Chimera
A true testament to the fantastical beasts that roam our planes, the Chimera is an amalgamation of multiple creatures: typically a lion, a goat, and a dragon or serpent. That being said, I have seen many different types of Chimera and heard rumors of many more, each made up of different fearsome and grotesque components. The Chimera's appearance is as awe-inspiring as it is terrifying. But most importantly, each part of this hybrid beast brings its own unique characteristics to both the battle, and the dinner table. As such, the Chimera is a great choice for culinary investigation.
Butchering
The most difficult aspect of properly field dressing Chimera is the variability in the process. Chimera can be made of many different bestial components, but for the sake of this article, let’s assume that you are working with one of the most common Chimera, the Lion, Goat, Dragon hybrid.
The first step is careful separation of the various heads of the Chimera. The meat of each head is rather reflective of the beast it represents. The neck of the lion is rather tough, with tense muscles that may be difficult to cut through, so make sure to bring the correct tools for the job. The neck of the goat is much easier to find purchase in, and the goat spine can be separated easily from the body. Finally, the dragon often has a rather tough hide, but with a good blade, once that hide has been punctured and flayed, the meat underneath is not too difficult to separate, and can be cleanly separated from the body.
Preparation
Once the meat has been properly butchered and cleaned, it is important to make sure that each neck section is treated with respect to its unique qualities. In our example, the lion’s meat should be handled similarly to other large predators, with proper tenderization and maybe even aging. The goat meat may benefit from marination and slow cooking techniques. The serpent flesh on the other hand, is rather lean and may be cooked hot and fast to make sure it sears without drying out. I’ve also heard of individuals just salt curing the snake neck, never actually applying heat to keep it tender.
The body meat however, I can’t even give any specific instructions for because it is such a case by case basis. This is the true test for a chef, as these unique cuts will not offer a second chance if they are treated incorrectly. However, with ample risk comes fitting rewards.
Flavor
The flavor of the Chimera is highly dependent on the bestial composition of the individual beast. As mentioned earlier, the necks of the beast are almost indistinguishable in flavor and texture from their individual counterparts. As such, there is not too much of note there. Lion tastes like lion, goat tastes like goat, dragon tastes like dragon, I’m sure we all know those flavors.
However, the interesting part of the chimera is not the neck meat, it's the body meat. While the necks are rather straightforward in their flavor and texture, representative of their corresponding beasts, the body of the chimera is more of a gradient of texture and flavor. While many chimeras seem to have a primary body, whether that is of lion, wolf, or anything else, this meat takes on many of the aspects of the secondary and tertiary heads of the beast. This results in truly unique meat, taking on seemingly random flavors and textures at different parts of the body. Furthermore, this seems to be unique for each and every chimera, yielding a very interesting culinary experience every time...as long as you have a chef up to the task of working with these cuts.
A Case Study
Chimera Barbacoa
While I can not give too many hard and fast rules about working with every Chimera, I can tell you about my own experience. It was a Lion, Eagle, Goat hybrid, with the front body of a lion and back body of a goat. This means the majority of the body was rather tough and stringy once slow cooked, but with random striations of reptile meat and other textures. The flavor was much gamier than I had expected for Chimera, but I can only theorize that the Goat head was doing most of the eating, and ranged on various grasses and brush. I could taste hints of basil and coriander, which made sense based on the geography we found it in.
The question of how to properly cook this beast was a difficult one. Simply braising the body meat in liquid like I commonly prepare goat would have led to some striations of tough reptile meat. I also wanted to make sure that the lion meat that was centralized towards the front of the body received proper attention. The path that I decided to take involved skinning the body, then coating it in a paste made of chilies, garlic, onion, and aromatic herbs. After that I wrapped the entire body in banana leaves and lowered it into a pit that had been dug out and filled with smoldering coal. I filled the pit with sand to cover it, and allowed the chimera meat to cook all day, finally retrieving the meat and portioning it out that evening. It was quite a feast, and an experience to remember. While in retrospect there are certain things I would have done differently, those little regrets are inherent to working with Chimera. It's best not to let them fester, and to enjoy the unique dish you get to lay your hands on instead.
Fantastic Beasts and How To Eat Them
I also make short videos on Instagram and TikTok now if you would like to see this in a video format!