Muskrat dinners

   The Wagon Wheel Restaurant in Smyrna, Delaware is once again serving their seasonal muskrat dinners on Thursdays. Yes, the culinary heart of Delaware! (Helen's Sausge House is north of town.
 
John

Damn! And here I thought it was just Michiganders who were dumb enough to eat rats. In all the years I trapped rats it never occurred to me to eat them. And some years back, when I was finally talked into it in Michigan, well, I realized that when I was an 8 year old I was smarter that those folks up north. No wonder they haven't been able to beat Ohio State.

Michael Hoffman


Damn! And here I thought it was just Michiganders who were dumb enough to eat rats. In all the years I trapped rats it never occurred to me to eat them. And some years back, when I was finally talked into it in Michigan, well, I realized that when I was an 8 year old I was smarter that those folks up north. No wonder they haven't been able to beat Ohio State.

Au Contraire' Mr Hoffman,
The Muskrat, while being a Rodent, it is not a member of the Rat Branch of the Rodent Tree. "Among the lesser known muskrat facts, one of the prominent ones is that though it is quite often referred to as a 'rat', it doesn't belong to the true rat family, i.e. genus Rattus. The scientific name of muskrat is Ondatra zibethicus, and it is the only species belonging to genus Ondatra in the sub-family Arvicolinae."
"Muskrat meat is considered a delicacy in the region where it is found. Its fur is also used to make fur clothes which have a great demand in the international market."
Source - Buzzle.com "Intelligent Life on the Web"

The Nutria is the Muskrat's larger cousin and is a Menace to the Marshlands of Louisana. They too breed like rats although they are not rats either. LA is encouraging the reduction of Nutria by hunting and trapping and providing delicious recipes like this one! "Save the Marshlands - Eat Nutria!" 
  Heart Healthy 'Crock-Pot' Nutria
  2 hind saddle portions of nutria meat
1 small onion, sliced thin
1 tomato, cut into big wedges
2 potatoes, sliced thin
2 carrots, sliced thin
8 Brussels sprouts
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup water
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup demi-glace (optional)
Layer onion, tomato, potatoes, carrots and Brussels sprouts in crockpot. Season nutria with salt, pepper and garlic, and place nutria over vegetables. Add wine and water, set crockpot on low and let cook until meat is tender (approximately 1-1/2 hours). Garnish with vegetables and demi-glace. Makes four servings.
For more recipes, click on a link below.
http://www.nutria.com/site14.php

I'd give it a try.  Heck, I've eaten raccoon and it wasn't half bad.  In fact, there's a town up in south central Wisconsin that has an annual raccoon dinner.  They get more folks visiting every year.  How much different could muskrat be than raccoon?
 
I remember a photo spread (maybe in LIFE Magazine) years ago on the joys and elegance of cooking with muskrat.  There was one photo of a muskrat roast, beautifully displayed on a serving platter, that looked exactly like the London Broil cut my Mom used to make on a regular basis.
 
At least she told us it was London Broil...
 
Buddy

Foodbme

Michael Hoffman


Damn! And here I thought it was just Michiganders who were dumb enough to eat rats. In all the years I trapped rats it never occurred to me to eat them. And some years back, when I was finally talked into it in Michigan, well, I realized that when I was an 8 year old I was smarter that those folks up north. No wonder they haven't been able to beat Ohio State.

Au Contraire' Mr Hoffman,
The Muskrat, while being a Rodent, it is not a member of the Rat Branch of the Rodent Tree. "Among the lesser known muskrat facts, one of the prominent ones is that though it is quite often referred to as a 'rat', it doesn't belong to the true rat family, i.e. genus Rattus. The scientific name of muskrat is Ondatra zibethicus, and it is the only species belonging to genus Ondatra in the sub-family Arvicolinae."
"Muskrat meat is considered a delicacy in the region where it is found. Its fur is also used to make fur clothes which have a great demand in the international market."
Source - Buzzle.com "Intelligent Life on the Web"

Sorry about that. I know they are not "RATS."  But we trappers (retired) call muskrats rats. It's sort of, oh, I guess you could say, a nickname.

Ah, the only good raccoon is a cooked raccoon.

They make nice hats too!
 

Michael Hoffman


Ah, the only good raccoon is a cooked raccoon.

When I was a kid in Mass i trapped "rats"--solds the skins--even used them to try my hand at mail order taxidermy lessons --but i never ate them---my dad had a friend with a mink"ranch" -he took the bodies-chopped them up and fed them to them to the mink--now THOSE little beasties are MEAN--and just plain nasty tempered.  Know that i think about it--muskrats where the one thing i killed that i did't eat---beside rats at the dump :)

http://www.youtube.com/wa...dw&feature=related

tiki


When I was a kid in Mass i trapped "rats"--solds the skins--even used them to try my hand at mail order taxidermy lessons --but i never ate them---my dad had a friend with a mink"ranch" -he took the bodies-chopped them up and fed them to them to the mink--now THOSE little beasties are MEAN--and just plain nasty tempered.  Know that i think about it--muskrats where the one thing i killed that i did't eat---beside rats at the dump :)

I got my first traps for Christmas when I was almost 8 years old. I made enough money trapping rats that winter to buy a couple of dozen more traps, and a bike.
 
And I'll never forget the day my mother came home from somewhere and found me skinning rats on the kitchen table. My pointing out that it was really, really cold outside didn't seem to matter.

Michael Hoffman
 


I got my first traps for Christmas when I was almost 8 years old. I made enough money trapping rats that winter to buy a couple of dozen more traps, and a bike.

And I'll never forget the day my mother came home from somewhere and found me skinning rats on the kitchen table. My pointing out that it was really, really cold outside didn't seem to matter.

Muskrat, muskrat candlelight
Doin' the town and doin' it right
In the evenin'
It's pretty pleasin'

Muskrat Susie, Muskrat Sam
Do the jitterbug out in muskrat land
And they shimmy
And Sammy's so skinny

And they whirled and they twirled and they tangoed
Singin' and jingin' the jango
Floatin' like the heavens above
It looks like muskrat love

Nibbling on bacon, chewin' on cheese
Sammy says to Susie "Honey, would you please be my missus?"
And she say yes
With her kisses

And now he's ticklin' her fancy
Rubbin' her toes
Muzzle to muzzle, now anything goes
As they wriggle, and Sue starts to giggle

And they whirled and they twirled and they tangoed
Singin' and jingin' the jango
Floatin' like the heavens above
It looks like muskrat love

I sorta remember they eat muskrat in South Jersey (right across the Delaware River actually from Smyrna, DE.)
 
And for dessert? Muscat. 
Grapes.