New Fowl Gain Favor

Emu and ostrich have not yet attained the visibility or popularity of hamburgers and hot dogs (or even risotto and bruschetta), but more and more restaurants are carrying at least one of the fowl on their menus.

This pleases Oxnard’s Deborah Torbert who, if she has anything to say about it, will have diners singing the praises of the avians before too long.

Torbert, a marketing professional by trade, has taken a liking to the various benefits of emu, ostrich and the related rhea--their oil, meat, feathers and hide--and has begun a serious campaign to educate the public about them.

In the area of food, Torbert pitches the lean, low-fat, low-cholesterol, high-iron, beef-like birds as a healthy alternative to red meat. She has hosted several taste-testing parties and has contacted a number of Ventura County restaurants with the idea of serving emu, ostrich or rhea, the last of which is described as having a duck-like head, turkey-like body and stork-like legs.

“My goal is to introduce the meat to the public, for them to know the benefits health wise, as well as taste and digestibility,” said Torbert, who serves as a distributor and broker for 17 avian suppliers. “I think people will accept them if they know the benefits.”

So far, Torbert said, she has received positive responses from the Doubletree Hotel, which will begin serving emu in January. Rain Forest Delights, a 4-month-old Bolivian and South American restaurant in Camarillo, has already begun using emu in its dishes.

“We’re grilling some of the emu and we’re [also] making empanadas--we use emu, potatoes and peas in a sauce,” said Jim Way, who owns Rain Forest Delights with his Bolivian wife, Maria. “The flavor is very good. It’s almost a beef-like flavor.”

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Restaurateurs Joanna and Delfino Lopez-Rojas will continue what has become a Ventura holiday tradition when they again offer tamale-making demonstrations at their two restaurants--Joannafina’s Mexican cafes on Main Street and Seaward Avenue.

Guests will have a chance to learn the tamale-making process from 5:30 to 7 p.m. today at the original Joannafina’s, 1127 S. Seaward Ave. From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Dec. 12, the demonstration will be held at the new location, 420 E. Main St.

For more information, call 652-0360 (Seaward Avenue) or 643-1464 (Main Street).

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Julia Child will sign her cookbooks from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday at the Let’s Get Cookin’ School in Westlake Village. Fans may purchase cookbooks through the school, with 25% of the proceeds to go toward a culinary scholarship fund. The school is at 4643 Lakeview Canyon Road. To reserve a cookbook or for more information, call (818) 991-3940.