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“Feathers and fins are fine.”

It’s a refrain you’ll recognize from Nfocus’s October Health & Wellness issue, which outlines the ABCs of alpha-gal syndrome (AGS). An allergy acquired through a tick bite, AGS causes various reactions—such as rash, joint pain, gastrointestinal distress and anaphylaxis--after consumption of the alpha-gal sugar molecule (galactose-α-1,3-galactose) present in mammal meat. 

Remember from middle school biology? Mammals have fur and nurse their young. To avoid the alpha-gal molecule, people with AGS try to avoid mammal products--including beef, pork, lamb, goat and rabbit.

Sticking with feathers and fins can be harder than you think, because even a chicken sausage’s casing can be made of pork; marshmallows and medications can contain beef and pork gelatin; and potatoes can be fried in beef tallow.

So, what’s left for the omnivore with AGS?

Fortunately, there is an intriguing menagerie of non-mammalian proteins stretching beyond the familiar chicken and fish.

At Amaroo Hills farm in Ashland City, farmer Ngon Nguyen’s own AGS diagnosis led him to develop a niche business providing alpha-gal-safe meats to retailers. In addition to supplying ostrich, emu and duck to grocers, including local Green Door Gourmet and Sperry’s Mercantile, Amaroo Hills sells alpha-gal-safe pork online at amaroohills.com.

Sperry’s Mercantile stores in Belle Meade and Bellevue also stock quail, pheasant and guinea hen, and can order other specialty meats.

The New York Butcher Shoppe in Green Hills carries duck and alligator, while Gautier’s Seafood brings alligator and frogs legs (a.k.a. swamp chicken and wings) to various local farmers markets.

While these unusual proteins can be difficult to source, they can outshine the more-familiar meats they’re subbing for, in innovative recipes such as emu chili, blackened alligator tacos and ostrich frîtes.

When it comes to cooking ostrich, emu and duck, Ngon Nguyen suggests a simple rule of thumb. “Brush with olive oil, coat with a rub, or marinate,” he says. “Cook it medium-rare, between 125 and 135 degrees internal temperature. Just don’t overcook it.”