Hello George Monbiot, here talking about roadkill as ethical meat, and I’m with him on this one, for all the reasons he dislikes most farm-bred meat, mentioned in the video above and discussed here and here.
And I have friends who, as foresters and re-wilders, deeply hate the grey squirrels of Britain for the damage these invasive creatures do to (re)foresting efforts; these activists see eating squirrel as a vote for a wider notion of Ecology. Here’s a blog from a journalist in Scotland who writes about eating squirrel from this point of view.
When I wrote about rabbit over a year ago, I catalogued recipes in my cookbooks to give readers a sense of culinary possibility, and myself a future reference. I’m reposting this list for everyone who might be inspired to try something new. Squirrels are meant to cook very similar to rabbit, hence the recipes can be transposed.
For me eating squirrel is hypothetical so far, I should add– though there’s a dead one, courtesy of our cat, in front of our house, and I’m talking to kids about the succession of creatures that eat and rot the dead, especially the gorgeous bottle flies with their metallic blue-green jewel bodies.
Rabbit/ Squirrel Recipes
Mrs. Beeton’s Cookery Rabbit, Boiled –Broth –Curried –Pie Mark Bittman, How to Cook Everything (a title to quibble with!) Hasenpfeffer Giuliano Bugialli, Bugialli on Pasta Pappardelle Sul Coniglio (Tuscany) Taliattelle alla Frantoiana / Rabbit Sauce with Olives (Umbria) Penelope Casas, Delicioso: The Regional Cooking of Spain Rabbit in Almond and Olive Sauce –With Blackberries and Brown Sugar –Coated with a Honey-Garlic Mayonnaise –With Crisp Bread Bits –Marinated in Sherry Sauce –Paella –In Spicy Wine and Vinegar Sauce Penelope Casas, The Foods and Wines of Spain Rabbit With Almonds and Pine Nuts –Broiled, with aioli sauce –in egg and Lemon Sauce –Hunter Style –Paella –Pate –Potted –With Red Peppers and Zucchini –In Tomato Sauce Daily Telegraph, Good Fare: A Book of Wartime Recipes Rabbit, Brown Fricasee Curried Elizabeth David A Book of Mediterranean Food Rabbit, au coulis de lentilles –in melokhia (soup) (North African, made with a kind of mallow (pictures here) –pate Elizabeth David, French Provincial Cooking Rabbit Potted with Pork –Stewed in Red Wine Gilli Davies, Lamb, Leeks and Laverbread Rabbit with Damsons Anna Del Conte, The Classic Food of Northern Italy Old Fashioned Rabbit from Umbria Rabbit in Sweet and Sour Sauce Fuchsia Dunlop, Sichuan Cookery Rabbit With Peanuts in Hot Bean Sauce –With Rock Sugar –With Sichuan Pepper Laila El-Haddad and Maggie Schmitt, The Gaza Kitchen Butter Rice and Griddle Bread with Chicken or Rabbit Basic Spiced Broth (Chicken or Rabbit Bones) Jean-Noel Escudier & Peta Fuller, True Provencal & Nicoise Cooking Bundles of Rabbt Brignolaise Rabbit Civet –Fried, Marseillaise Roasted Stuffed Rabbit Farmhouse Fare, Recipes from Country Housewives Collected by Farmers Weekly Old Devonshire Rabbit Brawn Curried Rabbit Harvest Rabbit Rabbit Paste Rabbit Pie Rabbit Pudding with Mushrooms Somerset Rabbit Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, The River Cottage Cookbook Bunny Burgers Rabbit Satay with Spicy Peanut Sauce Bobby Freeman, First Catch Your Peacock Rabbit in Lentils –Stew Ilaria Gozzini Giacosa, A Taste of Ancient Rome “Within the section dedicated to recipes with ground meat, the Apician manual includes this curious rating: “The ground meat atties of peacock have first place, if they are fried so that they remain tender. Those of pheasant have second place, those of rabbit third, those of chicken fourth, and those of suckling pig fifth.” The recipe for the patties in this book includes myrtle berries, garum , pine nuts, etc…. Patience Gray, Honey From a Weed Rabbit with Garlic Sauce Rabbit with Prunes and Pinenuts Jane Grigson, The Cooking of Normandy Rabbit with Mustard Sauce Jane Grigson, English Food Boiled Wild Rabbit with Onion Sauce –Dressed in a Casserole English Jugged Scotch Stewed Welsh –Wild Marcella Hazan, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking Rabbit with Rosemary and White Wine Fergus Henderson, Nose to Tail Eating Confit of Rabbit Leg Rabbit in Broth –With Garlic Jellied Rabbit with Pea and Broad Bean Puree Saddle of Rabbit wrapped in Fennel Twigs and Bacon Madeleine Kamman, In Madeleine’s Kitchen(I know MK had some deep feeling about being trumped in celebrity by Julia Child– I’ve learned so much from them both but lately have been really loving Madeleine. You can read a little about this.)
Rabbit, Jellied with Vegetables –with Juniper and Beer –Terrine with Truffled Leeks Madeleine Kamman, Savoie Civet (this recipe she explictyly says can be used for squirrel!) Grilled Loins of Rabbit with Tomato Mustard Madeleine Kamman, When French Women Cook Civet (stew) with Chartreuse Pate with Hazelnuts and Genepi With Shallots and Cornichons Stewed with Walnut Sauce Diana Kennedy, The Essential Cuisines of Mexico Rabbit in Chile Sauce Nigella Lawson, How to Eat Peter Rabbit in Mr McGregor’s Salad Carl Legge, The Permaculture Cookbook rather than recipes, Carl makes good suggestions to add to Paella, Lettuce and Pea Soup, and “Curries” – a sustainable, flexible approach that I like! Edna Lewis, The Taste of Country Cooking Baked Rabbit Smothered Rabbit Elisabeth Luard, European Festival Food Rabbit Casserole Provencale (British) Rabbit Pie Elisabeth Luard, European Peasant Cookery (The Old World Kitchen in the US) Stew (an Italian veal stew subsitution) Rabbit with Beer and Prunes (Belgium_ Rabbit with Garlic (Spain) Jennifer McGruther, The Nourished Kitchen Rabbit Pie with Bacon and Chanterelles Maxime McKendry, Seven Hundred Years of English Cooking Spiced Creamed Rabbit (15th Century) Rabbits Surprised (1806) Jamie Oliver, Jamie’s America Rabbit Stew with Dumplings Jamie Oliver, Jamie’s Great Britain 12-Hour Rabbit Bolognese Honey Roasted Lemon Rabbit Sweet Leek and Rabbit Pie Jamie Oliver, Jamie’s Italy Grilled and Marinated Rabbit Rabbit in Mixed Roast Jamie Oliver, The Return of the Naked Chef Pappardelle with Rabbit, Herbs and Cream Richard Olney, Lulu’s Provencal Table Rabbit and Carrots in Aspic –with Mustard –Stew Stuffed with Prunes Richard Olney, Simple French Food Rabbit Pappiotes Saffron Stew With Cucumbers Sausanges Stuffed Roast Saddle and Hindquarters Terrine Jennifer Paterson, Feast Days Rabbit Dijonaise –with Anchovies and Capers Marguerite Patten, 1,000 Favourite Recipes Mustard Rabbit Rabbit Pie Ragout of Rabbit Gary Rhodes, New British Classics Rabbit Leg Casserole with Marjoram and Mustard Rabbit, Pork, and Cider Potato Pie Irma S Rombauer, Joy of Cooking (1975) Braised with Onions With Chilli Beans Fricasee Rabbit A La Mode Roast Rabbit Rabbit and Sausage Casserole Sauteed Rabbit Savarin, Real French Cooking (in a section entitled “Rabbits and Furred Game” – includes instructions to skin and to gut)Fricassee of Rabbit
Marengo Rabbit
Roast Rabbit
Goodwife’s Rabbit
Trompette Rabbit
Rabbits and Prunes
Potted Rabbit
Blanquette of Rabbit
Boiled Young Rabbit
Mustard Rabbit
Tartare Rabbit
Jugged Rabbit with Noodles
Saupiquet of Rabbit
Amunategui (sic) Rabbitnd Furred Game” – includes instructions to skin and to gut) Fricassee of Rabbit Marengo Rabbit Roast Rabbit Goodwife’s Rabbit Trompette Rabbit Rabbits and Prunes Potted Rabbit Blanquette of Rabbit Boiled Young Rabbit Mustard Rabbit Tartare Rabbit Jugged Rabbit with Noodles Saupiquet of Rabbit Amunategui (sic) Rabbit Michelle Scicolone, A Fresh Taste of Italy (a book I LOVE—ask me why) Rabbit Braised with Sweet Peppers and Garlic –with Herbs and Olives –with Olives and Pine Nuts Delfina’s – –and Sausage, Pappardelle with… Jane Sigal, Backroad Bistros, Farmhouse Fare Rabbit in Creamy Mustard Sauce With Mushrooms With Italian Prune Plum Sauce Marinated in Muscadet Wine Paul Bertoli, Chez Panisse Cooking Rabbit Salad with Browned Shallots The Silver Spoon (that Phaidon tome) Braised Rabbit with Rosemary Fried Rabbit Marinated Rabbit Rabbit “Tuna” Rabbit and Tuna Roll Rabbit Cacciatore Rabbit in Cider Rabbit in Milk Rabbit in Olive Oil and Lemon Rabbit in Red Wine Rabbit in Vinegar Rabbit Stew with Anchovies Rabbit Stew with Tomatoes and Basil Rabbit Stew with Walnuts Rabbit with Bay Leaves Rabbit with Honey and Vegetable Rabbit with Mustard Rabbit with Peperonata Rabbit with Prosciutto and Polenta Roast Rabbit Stewed Rabbit Stuffed Rabbit Delia Smith, The Evening Standard Cookbook Rabbit Pie –in Red Wine Roast Stuffed Rabbit Musia Soper, Encyclopedia of European Cookbook (1962) Rabbit in Beer (France) Rabbit in Cream Sauce (Scandinavia– recipe includes Soya Sauce ??? and Evaporated Milk!!! Rabbit Paprika (Hungary) Rabbit Paste (Czech) (reading this recipe makes me gag) Rabbit Stew (French) Rabbit with Prunes (Belgian) Jeanne Strang, Goosefat and Garlic Braised with Herbs and Cream in Pork Terrine Potted with Prunes Stuffed Terrine of Wild with a Piquant Sauce Alice B Toklas. The Alice B Toklas Cookbook Rabbit with Dumplings S Minwel Tibbott, Welsh Fare: A Selection of Traditional Recipes Rabbit in Lentils Rabbit Stew Ruth Van Waerebeek, Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook Rabbit marinated in Abbey beer with Mushrooms Sauteed with Cherry beer and Dried Cherries Stewed with Prunes and Beer Patricia Wells, Bistro Cooking Rabbit with Green Olives –and Hazelnut Terrine –with Mushrooms and Thyme, Monsieur Henny’s –with Mustard Sauce, Cafe des Federations’ ed Florence White: Good Things in England Rabbit,Baked —Boiled with Rice Clifford Wright, A Mediterranean Feast Rabbit Broth Cordoban style rice with chicken, veal , pork, and… “Poor Folks” peppered stew Commando-Style Braised, with tomato and chocolate sauce And only one link: Chris’ Rabbit Stew to be cooked over an open fire in an enamel cauldron hung from a tripod….
I love your list – I often do the same sort of thing, go through a bunch of cookbooks to consider the range of possibilities so I can begin contemplating long before I have to make the decision. Interesting video – squirrels mean something different here, as in ‘there’s always squirrel’….
Same arguments probably apply to kangaroo roadkill in Australia but I can’t imagine that anyone would be game to skin one on tv (even though you can now buy kangaroo meat). I wonder if you are permitted to take roadkill to eat even though you are not allowed to shoot them here without a permit? No idea
What a huge number of rabbit recipes there are. George is so handy with a knife! Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall once shared a squirrel recipe with Friends of the Earth supporters but he did say there wasn’t much meat on them.
That is quite a list! It makes me wish I had some squirrel. We live in the land of squirrels, but unfortunately I am not up to catching any. I am however hoping to find someone who will do it for me. So far I have only managed to acquire some beaver (delicious) but have heard squirrel is a favourite for many too.
I’ve had red squirrels (hunted with my grandfather-in-law and my husband) in Arkansas. They are larger and meatier than the grey squirrels, and are surprisingly delicious!