Boing Boing guestblogger Connie Choe is a health and culture writer by day and a professional kimchimonger by night.
Thumbnail images can be deceiving. Whilst perusing squirrel photographs on Flickr last night, I came across a thumbnail of this image. "Aww, teeny baby squirrels," I thought to myself, foolishly clicking to get a better look. Wrong. So, so wrong.
After picking myself up off the floor, I confess that I found myself admiring how fit these little suckers are/were. Besides the feet and head (which are no longer an issue), they look like they were pure muscle. These must have been dashing-through-the-wilderness type squirrels. Or perhaps, hit-the-gym-7-days-a-week type squirrels. Not like the mangy little booger (fueled by Cheetos and Mountain Dew, no doubt) that tore a hole in my backpack years ago while trying to pilfer a candy bar.
Even with 8000+ cuddly faced squirrel photos coo over, this is the one picture that I can't stop staring at. It is called "Squirrel for Dinner." Enjoy.
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I'm a big fan of rabbit, so i probably wouldn't turn my nose up at one of these. not sure if i could bring my self to shooting one though.
I bet they would make a fantastic ragu to go on some pappardelle.
Squirrel is actually quite good if prepared well. I have never cooked it myself, but I have eaten it and was quite surprised to find out (after wolfing down several pieces) what it was.
Hmmm... Connie, I think this is the wrong link. Looks like turkeys to me.
Ain't nothing wrong with a little squirrel between your teeth.
I suppose any unfamiliar food is pretty repulsive, when seen in its preparatory state. A couple of weeks ago my daughter, who has eaten chicken for most of her six years, saw an uncooked clucker in the pot.
"Is that... Is THAT...?"
Yeah, baby. It is.
Mmm, squirrel melts!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RlK0Xd4c2c
Search for "squirrel" from that link and you'll get the right pics.
Can thoroughly recommend squirrel. Ate it in a stew with lardons and vegetables. Like rabbit, but a bit more gamey. I would eat it again like a shot.
Given the ecological impact of beef farming I think we need to become a little less squeamish about our sources of protein.
Shouldn't it be entitled "Squirrel, it's what's for dinner" instead?
I grew up eating squirrel every Fall. It's a wonderful meat with a delicious taste somewhat akin to combination of dark chicken and veal.
I haven't eaten squirrel yet, but I've eaten rat (free range rat, in Thailand) and I thought it was crazy delicious - excellent game meat, and a lot like rabbit. The only problem was dealing with all those teeny, tiny bones.
Being from the rural south, squirrel was pretty much a staple food growing up. In fact, at most family gatherings, my grandfather would always make either a squirrel purlough(simple and delicious recipe here: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1639,158177-227194,00.html) or catfish stew, depending on the season. Great stuff.
Mmmmm, those would make great squirrel and dumplings. Most Americans, unless they grew up in the country, have never eaten squirrel.
Just a dumb question, but where do you get squirrels to kill them and eat them? I think it's illegal to shoot random squirrels in my neighborhood...
Like many from the south, I grew up shooting and eating squirrel. My dad, realizing my wife was from Arizona and into the food of the region there, asked her how best to make "squirrelitos". They came up with a pretty tasty dinner.
I work now and then in a telescope on top of a mountain that has a lot of Forest Service regulations about squirrels, specifically the red ones. I'm even required to carry a federally-issued squirrel permit while working there.
Which means that this photo is bound to show up on the telescope's bulletin boards sooner or later.
Squirrel is best in stew, IMHO. Gnawing squirrel flesh off of the bone leaves something to be desired (like, say, a filling meal), and it's tough not to look at it and think "I'm eating a rat."
To answer your question, Anonymous, there's a reason why squirrel eating is a rural habit. :) As a rule, I won't live anyplace where I can't shoot whatever I want out of my kitchen window. If you've got a neighborhood with rules, you won't be eating any squirrel. I've gone squirrel hunting in family land here in central Virginia and up in the boundary waters of Minnesota/Canada. Some folks use a shotgun. I prefer a .22. (You hit a squirrel with a shotgun, you're not going to have much squirrel left. Worse yet, you'll break a crown on one of those pellets.)
Gotta say, my step-father introduced me to squirrel stew long ago. It was a lot easier to get away with shooting a squirrel in White Bear Lake, Minnesota than it is anywhere in Massachusetts so it's not a dish I partake in very much anymore.
But damn they look tasty . . .
-abs would love some good squirrel stew, but he's the sort who would prefer to peg the squirrels himself, and that just isn't viable in the city he lives in now (unless he wants a trip to jail, which he doesn't)
Damn. Somebody beat me to the squirrel melts video. Arguably the creepiest thing on YouTube.
I'm sure the meat is tasty, but beware the brain and spinal cord:
"Kentucky Doctors Warn Against a Regional Dish: Squirrels' Brains"
"Doctors in Kentucky have issued a warning that people should not eat squirrel brains, a regional delicacy, because squirrels may carry a variant of mad cow disease that can be transmitted to humans and is fatal.
Although no squirrels have been tested for mad squirrel disease, there is reason to believe that they could be infected, said Dr. Joseph Berger, chairman of the neurology department at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. Elk, deer, mink, rodents and other wild animals are known to develop variants of mad cow disease that collectively are called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.
In the last four years, 11 cases of a human form of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, have been diagnosed in rural western Kentucky, said Dr. Erick Weisman, clinical director of the Neurobehavioral Institute in Hartford, Ky., where the patients were treated.
''All of them were squirrel-brain eaters,'' Dr. Weisman said. Of the 11 patients, at least 6 have died."
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/29/us/kentucky-doctors-warn-against-a-regional-dish-squirrels-brains.html
I had dinner at a professor's house where rabbit and squirrel pot pies were served. The rabbit was nice but the squirrel was a bit gamey for my taste. The animals were apparently caught by the cook's long-haired persian cat, who was quite the huntress.
I had squirrel once, as a kid. It's not bad; kinda reminds me of hassenpfeffer, only a little tougher. Maybe it's a prestige thing, but I don't feel particularly inclined to eat tree rats with any regularity. On the other hand, given the flavor and the ease of hunting them, I can understand why some people do. I just can't view them as more than a survival or exotic food.
After reading Karl Jones' comment, I now imagine a bunch of flannel-clad backwoods zombies gnawing on squirrels' heads.
Those look exactly like skinned rabbits.
My copy of "The Joy of Cooking" has a section on skinning and cooking a squirrel. Ah, the joy!
Can't you get parasites from eating squirrel?
The problem with squirrels is that they are so hard to skin. It's such a chore to dress them out that I can't be bothered to go hunting for them anymore.
Though I suppose I could cook them how the Hmong refugees here in Minnesota handled them. They impaled them on a stick, burned the fur off and fire roasted them. I don't think I could get past the smell of the burnt hair.
They're really good quartered, seared, and then oven roasted in cream of chicken soup as a gravy. It's a kitschy catch-all way of cooking, but man does it do wonders to a squirrel.
"kinda reminds me of hassenpfeffer"? Like... rabbit? Or was it cooked in the same manner? I'm (easily) confused.
I have squirrel pic I took yesterday that you can have for free if you like. It's very much alive and enjoying a meal of a nut or something.
"The problem with squirrels is that they are so hard to skin. It's such a chore to dress them out that I can't be bothered to go hunting for them anymore."
Here's the easy way - it just takes two people - or one strong person. Pinch up the skin above the backbone in the middle of the back. Make a cut down into the skin _only_ perpendicular to the body. Person one puts his (or her) index fingers into that and pulls gently while person two then cuts through the skin only, down around the body. When you are mostly through, each person clips their fingers inside the skin and pulls, turning the skin inside out. It's easy for two people to do this. Continu until the skin is around the wrists/ankles/neck. Place the body on a block and chop off the wrists/ankles/head with a hatchet. Then just clip through the chest/abdomen with shears to gut it. Done.
Sounds involved, but with a little practice, two people and skin and gut about a squirrel a minute.
I remember reading an article years ago about squirrels (in the Washington City Paper I think). It said how common eating squirrel was during the colonial era and that they referred to them as "meat that grows on trees".
the old edition of the joy of cooking shows a few recipes for squirrel under how to cook small game. when asked about it my grandmother said she ate them when she was a kid.
so it's not that weird.
Someone please fill Connie in on the unicorn chaser procedures around here.
Yum I want seconds of squirrel and dumplings. We used to have them when I was a kid. Sadly i'm to lazy to hunt and you can't buy the meat here.
My wife was surprised when her co-worker mentioned eating squirrel brains and eggs. When questioned her co-worker replied "sure I eat em what else are you going to do with them". How can you argue logic like that?
When I had squirrel, it was made into a tasty stew. Because a lot of people compare squirrel to rabbit, I went with hassenpfeffer to describe it. So really, I meant it both ways (though I personally still prefer rabbit). Sorry about the vagueness before.
Squirrels can be easy to clean. You just have to know how. This video shows a good method: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66AVwthXgMA
It's easier skin them before rigor sets in. Really, cleaning squirrel isn't any worse than cleaning fish.
For those squeamish about the video link: slit horizontally through the underside of the base of the tail, then step on the tail while grasping the rear legs and pulling up.
Cleaning the squirrel - easy. Getting the squirrel clean? Not so much (per Fox...)
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,172612,00.html
I teach a class on culture and food, and I mentioned to my students that I've eaten squirrel several times as a kid. "Your mom cooked squirrel?" one student asked. "Cooked it? She shot it!"
It is not my favorite. Not much meat, not as flavorful as rabbit. I recall eating the rice out from under it and just nibbling at the meat.
I think a certain squirrel of fame previously featured on BoingBoing would feel uncomfortable with this post: http://www.flickr.com/photos/11383966@N02/4012595027/
In the UK, I think it's actually illegal to release a grey squirrel once you've caught it - it's still technically a foreign species, and vermin. I'm pondering catching some. There MUST be a YouTube video on how to clean a squirrel?
When I was an active hunter squirrel was a favorite (and relatively easy to bag) meal.
In the UK there are 2 dudes waging war on the grey squirrel, and showing that eating grey squirrel is a valid way of conserving the red squirrel population. Fascinating article from the Observer. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/oct/19/red-squirrels-protection
"Mom, are those squirrels dead?"
"No, honey, they're just sleeping. Upside down. And Inside out."