Posted on 05/11/2008 8:20:25 AM PDT by Daffynition
t's low in fat, low in food miles and completely free range. In fact, some claim that Sciurus carolinensis - the grey squirrel - is about as ethical a dish as it is possible to serve on a dinner plate.
The grey squirrel, the American cousin of Britain's endangered red variety, is flying off the shelves faster than hunters can shoot them, with game butchers struggling to keep up with demand. 'We put it on the shelf and it sells. It can be a dozen squirrels a day - and they all go,' said David Simpson, the director of Kingsley Village shopping centre in Fraddon, Cornwall, whose game counter began selling grey squirrel meat two months ago.
At Ridley's Fish and Game shop in Corbridge, Northumberland, the owner David Ridley says he has sold 1,000 - at £3.50 a squirrel - since he tested the market at the beginning of the year. 'I wasn't sure at first, and wondered would people really eat it. Now I take every squirrel I can get my hands on. I've had days when I have managed to get 60 and they've all sold straight away.'
Simpson likens the taste to wild boar. Ridley thinks it is more a cross between duck and lamb. 'It's moist and sweet because, basically, its diet has been berries and nuts,' he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk ...
I thought “pasties” were something worn by strippers in New Orleans nightclubs.
I’ve lived to see it, 60 yrs of UK Socialism has driven our UK brethren to desperate measures, including the consumption of large tree dwelling rats with furry tails.
The Economic Hardships being inflicted on the UK people are shameful, next up...”Is Squirrel Halaal?”
Now people will be hunting squirrels and the squirrells will migrate to a sanctuary city with fewer guns in the hands of honest folk. New York City will be even more overrun with them then they are already!!
I'm telling you, with the population of squirrels in City Hall park, it'd be like shooting fish in a barrel -- except for being jumped by all the fuzz (of the uniformed variety). They are afraid of nothing. They laze in the sunshine and you can't chase them away, short of getting close enough to one to kick it.... and you don't want to get that close. They can be nasty little critters and if you manage to get yourself bit, you'll be in for a nice series of rabies shots, just in case.
Which one's hungrier...the moose or the cat?
Squirrels got more of my garden than I did last year, to the point that I’m not having one this year. I hadn’t thought of eating them. I’m not a squirrel hunter but isn’t there a health reason, like parasites, why you can’t eat them in the summer?
Sorry, I’ll eat almost anything but I ain’t eatin’ no tree rat! Gack!!!
Now then, how much did they say them limeys is willin’ to pay fer ‘em?
In this case, "swede" refers to what most Americans call "rutabagas".
I was in a British restaurant which featured mashed rutabagas with potatoes in a dish that was a perfect match with the restaurant's roast beef. (Apparently the rutabaga/potato dish itself was also called "swede", though my conversation with the waiter wasn't a model of clarity and perhaps he was only giving me the main vegetable's name rather than the dish's.)
No need to make noise (gun) to get a squirrel in inner city areas, You could probably bag them with rat traps, sling shots, blow guns, pellet gun, or just throw a rock. These guys just catapult their squirrels into their neighbors yard! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRR4bOquEKQ&feature=related
Goooood with a cold beer , fried okra and caramelized parsnips !!
Here's the guy who ate them.
Now none to be found.
Beware of squirrels wielding light sabers.
You can eat squirrel year round.
Try this recipe:
2 or 3 squirrels cleaned and halved
flour for dredging
2 cloves garlic
1 small onion chopped fine
1 stalk celery chopped fine
1 carrot chopped fine
2 cups beef stock (chicken stock can be substituted)
1/4 cup red wine
3 Tbsp Olive Oil (not extra virgin)
Salt and Pepper
Heat the oil in a heavy iron skillet over high heat.
Season the squirrel liberally with S & P and dredge them in flour and shake off excess. Quickly brown the squirrel on all sides. Remove from pan and set aside.
Lower heat to medium.
Add the vegetables and garlic to the pan. Cook vegetables until soft.
Deglaze the pan with the red wine. Make sure you get all the little brown crunchy bits dissolved in the wine.
Add the beef stock and the squirrel to the pan and simmer over medium heat until the liquid is reduced by 1/3 and the meat reaches an internal temp of 160 degrees. (That’s hot enough to kill any little nasties that may be in the meat.)
Serve beside garlic mashed potatoes and the veggie of your choice.
Serves 2
Yummy.
L
We used to eat squirrel when we lived up in New Hampshire, you would either go in the woods and hunt them or put up a bird feeder and they would come to you. Anywhere near a city or big suburban area where they can get at food scraps and garbage I wouldn’t want to take a chance on them but country squirrels are great eating.
I’ve had woodchuck during survival school training... it was awful tasting. Maybe we shoulda gutted it.
You’ve got to be NUTS to eat a squirrel!!
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