Posted on 08/26/2023 3:24:43 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The TV farmer and YouTube star say he has been 'deluged' with supply offers for his squirrel burgers - but others have called the plan 'horrendous'
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A farmer has defended himself after suffering a fierce backlash over his plan to serve squirrel burgers.
Farmer and influencer Gareth Wyn Jones, who has a million followers on social media including 750,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel, has been on the end of abuse online since he went public with an appeal for supplies of freshly killed grey squirrel to make the patties.
Gareth, who has previously appeared on BBC TV series the Family Farm, will be running the pop-up restaurant Cwtch Kitchen at the Welsh Game Fair on September 9 and 10. He plans to put the burgers on the menu at the event and is also suggesting serving them in a calzone.
Gareth, who farms in the foothills of the Carneddau Range above Llanfairfechan, in Conwy, said: “I’ve eaten it that way in Majorca cooked by Chris ‘Flamebaster’ Roberts for S4C and it would be perfect washed down with a glass of red Rondo from the Gwinllan Conwy vineyard. I’ve been deluged with offers of grey squirrel but I’ve had a fair bit of abuse from uneducated people with full bellies too. They’re nuts.”
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That included loopy44 who posted: “I think that's a horrendous idea for burgers - next you will be suggesting seagulls. You are only doing it for notoriety. I definitely prefer to see my squirrels happy in trees."
Hawkeye responded: “You can stick them where squirrels stuff their nuts! Why not rat burgers, same thing but no bushy tail!!!” while imageezer blasted: “The man is sick in the head.”
But Gareth has his supporters too, North Wales Live reports, and indigodebz said: “Makes total sense to me, we import and transport far too much food. Eat local, eat seasonal. I’m up for trying a squirrel burger if they’re genuinely having to be culled and would go to waste otherwise.”
Jonesey added: “I killed, gutted, cooked and ate a couple of grey squirrels many, many years ago … part of a survival course thing. As I remember they didn’t taste particularly good or particularly bad. As the bloke says, a bit like chicken.”
Gareth’s response was: “We should be supporting our native red squirrels. It’s all about getting that message out there. Every single grey that’s culled is protecting our native red population so let’s do it. Grey squirrels are an invasive species so the more we shoot the better and if we can add value by turning them into tasty food that’s even better. Even in the USA they’re a pest. They have Douglas red squirrels in Washington state and they’re being affected by the greys so people are encouraged to shoot them.”
Squirrel stew is awesome. Grey squirrels are bigger so they are better; best to marinate them in 1-1 water & vermouth in a fridge over. Takes away any gaminess.
My guess is 3 grey squirrels per 1 burger.
My dad was an avid squirrel hunter. I grew up eating squirrel in many different dishes.
Also, rabbit and wild guinea fowl.
I haven’t had Squirrel, but I imagine it would taste like Rabbit.
I’ve hunted squirrels. Not bad eating.
“I inherited the cast iron pan “
YOU must have been the “favorite” ....
Stew .... mull .... dumplings ...
Squirrel is a delicacy around here .. done right there are few woodland meals better.
Although raccoon ..... well .... ever wonder why there used to be so many coon dogs?
I have kin in Florahome ... right out side of Palatka.
Are you around there?
Horsemeat is pretty good in a stew, or braised. Too lean to grill; it’ll just dry out. There was a butcher shop in Portland that sold it when I was a child, but I don’t think anyplace would sell it now.
I’ve tried squirrel but didn’t care for the flavor. Cottontail rabbit is good, jackrabbit not so good. Some people claim that javelina is edible; I do not agree. Rattlesnake is edible (tastes like snake, not chicken) but why bother? Frog legs are overrated IMO, and nobody should eat a snail.
“YOU must have been the “favorite” ..”
It was the only thing of hers I wanted. I’d eaten so many good meals she made with it that I just had to have it. I doubt any of my brothers could locate whatever it was they decided to take. But that pan is right on our stove. It lives there.
Every time I use it I think of her. To my mind it’s a fitting tribute.
L
Light years better than the government recommended bugs, worms and maggots.
I think of my Grandma when I cook sometimes, too.
Best cook we ever knew.
I’ve had moose, deer, rabbit, quail, squid, octopus, mussels and clams, and rattlesnake. Why not squirrel?
...it tastes pretty good if not a little chewy, the hind quarters are all that’s worth going after.
Squirrel, rabbit, quail, dove.
They are all excellent game animals and you don’t kill them for fun. You kill them for the table.
Squirls are pretty tasty.
Kind of small bite, but tasty.
They taste like their close relatives - the rabbits. Who then taste like chicken.
The worst problem with squirrels is the work vs. performance relationship.
Those suckers have a very strong skin and a lot of hair. It takes a lot of work to skin them and then there is only little bit of meat left! Just not worthy all the efforts.
Hell, rabbits are hardly worth the effort. Unless you’re starving. Then they’re totally worth the effort.
“Hell, rabbits are hardly worth the effort. Unless you’re starving. Then they’re totally worth the effort.”
Even if you are starving, you still have to boil up and eat the organs or there is not enough calories from fat. You can eat lots of Rabbit and still starve to death because the meat is too lean and has no fat.
Since National Lampoon Christmas Vacation the menu may have changed for many health conscious people....
(warning: Clark says swear word)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0fjEDrCFgo
The great newspaper cartoonist Charles Guindon once showed a smiling man getting started on writing his book as he typed the first words on the typewriter page:
The Road Kill Cookbook. Chapter One.
Agree! It tastes like chicken thigh meat and I would definitely try a burger. Better than plant based crap or chicken tumors.
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