We used to buy fresh rabbit at the local Winn-Dixie back in the 70s - I recall it came packaged in a white box. I imagine squirrel meat would taste similar, just smaller.

@carolb_w_fl_coastal_9/10, you might like ”not quite tomato soup.” I had it for dinner last night. It is vaguely similar to your mom’s broiled tomato halves.

https://styleblueprint.com/everyday/recipe-not-quite-tomato-soup/

I've eaten plenty of rabbit in French restaurants, but never squirrel.

Rabbit is white and very firm while squirrel is dark, juicer and has a lot more flavor. Duck would be more like. Hunting squirrel was a kid thing around us. Grownups hunted deer. I don't recall knowing anyone who ate squirrel but who knows as it wasn't worth mentioning.

I don't recall being able to hunt within city limits. So of course, game is hunted in rural areas?! Seems like a no brainer.

But, it's easy to see the UNSURPRISING inference

My family lived rurally, but it was my city dwelling great uncle who brought us squirrel, rabbit, venison, and fish. My parents did not hunt or fish. My father's co-workers sometimes gave us fish, too.

Farmed rabbit may be white but wild rabbit meat is darker. It doesn't taste much different from free range chicken but is more of a faff to prepare because of the bones. I have some rabbit in mustard sauce in the freezer right now, made with meat bought from a game dealer in the farmers' market. We also get pheasant and mallard from them.

Thank you Floral. I have had grocery store Rabbit which was very bland and very firm meat, a friend raised rabbit and it was a bit more flavorful and similar to our Easter bunnies that were sent to the farm when they started biting and kicking which we eventually ate. That sounds pretty terrible but they were never actual pets. We did not get wild rabbit due to parasites.

floral, when you have small birds, do you eat the entire bird, bones and all? I've seen television shows where people do that, and I sort of get that, like soft shell crab... but I seriously don't know.

How do you eat such a small bird?

For Pete's sake, rob, you certainly are willing to draw a long bow when you're taking a shot at Elmer. At least two people here have stated that they were city dwellers but ate squirrel etc, which was provided by rural family/friends. And many city dwellers hunt, though OBVIOUSLY not in the city. Presumably they drive out to areas where they can hunt.

Give it a rest.

I don't eat small birds, rob333, and never would. Apart from anything else it is illegal to kill any birds here unless classed as game or a pest species. A wood pigeon (pest) is a hefty thing and we just eat the breasts. Two breasts (ie from one bird) is a plentiful portion. Pheasant (game) is just like a small chicken and can be roasted or casserolled whole.

Roast pheasant:

A wood pigeon:

They are twice the size and weight of feral pigeons. They are vegetarian and do a lot of damage on farms and in gardens to grain, brassicas and seeds.

Looking through my Japan photos I found this:

Bee larvae, grass hoppers and raw horse-meat.

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Horsemeat is eaten in a number of Western European countries, though not that widely. As for insects, I asked a Japanese-American friend who travels regularly to his ancestral country for work and he said to his knowledge it was not common or widespread.

As for insects, I asked a Japanese-American friend who travels regularly to his ancestral country for work and he said to his knowledge it was not common or widespread.

Elmer, you were surprised that folks ate squirrel in the USA. I believe you are American. Many Americans here have acknowledged they have/do eat it. Your Japanese-American friend may be surprised about Japan.

Isn’t it fun to learn about different customs in your own country? America is a big place.

Canada has Flipper Pie. It is made with seal flippers. I think most Canadians would say that they have never heard of it. But those who have, and eat it, would identify it as a Canadian dish.

My squirrel questions were more from a sociological and regional culture perspective than related to gastronomy. To better focus your question, I was surprised that people eat squirrel NOW.

I think participants in this forum are demographically disproportional in several ways compared to the US overall and to the extent a number either have or are familiar with people who eat squirrels isn't suggestive of any broad conclusions to draw about Americans overall. Do I find the response trend to be interesting - not interesting, more unexpected and so surprising. And then again, not surprising at all.

I seemed to remember a brouhaha over the exclusion of a squirrel recipe in a relatively recent edition of The Joy of Cooking a decade or so back. Apparantly the recipe came with detailed instructions for preparing the animal. That controversy was my introduction to the notion there were people who once ate squirrel. Here is a brief, humorous history of squirrel consumption in this country.

https://bittersoutherner.com/bushy-tails-and-old-cookbooks#:~:text=The%20early%20%2760s%20edition%20of,the%20squirrel%27s%20heyday%20as%20dinner.

I, too, was surprised to learn that squirrel-eating is a current practice in the US. In France, I’ve eaten rabbit many times, and horse meat a time or two. I ate tongue once while there and did not enjoy the tongue-like texture, ew. I ate a small bird at a restaurant in Paris during my first visit there in 1964. I have turned down the opportunity to eat Rocky Mountain oysters (I don’t recall where this occurred) and don’t regret it.

😀 zalco!

More fun squirrel stuff that is neither here nor there.

In the modern day Looney Tunes, Elmer Fudd (not this one) meets his demise after an encounter with a giant squirrel!

And, tomorrow is officially Spot a Squirrel Day in a group that I follow.

chinacat, I have eaten tongue and bull testicles a few times. They are not my favourite.

My mother often made tongue sandwiches.

Your framing of squirrel acquisition was absolute skewering. It's not ok. There are so many ways sociological questions could've been asked if your intent was to actually be open minded. But it's really not. Feigned innocence. Give it a rest.

Tongue is a Jewish deli staple. Delicious on rye with mustard, but not good for your cholesterol!

The texture of boiled beef tongue is rather similar to boiled gizzards, as I recall.

I know that there is a small bird called an ortolan that used to be a delicacy in France, but it is banned now. There was a scandal when President Mitterand had some for his last meal.

I don’t think I could eat something that could be tasting me back.

You mean tongue? No worries - it's dead, it can't taste anything 😁

In defense of Robb, Elmer has made clear his intentions about his squirrel eating issue being his latest weirdness about the south. Not out of the way for Americans in general. Disparaging southern culture makes other Americans feel good for some strange reason. As a person with southern heritage but a whole lot of other input I do not get it. Eating squirrel is just like eating partridge or quail or turkey or even rabbit. How about trout? Bass? Around here digging clams or crabbing. It is wild caught food. Why is that weird? Why not? I never got around to trying armadillo or even possum though I once tasted (under duress) groundhog and found it inedible. Why is it more culturally elegant to eat deer meat? The wild deer still dies. There is nothing inelegant about squirrel.

Maybe we need a category here about things you ate as an adult. I have eaten beef tongue and don't see myself coming around about that. It is not ground hog BUT.

I wonder if you can actually digest the largest part of crunchy insects like grass hoppers and ants. Grubs are I think the actual food of choice of people who eat bugs. When I was in college someone brought me a giant water beetle to identify for them and bizarrily enough a friend had her boyfriend send her the same insect from Viet Nam. They were eaten by the local people but they pulled off the head and sucked out the digestible insides when working in flooded rice paddies. Seems sensible to me.

I know that there is a small bird called an ortolan

If you've ever seen the movie Gigi, there's a wonderful scene where Aunt Alicia teaches Gigi how to eat ortolans. But that was when they were still legal.

The texture of boiled beef tongue is rather similar to boiled gizzards, as I recall.

Not when it's cold and sliced. It has a similar texture to other cold cuts and is quite soft.

" his latest weirdness about the south "

You too with reading comprehension challenges, eh? I haven't mentioned the South in this thread.

My bad Elmer. Care to explicate your statement about "sociological and regional cultural perspective"? I just assumed it was your consistently stated aversion to southern gastronomy. Sorry if I was wrong.

Your earlier comment was a needless and foolish personal insult as well as being incorrect. I'm disinclined to respond to your question.

There's an old story about two women ordering sandwiches in a restaurant. One orders the tongue. To which the other states, "Eeeew! I could never eat something that came out of an animal's mouth. I'll have the egg salad."

I was made to eat what I didn't want to when I was a kid. As a result, my detestation for certain foods, esp clams and liver, and fried flatfish are with me to this day. But as I've aged, I've found some vegetable to actually taste sweeter as opposed to when I was a kid, my parents would rave about how sweet, e.g., the fresh picked peas from the garden were. As a kid, they never tasted sweet to me, but they do now. A local organic farmer grows the sweetest cabbage which almost seems an oxymoron.

I do now eat spinach and fish...so long as it isn't an oily, fishy one...which I never would as a child. I learned that the way Mom cooked the fish was not helpful....floured and fried in crisco...not even any salt and pepper added. Ugh. Mom never did accomplish "spices" when it came to cooking.

I also now love bleu cheeses which, as I kid, I couldn't even stand their smell.

But just as interesting are the things I won't eat now that I did as a kid, and most is related to sweetness...those orange foam elephant peanut candies...marshmallow fluff...candy corn....scooter pies...all too terribly sweet. Same with alcohol...all those horrible sweet wines that were the gateway to drinking...boone's farm anyone? Now I can't stand sweet wines at all. I haven't had a coke or sugar in my coffee in decades, and even ginger ale is too sweet.

Speaking of cheeses, we've enjoyed many of the costco cheeses, esp their cheddar. It's crumbly but full of flavor.

I recall a study that showed there is no such thing as 'too sweet' for children. My tolerance for sweetness has definitely diminished since I was a kid.

Annie, I am surprised by the posters who have said that they had to eat things that they didn’t like!

The wise mother of a friend once said ”Eating something you don’t like can make you sick.”

Well, my parents were of the age that the depression was part of their childhood, so you ate and appreciated whatever food you had, and they didn't suffer the insult of disrespectful children not eating what was served. I know the thinking is different today, but then again, there's a LOT about child rearing today that was different back then.

My parents were also raised between the wars. My father, in particular, grew up in deep poverty in a depression era mining community. They began their life together during severe war time rationing: Adult weekly ration during WW2. 1 egg, 2 ounces each of tea and butter, an ounce of cheese, eight ounces of sugar, four ounces of bacon and four ounces of margarine. Meat was rationed by price so you got more if you bought cheaper things like bones or offal....if it was available, which it often wasn't. Rationing only ended completely shortly before I was born in the 50s. Even so, although we were not allowed to be fussy, genuine dislikes were accepted. We were never forced to eat food that we really hated or which made us retch. But nor were we offered an alternative. We just had to wait until the next meal. We had the choice to eat or not to eat, but not to choose something different. Forcing children to eat something they detest can lead to food issues later in life. With my own kids it was eat it or don't eat it, no cajoling, no coaxing. We're not going to have a big discussion about it and there's nothing else on offer.

Dad loved vegetables, especially in the summer. We always had a big garden. I would not eat most, because I did not like. I was in the fifth grade and went with my best friend to her grandparents for a week that summer.

They were country folks and lived in the middle of Bankhead Forest. Breakfast was big, eggs and all the extras. That I liked. We then took off and wandered all over the place until noon, when we had to be home for dinner, which was the big meal.

Well, it was ALL vegetables! No meat. They had even bigger gardens than Dad. Supper was a repeat! A day or so of that, I ate vegetables and loved them. Still do.

I can’t remember ever going hungry and for that I know I am extremely fortunate. My parents were both born in the mid 1930s in England. My father was the son of a medical doctor and school teacher and my mother the daughter of factory workers. They moved to Canada in the mid ’50s.

I cannot remember ever having a meal that there was not at least something I could eat and when I had my own family I cannot remember either one of my children turning down a meal. I think we must have all had the same taste in food or maybe my husband and I cooked according to everyone’s likes.

People do what they know. If their parents insisted they eat what was served, then they will often do the same with their children.

I remember my son was not fussy about foods until he was around 2 or 3 years old, then he suddenly started refusing to eat some things. I don't recall making him eat stuff, but it did present a challenge, as it wasn't until the previously liked food was in front of him that he refused it.

I don't remember being made to eat things either.

And this is a popular topic - almost 200 replies!

Cute video, carol.🙂

I do remember that we always ate at a table with a tablecloth and a full setting. My mother and father were sticklers for the proper utensils and stuff. My father encouraged talking at the table, and he had a great sense of humour. Mealtimes were always enjoyable.

Even when my sisters and I came home during lunchtime from school, we always sat at a table with a linen tablecloth.

The friend was born in 1950. His mother in 1927.

I made my kids eat one bite of whatever vegetable was served. Seemed like a good compromise. Kids do not call the shots but mom doesnt force a big serving of whatever on them.

I hated peas when i was a kid. Id hide them under the edge of the plate, then excuse myself and run. When you picked up the plate there would be a circle of peas.

Yes, I always observed the one bite rule with kids and grandkids. You did not have to eat a big serving, but you did have to try. I did not cook anything extra, you ate what you wanted from what was available. ( Of course, there was always plenty available, lol.) (Mac and cheese as a side,lol.)

If you ate one greenbean and more corn, so be it.

ETA: All eat almost anything now..

We had never been made to eat something we didnt like and out of the blue while visiting our Grannie she decided we needed to try a bite of things we normally wouldnt eat. It was war. I was a very well behaved compliant child and I sat at the table for hours with this mess of congealed cream style corn. Grannie finally settled for one tiny kernel which I put in my mouth and spit out. She never tried that again. Typically we would have eight or so vegetables on her table to choose from. I ate just about anything but I also did not eat boiled okra. I would still be sitting there if she had served that.

Being a parent means, among other things, being a teacher, being a leader, and setting a good example. In doing so, avoiding age unrealistic or unreasonable expectations and making an effort to avoid confrontations are things parents need to keep in mind. A 3 year can be allowed to be a fussy eater - not so a 12 year old. Thoughtful parenting in my mind wouldn't include "Here's what there is to eat - take it or go hungry".

Not everyone who lived through the depression years emerged with the emotional equivalent of PTSD attitudes to last their lifetimes. Thankfully, my parents, who were teens during most of that era and faced reduced circumstances like so many others, emerged without such burdens.

How lucky they were to have been able to raise perfect children.

All the more reason to eat wild game in the present if you want meat that has some flavor. So much of the factory farm meat is bland and lacking in flavor. Pork is too lean; beef isn't hung long enough. Chicken is bland. You have to shop like a hawk to avoid meat that is injected with saline solutions. You may not have access to or the budget for boutique meat.

I think most, if not all of the states in the lower 48 have game & fowl hunting seasons. A peek at the hunting regulations will give you a clue as to what game & fowl appears on dinner tables across the entire United State. Certainly Alaska is known for big game hunting opportunities.

The most delicious smelling meat that I didn't get to eat was at a rendevouz re-enactment. Beaver roasting on a spit over a campfire.

And then there is fishing and cultural differences. I know the Hmong in the area eat species of fish that are considered trash fish by others. Ones that I have never eaten but would absolutely try if prepared by someone who routinely prepares it.

And regional differences. I remember catching tons of blue gills when I was about 7 years old. Taken off the hook and tossed back into the water. Just a fish for little kids to catch. Lo & behold, we move to Wisconsin and learn that bluegill is considered prime eating. And it is very much so! Actually my favorite fresh water fish; second favorite is catfish caught out of cold water in the spring followed by walleye. Natives here tend to shun catfish. Just shows how regions vary in preference.

Glenda, this has been a great thread! I’ve loved reading about everyone’s memories of food from when they were young. What a fun topic.