Let them eat squirrel
I don’t know about you, but this piece put me off my feed. It’s an article about the growing popularity of squirrel as a food in Britain. And here I thought British food was coming up in the world after getting a bad rep for so long.
That bad rep was certainly justified back in the 70s, when I last visited England. Greasy, tasteless, boring, and heavy, British food could only be endured by bypassing it altogether and going to ethnic restaurants instead. I’d heard, however, that Britain had experienced a culinary renaissance of sorts in the decades since I was there (this backs up that information).
Now it appears that squirrel has been added to the bill of fare at many British restaurants. This is not because it’s so tasty; a few people describe it that way but many don’t find it appetizing. It has other drawbacks, too (I’ll spare you the nasty details; let’s just say it has to be very carefully prepared). But the reason that squirrel has now become the plate de jour is that the native red squirrel of the British Isles has become threatened by the gray (or “grey,” as the Brits might write) one, the latter being the less-cute type we have in this country.
It’s only the invader gray squirrel that the British have taken to eating, in an effort to preserve the threatened reds: “Save a red, eat a gray!” is the battle cry of the squirrel-killing squirrel-protectors. The red is native to the Isles and the gray was introduced during the late 1800’s. As the latter has thrived, the former population has shrunk.
Personally, I think the whole thing is payback by this country for the European “gift” of the dandelion to the US. Yes, they were purposely introduced here by early settlers from Europe:
Common dandelion is an introduced plant in North America. In the mid-1600s, European settlers brought the common dandelion (scientific name, Taraxacum officinale) to eastern America and cultivated it in their gardens for food and medicine. Since then it has spread across the continent as a weed.
Yes indeed, so it has, as I know from bitter personal experience. No doubt you do, as well. In an interesting parallel, the dandelion could find its way to more of our plates. But I very much doubt this would do anything to stop the spread of this especially tenacious weed.
Squirrel is definitely “survival food.” Like grubs and earthworms. Squirrels have some meat on them, but it’s hardly worth the trouble taken to kill and skin them.
You still run across rural folks who supplemented their diet with varmints during the Depression. They all swear that squirrel is good eatin’. Not as good as groundhog, but a tasty treat nevertheless. I believe my father-in-law has a couple in the freezer, waiting for a special occasion.
Rural people still eat them in the US but hey, this little critter eats nuts and foilage and many relish bacon and ham but have never seen what a pig will root in and eat. Ewww! It’s all in the eye of the beholder I suppose……..
Dandelion greens are edible. My parents made dandelion wine several times. Not bad.
Perhaps a tenacious weed, but I find it pretty.
Other British exports to America: starlings, house sparrows, purple loosestrife.
Well, being that my Mother is English and both her and my grandmother were excellent cooks. If you get away from cooking meat until it is the consistency of old shoe leather there is a lot to be said for traditional English food. My mother being raised in the war years had little meat to eat anyway and subsisted mostly on vegetables and fish (since she was raised in a southern port city the managed to get fresh fish sometimes). During those years they didn’t get much in the way of fresh fruit since (like the meat) it was mostly destined for the soldiers. In fact the my Mother and her brother used to get an orange apiece for Christmas and that was a big deal. Actually – it was about all they got for Christmas.
I guess some of the things you find in the Isles are things that you must get used to (though it is more the though of what you are eating than the taste) like haggis, steak and kidney pie, kippers, soused herring, etc.
The English also have a penchant for making some great candy and deserts. I still remember the bakery across street from my folks home after they moved back to Poole that sold cream fingers (napoleans) made with fresh double cream. Wow. And who could deny the deliciousness of a warm scone with jam and clotted cream? In point of fact if you look at the English diet of 40 years ago it was probably about as healthy as any around at the time due to the small amounts of read meat and huge amounts of fresh vegetables they ate.
I still do a traditional roast dinner about once a month with roast beef (medium rare – the only untraditional thing), roast carrots, roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and Yorkshire pudding (a bread dish much like a popover) with gravy over all. And I still drink my four cups of black tea a day (with milk and none of that Earl Grey garbage – thank you very much) made in a Brown Betty pot – two around noon after lunch and two about now. In fact – time to go put the kettle on.
As far as the squirrel goes – I’ll leave that to Jed and Granny.
…the gray (or “grey,” as the Brits might write) one, the latter being the less-cute type we have in this country.
Regional provincialism. Here in the midwest we have red, gray, and black squirrels. Different communities have different colors predominating. I believe they are all considered to be color variants of the same species.
And they are all pretty much bushy tailed tree rats.
I think the black squirrels are minions of Sauron. I saw one put a curse on a pigeon once…
We have little red squirrels here in upstate NY but they are much less common than the big fat grays. Maybe they are variants of the same species, but they don’t look it –the reds are less than half the size of the grays and far less furry. The other day I watched a gray one chase a red one up and down and in and out of our sugar maple trees with murder plainly on its mind. The gray was faster and stronger and the frantic little red squirrel barely managed to keep out of its reach. However, it finally found a spot on a tree trunk where it held perfectly still. The red squirrel was in plain view but apparently, when motionless, the gray squirrel could not see it. The gray spent at least five minutes searching up and down and all around the tree trunk while uttering dire threats in squirrel language. It passed within a few feet of the red several times without reacting at all. The last I knew, both squirrels were still with us and still stealing from the bird feeder.
Seldom are non-native species welcome. But sometimes one person’s bane may be another’s boone.
While working in England I took the opportunity as often as possible to fish in a commercial trout pond on a nearby farm. On one outing the proprietor was asking each angler to try to net the crayfish that had invaded his pond. He told me they were “American” crayfish. I asked why he blamed his crayfish problem on us; and how did he know they were American? He responded that they were larger than English crayfish.
That evening I was telling a couple of co-workers about the American crayfish invading the trout ponds while dining in a Chinese restaurant. The propriortoress overheard, became quite excited and wanted to know where to find them.
Texas still has a squirrel season. Its been years since I have eaten them, but my Mississippi cajun influenced grandmother could cook a mean squirrel gumbo. Squirrel hunting was once the entry level game for young hunters. As a teenager I had several of the tails hanging on my bullitin board next to the political cartoon about Bork and Kennedy. “You know Ted, the trouble with Bork is, he is not out here in the mainstream of American political thought.” – They were in a swamp…
One of the mexican workers I once worked with was speaking of Racoon when he said “Bueno Comida”.
Battle of New Orleans song…” We fired our guns and the British kept a comin’…….We opened up our SQUIRREL GUNS and really gave them ….We fired once more and they began to runnin’, down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico…”
And Crayfish- I love sucking the guts out of them.
By the way Neo, there was a series of biographies on Teddy roosevelt by the same author. One of them was called something like “Theodore Rex” . One of the books went up to the point where Teddy was VP and the President waas shot, the next one picked up where that one left off. Those two books are packed away at the moment, or I would verify this, but I am almost certain one of them mentioned Teddy eating Squirrel in the White House…..
You might check it out.
Neo, don’t even begin to think of what crabs and lobsters are hoovering up whilst they’re alive!
As far as which breed is cuter, I think the grays are adorable. The reds have funny ears.
I’ve had squirrel; as with many other types of meat…it tastes like chicken. I guess preparation helps.
Anyway, I have no sympathy to the bushy-tailed tree rats. They caused damage at “La Casa de Camo” (my rambling estate) that I could certainly have done without… 🙁
And Crayfish- I love sucking the guts out of them.
You say crayfish, I say mudbugs.
It’s those bushy tails that have saved them. If they had naked tails, they’d have been wiped out long ago.
Fairness Doctrine Comment: Squirrel Appreciation Day.
http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/January/squirrelappreciation.htm
Stepford wife serves up squirrel melt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RlK0Xd4c2c
I’ve got nothing against hunting, but….
Somedays you watch the world go by and you think, did I take drugs this morning or are things just this weird?
what on earth are you talking about????????
This has to be a joke!!!!!! I lived in England for 50 years and have lived in many parts and travelled all over and NEVER EVER have I seen or heard of anyone eating squirrel. You americans are soooo uninformed it is embarrassing. Your comments about english food are untrue. There is much to be said about american food and it is not all complimentary. I have yet to find some chicken that tastes like chicken – it is very rubbery and what you buy in supermarkets is very badly prepared. Chinese food here is awful – I dread to think what Indian style food would be like. Confirms to me I came here for love – not the food!!
Jemima: Don’t blame us, blame the venerable NY Times, where the article appeared. And the Brits’ own Telegraph agrees that some restaurants are now serving it. And this Canadian piece reports that the Guardian said that squirrel meat is selling very well in Britain.
But hey, why not come in here instead and insult everybody?
Hands off the adorable gray squirrels, you despicable barbarians in Great Britain! The real reason you barbarians kill those beautiful-in-and-out animals is your animosity toward the American people. You barbarians consider those valuable animals the AMERICAN INVASION! The gray squirrels DO NOT eradicate the super-adorable red squirrels. Red squirrels simply run away from the grays, as the latter are stronger genetically. The way to preserve the reds is to focus ON THEM, not to focus murderously on the grays. The number one killer of the squirrels are the bandit-drivers on the streets and roads. Conduct an educational campaign for them to stop killing squirrels. Put up “STOP for squirrels” road signs. Exterminate natural killer of squirrels — raccoons, hawks, falcons, eagles, etc. Protect and feed everywhere the adorable squirrels; ALL OF THEM!
You are lucky squirrel-murdering bandits I don’t live in your decadent country. If I caught you killing squirrels, it would be YOU who would be hunted by me, after being given one warning to stop.