“The most wholesome wild beast’s flesh is venison.” This was written by the Physicians of Myddfai sometime between 800 and 1800 AD. They were not writing here about domesticated animals and their meat, although they do say that they considered pork to be the most “wholesome” meat of domesticated species. The Physicians of Myddfai clearly didn’t rate beef, but perhaps that’s because they lived in mid-Wales where there would have probably been more sheep. They would not have known about the buffalo or bison of course.

Venison has less fat and calories than buffalo, although buffalo meat has just a little more protein per 100 grams, (around 4 grams, so there isn’t much in it). Grass-fed venison and buffalo are arguably the best sources of protein because the meat does not contain much fat and what there is comes in the form of the monounsaturated fats, such as Omega-3 and Omega-6, which is good news as in the Western world we don’t have enough Omega-3 in our diets.

Buffalo can be cooked in the same ways as beef, although it needs less cooking time because it contains so little fat. There is no ‘marbling’ in buffalo meat so it will cook more quickly. When you cook bison or buffalo for the first time, you will need to take care of the time, but once you’ve worked out the time it takes to cook you will have no problems with it. It can be ground, roasted, grilled, and barbecued in just the same way as beef. If you want to find outlets which sell buffalo or bison meat, then check with the National Bison Association website to find local or online sellers. 100 grams of buffalo meat provides you with just over half of the recommended daily amount of protein you need.
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