Good morning, Netizens...

If I had not read about this on the McClatchy News Service, I probably would not have believed it, and prior to actually tasting it, I tended to be somewhat skeptical. However, according to the article located here http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/59566.html raccoon meat is becoming a source of food that is highly desirable. Plus if you think I am really whacked out, you might go here http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,raccoon,FF.html and read some of the recipes for preparing our ring-tailed furry friends for dinner.

If you do even a marginal search for raccoon meat recipes, it seems there are lots of variations on ways to prepare a healthy meal from raccoon meat. Yes, I did say healthy meals. It originally appears in the 1931 edition of The Joy of Cooking which is, incredibly enough, available from various locations near the back door of the Internet.

It seems since life was much simpler back then, butchering and preparing raccoon meat was quite popular. The McClatchy piece even gives you a brief overview of how to prepare the meat properly, which based upon my experience, is quite a bit more involved than preparing beef or pork. However, it is simply delicious.

For decades I had heard similarly negative comments about preparing and eating armadillo which, after tasting it the first time, I became quite the aficionado of ways to prepare and serve the most-pesky varmint in Texas and other parts of the South. It is not nearly so cute and cuddly as a raccoon, but when properly prepared is once again simply delightful. Plus you are helping pest control in the State of Texas. Look at it that way.

According to several sources, the economy may be the reason for the rising interest in raccoon meat. When times are hard, people historically have sought out ways to eat things which they can hunt or trap, rather than purchase from a store. Are we coming to this again?

Raccoon: the other dark meat. If times get hard enough, we might even hear more about this.

Dave

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