The Joy of Cooking - Squirrels etc.

Linda - I know I’ve told this story before, so apologies for that. So, on a subsequent trip to Mallorca, we were invited to have a look round the parents’ huerto (a smallish plot of land where they grew fruit and veg). Off to one side was a rabbit hutch filled with several very cuddly bunnies, which we admired - in particular the very fluffy white one. Pedro’s father, who did not speak English (and we do not speak Mallorquin), nodded wisely. Next day, he delivers it - skinned and gutted. Well, how were we to know they werent pets but food? Anyway, Pedro cooked it on the BBQ, and we ate it with an extremely garlicky aioli and some salad, Lovely dinner.

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I remember a duck landing in our backyard
It sort of became a pet for a short time . My father said Daisy flew away. She was served at the table .I never questioned the food on my plate . Same happened to the rabbits . Yummy .

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One of my dad’s favorite stories dates to when we were little girls.

My dad went deer hunting every year, and this year came home with a mule deer tied to the hood of the car (he took it to a local butcher for processing, and the hide to a tanner to be made into purses and gloves).

My dad was a honorable hunter…always hunted in season, had the required tags or licenses, and tried to teach us to respect that something had to die for us to have meat on the table (if the bag limit was 6 quail, and that’s what was shot, but the dog only found 5, my dad considered the limit to have been reached). (Nb…my dad is very much alive and well, but hasn’t hunted in decaddes)

My sister came bouncing out of the house (little girl with long blonde curls and big blue eyes) and gently stroked the deer’s nose. My dad said he felt more and more awful as she petted the deer, and said he died a thousand deaths when she said, “oh, Daddy, he’s so pretty”.

She then flipped the script entirely by looking at my dad earnestly and declaring “I hope he tastes good!” And skipped back into the house.

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OK, I just broke up laughing in my office reading that!

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When I was a kid our family & friends did a group trip to Negril Beach, Jamaica. At the time it was just bungalows and shacks on the beach (before Sandals and mega resorts). We became friends with one of the local families and they had a sweet goat us kids played with everyday. At the end of our stay they hosted a big meal in our honor and slaughtered that sweet goat. Now, we did actually come from a place where you’d see deer strapped to the front of trucks during hunting season, but we weren’t that family. Our meat came from the A&P. Us kids were devastated but our parents said it was rude to show it and made us eat every bite of the curried goat. It tasted ok.

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I made bammy and salt fish for brekkie!

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Yum!!!

Mountain lion is really hideous food.

Things have certainly changed. I do remember the flayed squirrel recipe. Why the got rid of canning is beyond me, too.

Squirrel is the best wild game, IMHO, and the easiest to skin. Even comes with free toothpicks. :slight_smile: Raccoon takes some time. Mucha grasa (lots of fat) on that thing, and some glands to cut out. My pal, who hunts them, uses the 'coon meat for his dogs, who happily oblige. They are fun to hunt…at1:00 am.

Man, I never ever want to eat anything I’ve been introduced to. I’m way too much of a softy for that.

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I have a friend from the Ozarks who told me the greatest culinary compliment his father ever paid his mom was that she could prepare a possum that tasted just like squirrel.

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!!! :open_mouth:

The only time I’ve tried squirrel, opossum, and raccoon it was slow cooked to death and covered with bbq so the meat wasn’t really discernible. That was enough for me.

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I like to bread then braise squirrel with vegetables. There’s nothing particularly special about any wild game I’ve tried. I get more out of fishing than hunting. When you control an animal’s feed you control its flavor.

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As a boy, I shot and ate a lot of pigeon. Not that I had any hand in controlling their feed, but neither did the county consult with me before fixing the location of the garbage dump nearby.

I know! Right?!

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I love that! :smile:

LOL. Right!

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I know we got back on squirrel topic. But I’ve been thinking about this thread because we had another bird of prey in our urban backyard. Behold… Night Owl. First time I’ve seen one in our ‘hood.

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Who?

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