Squirrels are Toast

[dotinthesky]

Celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver are being urged to feature grey squirrel on their menus.

Full story here

I don't know if this could ever come to pass in Britain. Maybe squirrel meat tastes good, but would I ever actively choose it from a menu if there were other options? Have any of you ever eaten squirrel meat? What does it taste like?

Comments

[kirstenlj.livejournal.com]

I seem to remember there being a very lively post on someone's journal about eating squirrels a few years ago.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Aww, I must have missed that! What was the general consensus?

[steer.livejournal.com]

I have certainly mentioned it on my journal. It was served in one of our uni canteens once. Some of the students made a fuss. I thought it tasted OK though.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Does it taste like chicken?

[mr-tom.livejournal.com]

IIRC, You can get squirrel hearts at St. John. Not had 'em, mind.

[hunterjr.livejournal.com]

oh, poor squirrels... I wouldn't eat them :(

[canudiglett]

I heard they taste a bit like rat.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Even if it meant saving the red squirrels?

[desayuno-ingles.livejournal.com]

my mom has. and pigeon. and sparrow pie. but I haven't, so I dunno what it tastes like!

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Well... they are rats, aren't they? Only they have a better marketing department behind them and their brand is alot better accepted by the masses.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

I've had pigeon meat wrapped in lettuce leaves, in Hong Kong. Delicious.

[desayuno-ingles.livejournal.com]

cool! I'd totally try it...either one, actually.

[juego.livejournal.com]

My father used to eat squirrel when he was a child. I've always scruched my nose at the idea.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

You might find pigeon in some Cantonese restaurants. I have no idea where you'd find squirrels in NYC. Maybe it's even illegal to cook them over there?

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Did he eat it because he enjoyed it, or out of necessity?

[juego.livejournal.com]

I'm under the impression that it was just because he could. I don't think his family was ever struggling to eat - and he knew "some hippies on the corner, with an open door, and bowls of stew." ahaha.

Though I'm not so sure he'd eat them now.

[greenteablack.livejournal.com]

That's kinda nasty. Granted, I've never tried squirrel but I've seen a lot of dead ones on the side of the road and never stopped to think "Hmmmm, I wonder..."

[greenteablack.livejournal.com]

Hey, if you guys ever run out of red squirrels you can come over here and get some of ours. We have TONS and because of them our chipmunk population has all but vanished in the city :(

[sparklielizard.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, I remember back in January I did a ticky box about who would eat roadkill - which may as well be squirrel. Only one person so far has, but it seems a few wouldn't mind!

[saint-narcissus.livejournal.com]

remember I come from red neck white honky farm boy stock!
squirrel is not all bad, a little tough and stringy usually.
my Father and brothers would put corn out to feed the squirrels.
therefore the ones we et did not taste as wild as most.
we all so et;
possum
racoon
pigeon
bunny rabbits etc,,,
YUM!

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Cheers. ;-)

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

How did you catch them? Are city squirrels easier to catch than countryside ones?

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

I remember reading a story about a park in Vancouver where people couldn't walk through anymore at the peril of being jumped on by squirrels! They had become so bold that they would jump onto people's backpacks and try to stick their little paws in there in search of food. I wonder if it was a made up story.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Roadkill, for myself, would have to be a desperate last resort. In a society like ours, with plenty of food, including non-animal based, it seems like eating roadkill should only be an option if all your other options have been exhausted.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Which were your favourite? Maybe there's a business idea somewhere in there!