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Dinner II: The Gallery of Regrettable Foods (Part 2)

snowangel

By snowangel
in Cooking

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Meredith380

Meredith380

Posted
Posted

Has anyone ever had squirrel? Traditional recipes for Brunswick stew call for it. I would imagine they taste somewhat similar to rabbit. They are quite abundant here in the Northeast.

I've lived in the Northeast my entire life and have never, ever seen squirrel on a menu or in a market. I've run over a bunch of them though.

Pigeons everywhere (NYC).

You can buy squab in many stores.

dcarch

That I'm aware of, having lived in Manhattan. squirrel though, no.

huiray

huiray

Posted
Posted

Thanks, Tri2cook. Very interesting - and yes, the comments about liver and tripe were useful. Helps to form an idea, of sorts, of the taste profile you favor/disfavor.

annabelle

annabelle

Posted
Posted

Meredith, if you want to try squirrel you'll may have to go plunk them yourself or get someone else to do it. They are tasty, by fussy to clean, although their skin comes off in one piece kind of like rabbit. After you do all that, you also need to figure more than one squirrel per person.

Happy hunting!

Martin Fisher

Martin Fisher

Posted
Posted

I grew up on small game, wild turkey and venison!

I love squirrel!

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

dcarch

dcarch

Posted
Posted

I grew up on small game, wild turkey and venison!

I love squirrel!

I would not eat suburban squirrels.

In the suburbs, everyone sprays insecticides, herbicides ------

dcarch

annabelle

annabelle

Posted
Posted

I grew up on small game, wild turkey and venison!

I love squirrel!

Same here. I love me some rabbit with gravy.

Re: chitlins. Gross. They smell terrible and don't taste any better.

mm84321

mm84321

Posted
Posted

I grew up on small game, wild turkey and venison!

I love squirrel!

I would not eat suburban squirrels.

In the suburbs, everyone sprays insecticides, herbicides ------

dcarch

That's true. But what if I caught one in the forests. There is a spot I know of flush with mushrooms and other edible plants this time of year where I see squirrels often. What would be the most effective way of catching one? I am actually considering trying to do this.

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rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted

I used to catch them this way: with one of those Humane traps that is sort of a cage with a hinged door: the critter walks in to taste

the "tasty" you put on a sort of hinge the critter then steps on this and the door closes. I then used to transport them away from my fruit trees.

they like peanut butter on that hinge.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/261218990627?lpid=82

BTW FD: so do skunks. :huh:

Martin Fisher

Martin Fisher

Posted
Posted

I grew up on small game, wild turkey and venison!

I love squirrel!

I would not eat suburban squirrels.

In the suburbs, everyone sprays insecticides, herbicides ------

dcarch

Yeah, I sure wouldn't either.

What amazes me is the difference in town and country squirrels behavior-wise.

They're like two very different animals.

I grew up on small game, wild turkey and venison!

I love squirrel!

I would not eat suburban squirrels.

In the suburbs, everyone sprays insecticides, herbicides ------

dcarch

That's true. But what if I caught one in the forests. There is a spot I know of flush with mushrooms and other edible plants this time of year where I see squirrels often. What would be the most effective way of catching one? I am actually considering trying to do this.

It can be done but I strongly recommend staying within the law. :biggrin:

Come small game season maybe you can find a hunter who'll freely part with one.

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

mm84321

mm84321

Posted
Posted

Not familiar with the law on catching squirrels. Surprised that there is one. There are so many of those things, I would think catching a few would be somewhat beneficial. I know someone that hunts deers. I'll ask him.

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Martin Fisher

Martin Fisher

Posted
Posted

Laws vary state to state.

Squirrel season is currently open in NY state.

Daily bag limit of 6.

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted

Laws vary state to state

And country to country. we aren't all in the USA, you know. Most people aren't.

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

Martin Fisher

Martin Fisher

Posted
Posted

No doubt, but i'm only comfortable speaking for my own country.

I went out on a limb and assumed that most folks are smart enough to know that laws will be different in their country.

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

mm84321

mm84321

Posted
Posted

I'm in CT. Seems the season for catching gray squirrels lasts until the 30th of this month, then starts again on the 15th of October. Not sure why. Not sure I am going to try to catch and cook one, but if I do, you will all be the first to know.

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dcarch

dcarch

Posted
Posted

I grew up on small game, wild turkey and venison!

I love squirrel!

Same here. I love me some rabbit with gravy.

Re: chitlins. Gross. ------------------------"

You like sausages?

dcarch

dcarch

dcarch

Posted
Posted (edited)

Laws vary state to state

And country to country. we aren't all in the USA, you know. Most people aren't.

I understand in UK they are encouraging people to kill all squirrels (gray?) from the USA.

dcarch

Edited by dcarch (log)
annabelle

annabelle

Posted
Posted

I grew up on small game, wild turkey and venison!

I love squirrel!

Same here. I love me some rabbit with gravy.

Re: chitlins. Gross. ------------------------"

You like sausages?

dcarch

We were talking about chitlins, not sausages. Chitlins are an alien life form that should only be eaten by one's worst enemy.

Stuffed with tasty sausage meat? That's different.

  • Like 1
annabelle

annabelle

Posted
Posted (edited)

I'm in CT. Seems the season for catching gray squirrels lasts until the 30th of this month, then starts again on the 15th of October. Not sure why. Not sure I am going to try to catch and cook one, but if I do, you will all be the first to know.

What is this catching? My dogs can barely catch the speedy little monsters and they're fast.

You shoot them. Right through their little eye. When I was small, most little boys were very adept at this.

Edited by annabelle (log)
rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted (edited)

I have a pellet piston once. Beeman. shot 5 mm lead target pellets. one style had a pointy tip ......

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.accuratereloading.com/pellets.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.accuratereloading.com/pellets.html&h=393&w=520&sz=22&tbnid=dO4E5SdYlzbBZM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=119&zoom=1&usg=__7mxM-P1UKskJbEjNILOF5szCXJw=&docid=uIIX6vtnjXrYdM&sa=X&ei=voJEUtLGB6nC4AOz04DADw&ved=0CGsQ9QEwBw

could go right down the block and take a little kids eye out.

in CA where i did my Suburban Univ. trappings, there were black squirrels. they were a little smaller than the grey. they looked a lot tasty-er.

they still got the English Treatment: Transportation. Illegal. effective.

BTW its legal to have an air piston in MA. its illegal to shot them across the street. Next Door Neighboors: OK I guess. fair game.

Edited by rotuts (log)
mm84321

mm84321

Posted
Posted

I also have changed my view over the past few years in terms of viewing these creatures as a potential food source. Growing up in the USA, anthropomorphic based cartoon media sort of drills it into your head that animals=people, so it was always hard for me to conceptualize the hunting or killing of animals by someone other than the supermarket. Of course, you reach an age of reason and start to see differently, but I think some of my friends turned into vegetarians because of the cartoon aspect of bugs bunny and the like..

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Panaderia Canadiense

Panaderia Canadiense

Posted
Posted

mm84321, you mean you never had a pet bunny named Hasenpfeffer when you were growing up? I did; we ate him or her every year at Easter dinner (yes, I grew up eating the Easter bunny - and then I'd take leftovers to school and everyone would want to taste them; I never let them know what it was they were trying until after they'd swallowed it.... :blink::biggrin: )

Elizabeth Campbell, baking 10,000 feet up at 1° South latitude.

My eG Food Blog (2011) ⋆ My eG Foodblog (2012)

dcarch

dcarch

Posted
Posted

I don't have a gun, nor was I raised to hunt for food, so my dexterity in catching a squirrel may not be that of the little boys of years past. :sad:

A trap with a little peanut butter will get you fresh ones easily. I catch about 30 to 40 every year, just so that I can have some of my tomatoes.

dcarch

mm84321

mm84321

Posted
Posted

mm84321, you mean you never had a pet bunny named Hasenpfeffer when you were growing up? I did; we ate him or her every year at Easter dinner (yes, I grew up eating the Easter bunny - and then I'd take leftovers to school and everyone would want to taste them; I never let them know what it was they were trying until after they'd swallowed it.... :blink::biggrin: )

Your childhood sounds much more enlightening than mine. :smile:

My photos

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