Posted on 02/19/2022 9:11:38 PM PST by nickcarraway
Most New Yorkers may consider them rats with fluffy tails, but, elsewhere, squirrel has become a chic new menu item.
As part of a growing ethical dining trend, chefs have begun serving up dishes made with the North American gray squirrel, an invasive species.
“My original starting point with gray squirrel was taste. But it’s also great for the environment,” renowned Scottish chef Paul Wedgwood told the Guardian of the inspiration for adding gray squirrel to the menu of his Edinburgh restaurant Royal Mile in 2008. “It’s mellow, nutty and a bit gamey. It’s just a really nice flavor, and it’s easy to match,” added Wedgwood, who has even made squirrel haggis. “Anyone who’s doing rabbit could just easily swap in squirrel.” In addition to being a tasty alternative for some more commonly used meats, eating squirrel in the UK also offers moral flavor: The rodent is significantly to blame for causing the local extinction of England and Wales’ native red squirrel in large swaths of the nation.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
They’re nuts.
I wonder what wine goes with squirrel?
Probably Annie Green Springs.
One man’s rat is another man’s hasenpfeffer.
I remember an old story about Heaven and Hell.
I remember that, in Hell, the cooks are British.
Hey, squirrel is good if fixed properly. One year, my buddy had a Super Bowl party. He had leg quarters in his freezer from his last hunt. We put them in the pressure cooker for an hour to tenderize them, then put them in a slow cooker with teriyaki BBQ sauce and let them simmer for a couple of hours. Went great with the pot of venison chili we had on the stove.
How trendy and cute. Actually squirrels have always been eaten especially down South. The fact is if you are really hungry you will eat anything. In NYC during WW II, young boys would catch pigeons and sell them to restaurants for 15 cents each. The customers enjoyed their “chicken cacchitore”. Personally knew an Italian POW in Siberia who survived by catching and eating mice.
Squirrel I have eaten. They taste good. To damn many small bones to contend with.
I forgot to add this. A dead squirrel is a good squirrel. Each year they destroy my peach and pecan harvest. There is to damn many of them were I live. I gave up on killing them.
If they would just take a peach and eat it all I could live with that. They take bites out of numerous peaches and ruin them all.
I learned this trick from a buddy; dress the squirrel, carve into parts and place in a casserole dish (lid on) wit a mixture of 1 part vermouth and 4 parts water. Put it in the fridge overnight.
Next day….drain the liquid and the squirrel meat has lost any gaminess. Squirrel stew is some darn good eating.
Gamey and a lot of effort
It’s not bad deboned in a gravy over rice
My granddad had a pecan orchard on the Flint River. Anyone could come and hunt all the squirrels they wanted, for 25 cents per squirrel.
[[and a bit gamey.]]
It’s a lot gamey- been eating it for a month now- off and on- not gonna do so anymore unless i have to- the only way it is edible is pressure cook or crock pot- but it seems ot increase the gaminess flavor that way-
in a stew it might be ok if enough flavors could overpower the gaminess- but nope- not eaten straight-
I will have to try that- one fella said to keep in in airtight bag for a week in fridge to get rid of the gaminess, but nope- didn’t work- I’ll have to terry your method next-
“ I wonder what wine goes with squirrel?”
Maybe MD 20/20.
just take the hind legs (and maybe the back-strap if you want, but there isn’t much there)- leave the rest for the crows or raccoons and foxes-
there really isn’t much meat besides the hind legs- there is hardly any meat on ribs, front legs are tougher than a pine knot unless you really pressure cook them- and they are too bony to mess with for what little meat there is- Animals will eat them bones and all- some folks eat the brains and cheeks- but I aint gonna try that- they are kinda like frogs, where folks just take the hind legs for dinner-
This is true I grew up in the South and have eaten many squirrels, I hunted them with pellet rifles, BB guns, 410 gauge shotgun and 22 rifle
Are you eating red squirrels out of cedars or something like that? None of those squirrel statements make much sense to me.
Squirrel is very good. And hunting Squirrel has fed many country families.
A big blessing for generations. Young country boys know how to hunt and skin/gut them too.
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