Before I tell you about a most unusual BBQ, I must fill you in on the background.

Our sole occupancy of the strip at Carnegie ended one day with the arrival of a DC-3.  This aircraft had been chartered from MacRobertson-Miller by Kevin Radford a good bloke who had a photographic shop in Perth and who had a burning ambition to get into the aerial survey business, but he had no aircraft.  We had previously met him in Perth.  Unfortunately for him, his two pilots were strictly 'airline' pilots and seemed to have no appreciation of the requirements for successful aerial survey i.e. they would always leave Carnegie on a Friday afternoon to be back in Perth for the week-end and would arrive back at Carnegie on the Monday, usually having missed some ideal survey weather.

As the population of Carnegie Station had now increased by some 6 or 7 blokes (Radford had a couple of odd bods with him), Roy Lenke, the station manager, decided to bung on a BBQ.  We had occasion to go to Meekatharra to dispatch some film one day and so Roy came with us and organized a couple of 5 gallon kegs from the pub.  So the scene was set for the BBQ .... and now comes the unusual bit!

“THE MYTH OF HAVING TO HANG FRESHLY KILLED BEEF IN A COOL ROOM FOR X WEEKS TO MAKE IT TENDER"

On the evening of the BBQ, dressed in our best one-piece greys, we fronted up to the homestead and there we found a freshly killed beast suspended from a front-end loader.  Roy, wielding the knife, asked us what cut of meat we would like put on the BBQ.  We were a bit dubious about the texture of such fresh meat, but were amazed and delighted to find it was not only very tender, but quite delicious.  As the BBQ progressed we became more adventurous and Roy produced all sorts of cuts from the various nooks and crannies within the beast.  All were very tender and were voted as the best beef we had ever tasted.

Roy explained to me that the reason the meat was so tender was that the beast had no idea it was about to be killed and so it did not pump any adrenalin or tense up in any way.  He had simply ridden his horse very quietly into the paddock, had casually walked alongside the beast and shot it with a 38 revolver.  So a beast that had been alive at 4pm was on the BBQ at 7pm and gave the lie to the accepted theory that beef must be hung (although this one was hung alright ... see photos).

Further proof of the tenderness of the rump steak was provided by Des Hardy who had come to Carnegie fangless (he later bought a set from a bloke in the pub in Kalgoorlie!) and who was able to enjoy the BBQ armed only with his gums!!

Max Garroway
March 2003