Nuts: Grey Squirrel is served in canapes
Posted on 10/16/2007 11:10:07 AM PDT by Stoat
Nuts: Grey Squirrel is served in canapes
Peking duck-style squirrel wraps are being offered to diners at The Famous Wild Boar Hotel.
The restaurant at Crook, near Windermere, in Cumbria, is giving diners the chance to try the canapes free of charge.
The grey squirrels were caught in the hotel's 72-acre woodland grounds and have been prepared by head chef Marc Sanders.
Hotel general manager Andy Lemm said: "Although we do still have red squirrels, the greys are everywhere.
"Our diners seemed to enjoy the squirrel pancakes and I thought they tasted rather nice, a bit like rabbit."
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Nibble: Wild Boar Hotel head chef Marc Sanders with the Peking duck-style squirrel treats
Lord Redesdale's Red Squirrel Protection Partnership specialises in trapping and despatching greys to protect the reds.
The partnership has killed 4,521 greys since January, and Lord Redesdale said: "The problem is that when we catch and despatch greys, there is nothing we can do with them.
"We would like to be a supplier of grey squirrels. With an estimated five million greys in the country, there are enough of them to go round."
James Cookson runs the Flying Fox sales and marketing venture for food and rural businesses, based near Morpeth, Northumberland, which also features the Comfort at Meldon Park restaurant.
He said: "Grey squirrels can be eaten and there is no reason why they shouldn't be eaten.
"It makes sense if you are catching something to make use of it.
"We have some grey traps set at the moment and I would be willing to try it, without a doubt.
"If we could get enough greys and a suitable recipe then I can see no reason why it shouldn't be on the menu.
"Our reds are disappearing, and perhaps the more greys that are eaten, the better it is for the reds."
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Endangered: Red Squirrels are under threat because of a burgeoning population of greys
Carri Nicholson, manager of the Save Our Squirrels project based at Northumberland Wildlife Trust, said: "It is far more ecologically and environmentally sound to find a use for what is being trapped.
"A number of places in Northumberland are thinking of having grey squirrel on the menu.
"I haven't tried grey squirrel but people I know who have say it tastes like chicken used to taste when it tasted like chicken.
"The Americans have numerous recipes for grey squirrel, with the most popular being Brunswick Stew, which is casseroled squirrel."
Last year Lord Inglewood, who lives near Penrith in Cumbria, warned the red squirrel will soon become extinct if the non-native grey population is allowed to go on increasing.
He suggested then that one way of dealing with the problem would be to foster a market for grey squirrel meat.
He said: "What about celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver promoting it for school dinners? I have never actually eaten a grey squirrel but I am prepared to give it a go."
Squirrel Ping
Rodentia Ping
Food Ping
Boy, you can hide any meat in Chinese cooking.
“Not” pinging you
Squirrel’s not bad, actually. It takes a lot of work to get full eating squirrel, however.
Oh, and always save my head, that's where much of my flavor resides.
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In European heaven the French are the cooks,the Swiss are the bankers,the Italians are the lovers,the Germans are the mechanics and the British are the police.
In European hell the British are the cooks,the Italians are the bankers,the Swiss are the lovers,the French are the mechanics and the Germans are the police.
Ping!!
Marc's long lost family?
Best way to do this, though, is to simply serve fried squirrel as a side-dish with the main meal (something with pork loin, potatoes, greens for example).
“That wasn’t chicken”
lol
I’ve got squirrels to donate.
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