Dutch butcher imports camel meat for burgers

LEEUWARDEN, Netherlands, April 16 (UPI) -- A Netherlands butcher said he decided to begin importing camel meat from Australia after hearing of the country's surplus.

Johannes Hoekstra, proprietor of the De Schrans butcher shop in Leeuwarden, said he heard about Australia's camel meat surplus and decided to import the meat, DutchNews.nl reported Tuesday.

Hoekstra told Nos television he soon discovered the camel meat was "just as delicious as beef."

The butcher said he ordered about 110 pounds of the camel meat, enough for 250 burgers. He said he sells the burgers for $6.50.

"We lightly season the meat, mince it roughly and serve it with lettuce, tomato and two half hard-boiled eggs," which represent the camel's humps, Hoekstra told BNR radio.

The Australian government authorized a cull of wild camels and the sale of the surplus meat abroad due to the damage the estimated 1 million animals have been inflicting on crops.