipes posted on our Facebook group, The Arctic Kitchen: Recipes of the North. Join our group and follow along!

These are no ordinary ribs. These are muskox ribs, and they are huge.

"They are so big they remind me of the Flintstones," said Nicky Richards.

Richards lives in Norman Wells, N.W.T., and loves to hunt and cook wild meat with her husband Stuart Pope. Anytime they can get muskox, they don't hesitate. There's just so much meat.

"A lot of the time we will cut them in half so they are easier to manage," Richards said. "But I like when they are big like that, there's a lot of meat on them."

Muskox look big, but looks can be deceiving. Her husband is a proficient hunter and she has hunted them herself too. They have seen a lot of muskox.

"They look big because they are so furry," she said. "They're very tough animals, sometimes it takes a lot to get one down."

Every time they get a muskox, they are sure to use all of the meat. 

"The wild meat that we eat is 80 per cent of our diet."

Her husband Stuart made these big, delicious looking muskox ribs, and according to Nicky, the recipe was simple. 

"I asked him, like, 'Oh my goodness these are so good, what did you do?' And he said, 'Soya sauce, Worcestershire sauce and maple syrup.'" she said. "He just baked it in the oven all day long and kept braising with that little bit of sauce and it just made it perfect."

It was so simple, she said it just made sense to share it on the CBC's Facebook recipe page.

Lindsay McKay said, "Oh my good Lord" when he saw the picture.

When group member Will Chiksi saw the ribs he said, "Unreal! Looks amazing."

And, Christine Hasler says the picture was an eye opener. "I didn't know they could be hunted ... Learn something new every day."

Richards says one of the great things about living in Norman Wells is that people in the community love to share. She says hunters share meat when they come down from the mountains.

Now she's taking it a step further, and sharing it with people and the new friends she's making in our Facebook group. 

"There was never really any opportunity to share this stuff until I had seen the Facebook page. Seeing other people's recipes, I just thought I'd share what we had too."