Find Your Valentine
Slog
News & ArtsWednesday, January 7, 2009
Chow / Wilderness Today in Edible Varmint
Posted by David Schmader on Wed, Jan 7, 2009 at 1:18 PM
The New York Times reports on Britain's squirrel-eating boom:
[I]n farmers’ markets, butcher shops, village pubs and elegant restaurants, squirrel is selling as fast as gamekeepers and hunters can bring it in.While some have difficulty with the cuteness versus deliciousness ratio — that adorable little face, those itty-bitty claws — many feel that eating squirrel is a way to do something good for the environment while enjoying a unique gastronomical experience.
Stranger readers will remember Brendan Kiley's Urban Hunt, in which he hunted, slaughtered, cooked, and ate squirrel and several other city varmints. And of course there's this eternal classic from The Huntress.
In other news: Blet.
1
Our neighbors were related to this rich and very eccentric rancher who would periodically come in and terrorize the kids of the neighborhood with scary things (shrunken head, for example), so it should have been immediately questioned why he wanted to throw a barbecue for my friends, their family and some of us neighbor kids.
Well, Mr. First Hummer In South Texas hauls out a huge cooler of meat and begins cooking it. They looked to me like Cornish Game Hens and tasted a little gamey. Turns out he had shot some pigeons at his sister's house, plucked and then cooked them.
Later on, he attempted to get us to eat squirrel. No dice, not after eating pigeon.
Well, Mr. First Hummer In South Texas hauls out a huge cooler of meat and begins cooking it. They looked to me like Cornish Game Hens and tasted a little gamey. Turns out he had shot some pigeons at his sister's house, plucked and then cooked them.
Later on, he attempted to get us to eat squirrel. No dice, not after eating pigeon.
2
"good for the environment"? squirrels are part of a health environment. removing them from it will hurt the quality of the environment, not help it. what an ignorant comment.
3
Speaking of squirrel and other varmints, here's Jethro Bodine talking to Surgeon General elect, Sanjay Guptha:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a044Tx7aJ…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a044Tx7aJ…
4
It is good for the environment ... if hunters are killing the imported grey squirrels, which are displacing the native red squirrels.
7
One day every comment on the internet--especially those that castigate others as ignorant--will be written by people who didn't bother getting any context. Instead of 98%, like now.
8
http://saveoursquirrels.org/pge/cms_uplo…
Yes, it talks about trapping grey squirrels. But then read numbers 8 and 9...
Yes, it talks about trapping grey squirrels. But then read numbers 8 and 9...
9
For further enjoyment, see the latest Wholphin DVD, which features an amazing little doc on the grey squirrel invasion in the UK. Highly recommended.
11
When I was a kid, my parents would try to serve us squirrel and claim it was chicken which we never fell for because squirrel DOESN'T taste like chicken and they always gave the squirrel tail to the dog...
parents can be so dumb....
parents can be so dumb....
12
i really don't see a huge problem with eating squirrel, but man, talking about it's cute little butt when you're cooking it and then mixing it with pecans, cheap mayo and shredded cheese? that's disgusting. at least make something tasty out of it.
i mean, it really can't be that different from rabbit right? i love rabbit! it's delish.
i mean, it really can't be that different from rabbit right? i love rabbit! it's delish.
14
It's about time.
We've been trying to get your attention for years about the Grey and Brown Squirrel menace, but you just thought we were being cute while we tapped against your kitchen windows in morse code.
Thanks for finally listening!
We've been trying to get your attention for years about the Grey and Brown Squirrel menace, but you just thought we were being cute while we tapped against your kitchen windows in morse code.
Thanks for finally listening!
15
Having eaten squirrel myself, I don't envy the patrons of the British establishments serving this fine culinary experience ...
Can we get a recipe? I'm thinking squirrel curry.
Can we get a recipe? I'm thinking squirrel curry.
16
I'm more worried the crazy squirrel in my yard is going to eat me. Yes, yes the wild eyed terrorist managed to live through both the storms and the coyote. He looks at me from outside the window and I can see it in his eyes, he's saying "I'm coming for you."
17
1) Have you ever seen drunk squirrels eating rotten fruit? Amazing.
2) I grew up near Mechanicsburg. A great family friend used to walk across town with a shotgun over his shoulder to our house to collect my brother. "Mom says it's time for more squirrel pie." I'm told you can also shoot them in town with an air rifle if you hide in the garage with the garage door up a few inches.
2) I grew up near Mechanicsburg. A great family friend used to walk across town with a shotgun over his shoulder to our house to collect my brother. "Mom says it's time for more squirrel pie." I'm told you can also shoot them in town with an air rifle if you hide in the garage with the garage door up a few inches.
19
Just be sure to supplement your diet with more fatty meats; you don't want to suffer from squirrel starvation.
20
@1 in "reputable" restaurants, it's called squab. Granted, it's domesticated pigeon, but it still holds true: squab=pigeon. Just like the Patagonian Toothfish: you know it as Chilean Sea Bass. Branding is everything.
Unrelated, the only "sporting" way to take a squirrel is with a .22. A shotgun (20-gauge as it appears in the video) is entirely ungentlemanly.
Unrelated, the only "sporting" way to take a squirrel is with a .22. A shotgun (20-gauge as it appears in the video) is entirely ungentlemanly.
22
When I hear about people eating squirrel I picture the cast of Hee Haw, not the British. Of course the British are known for such recipes as Spotted Dick, so I guess they'll eat anything.
23
@20: Was that a shotgun? Why didn't the huntress's perfect lil squirrel carcass have pellet wounds? Was the kid shooting garlic-flavored rock salt? Did the crew secretly use Have A Heart traps to obtain multiple squirrels? Fragen über Fragen.
Advertisement
Most Commented on Slog
-
SL Letter of the Day: Pill The Homos! by Dan Savage
-
Dear Huffington Post... by Dan Savage
-
Slog Bible Study: Deuteronomy 21:10-14 by Goldy
-
The AP Is Reporting That Whitney Houston Is Dead by Paul Constant
-
Because Guns Make Us Safer by Goldy
-
The Rick Santorum Rally in Tacoma Probably Could Have Gone Better by Paul Constant
-
SL Letter of the Day: Daddy Loves Who? by Dan Savage
-
Because Guns Make Us More Safer by Goldy
-
Gay Kids Are Still Killing Themselves by Dan Savage
-
Gregoire: "This is signed!" by Eli Sanders
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
Comments (24) RSS