Well, at least we usually do. In this case, A. gave them to the neighbor on whose land he was hunting, as a goodwill gesture. And yes, it is a goodwill gesture in her case, because she grew up eating squirrel and loves it. Since you can't exactly pick one up at your nearest Safeway, she's thrilled when A. gives her some squirrels.
That's the kind of neighbor we like.
But we eat them when we're not giving them to the neighbor. Last time we ate squirrel was the night before I went into labor with Cubby. Someone suggested that perhaps there was a connection there. I'll let you know if I ever have the opportunity to test that hypothesis again.
A. brines them after they're skinned and cleaned. This probably results in a milder flavor, as it draws a lot of blood out. We usually cook them in a stew, and they taste like . . . well, like braised meat. I dunno. They certainly don't have a gamy flavor. I guess like dark meat chicken? Or extremely mild beef? Whatever. It tastes like squirrel. Because that's what it is.
So that's what you do with squirrel. Or at least, what we do with squirrel. Oh, and if you save the tails and dry them, there's a company that will take them in exchange for free fishing lures. I guess they use the fur to tie flies. So now we have four squirrel tails sitting in our shop, drying on a board. Lovely.
5 comments:
I'm a firm believer in never saying "ick" until you've tried it yourself but I have to say there is an "ick" just burning a hole in the tip of my tongue. We've been sending our excess squirrels camping....hmmm....
I remember my granny frying it and making gravy from the drippins. When we first got married, we had it like that too. Stew sounds good. Beth
Oh, so that's what the squirrel tails are for. I had a little bit of curiosity about whether they were going to be fringe for a hood --
Traditional recipes for Brunswick Stew call for squirrel -- probably either gray or fox squirrels. Eating a red squirrel, which is a little skinny devil, does not sound like a plan to me. The gray squirrels are what we have in abundance.
Finny and Kris Difference Alert!
I've never eaten squirrel. Nor do I really plan to. However, I fully endorse their demise and the tying of flies with their tail fur.
Because what's a squirrel hair nymph without squirrel hair? Barely a nymph at all, I say.
I've eaten all sorts of game. (ALL sorts.) And mostly liked it. But for some reason, squirrel grosses me out. Mr. Mom has hunted his share, but he always gives the cleaned, brined carcasses away, I guess to a man whose wife is slightly less squeamish than me (or who has no darn woman at home).
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