2 tablespoons soy sauce Among them, to change the soaking liquid as often as possible within a longer period of soaking time. 11. For nearly two decades I […] Optional: serve curry from a hollowed out pumpkin. My mind raced. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Gagging, I poured the marinating solution down the sink. I made a video of Aaron skinning a rat, and start to finish it runs 39 seconds. On a cool, sunny February morning, I met Sonny and Karli Diefenderfer on a remote windswept waterfront property in Windy Hill, Maryland. To revisit this article, select My⁠ ⁠Account, then View saved stories. The smell did not abate, and the funky, fishy character of the meat held steadfast as I choked a small piece of its shoulder down. Skinned animals, particularly mammals, look especially menacing and ugly once flayed, and this bucktoothed muskrat jeered at me as though he were threatening to chew my ear off. Not being one to shy away from a good challenge, my journey into muskrat cuisine – and the National Outdoor Show, the beating heart of muskrat culture – began. The experienced may call it earthy. Add chopped olives, diced tomatoes, diced potatoes and vinegar. Wylie Abbott Jr. had said that this part of the festival used to last until the early-morning hours. It's such a firm barrier, in fact, that it's entered the lexicon: folks talk about the five-muskrat minute the way runners talk about the ten-minute mile. The stew is tough to look at, especially knowing it is filled with rat. There is no stamp from the USDA existing between you and this eviscerated animal carcass thawing in your kitchen. As local plant food becomes scarce, muskrats will feed on small aquatic animals such as insects, fish and amphibians. She uses the foot of the other leg to pin down the muskrat's tail—it gives her some leverage to peel the animal's hide off its ruby-colored flesh and yank it straight up over its head, like pulling off a wool sock at the end of a long day. (There was also an incident where a muskrat presumed dead turned out to be actually quite alive, and ran backstage and caused havoc. 1. There's an oyster-shucking contest, too, but this year, like last year, it had only a single contestant. I finished third. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. But after each bite made in the service of perfecting these recipes, the novelty of this entire ordeal steadily wore off. Stir hoisin sauce into muskrat. This is a creature that likes to live near ponds, lakes, and other natural bodies of … The mere removal of these glands is likely as effective as thrice washing chitterlings ”“ there’s always a hint of God’s intent left behind. A visit to Maryland's Eastern Shore, where an annual festival is dedicated to all things 'rat. I believed my kung fu was strong. 1 ½ cups Maryland muskrat, previously boiled and chopped If the food source is too far from their hut, they will make a "push-up" which is a feeding shelter on the ice. I wondered if she had decided to let someone else win in 2014. This was, after all, the National Outdoor Show, I reminded myself, and I started to doubt my own choice in clothing for the day, feeling a bit like I was wearing Duke Blue to a Carolina home game. That there is more than one way to skin a cat is axiomatic; it is a lesser-known truth that there are chiefly two ways to skin a muskrat. One shirt for sale depicted, in silhouette, one muskrat mounting another, with the caption MUSKRAT LOVE. I had settled on two other entries in addition to the Bacon ‘Rat, which received special names: “Swampanadas” and “‘Skurry Curry.” The sandwich got canned. I ladled off the foamy, dark scum stuck to the crests of the roiling water, and I held my breath as muskrat-infused steam enveloped my face. 9. Fortuitously, the Bacon Explosion, a monstrous roll of bacon and sausage, is shaped like a log. One man's journey into a most unusual culinary challenge. They will also eat crayfish, fish, frogs, snails and other aquatic life. All entries must also display a recipe, should anybody want to make the dish at home. So the pelts are now just something you can make a little money with—something on the side. After simmering curry for 15 minutes, plate the rice balls and ladle curry over them. 1. The contents going down the sink were so vile I thought I must have succeeded at beating the funk out of the small carcass. I approached my first ‘rat as if it were a catfish pulled from a muddy river bottom. Wet fingers with water and rub around perimeter of disk. (Carve/twist second half for optimal tail-like aesthetics.) "They never wore trousers then," Aaron said. That’s considered as a rat dynasty. Half an hour after unveiling the dishes, the cooks and onlookers gathered at the judging table for the announcement of 2014’s muskrat cooking competition winners. When I went to remove its arms at the shoulder joint, I noticed how dark the meat was still ”“ the blood was stubbornly encased in the muscle fibers. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 1/1/20) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 1/1/20) and Your California Privacy Rights. 12. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. Ad Choices, How to Cook a Muskrat (You Have to Skin It First). 2 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning There were about as many spectators as there were contestants, and we milled about waiting for the judgment to come down. 6. In the garage behind her little ranch-style house on the Eastern Shore, Rhonda Aaron got out an old newspaper photograph, which she'd blown up and mounted, to show off how they did it in the olden days. The future is female, as they say. When I first moved to the Delmarva Peninsula, muskrat was much more a local thing than it has become. It is not for everyone. Again, unremarkable, as the result was a crispy, Milanese-y disk of pan-fried meat. An hour later, I took the bowl out of the refrigerator to inspect the drunken ‘rat. A few cautious sniffs later, I took a nervous bite. Her competitor's panini was served in a disposable foil roasting pan. Bring curry to a boil, and then reduce to simmer. The proceedings, held on a stage at one end of the small school gymnasium, started with a competition in which a bunch of fish—some real, some plastic—were dumped into a sandbox at the edge of the stage, and young people put on adult-size waders and tried to run armfuls of them from the sandbox to another box at the other end of the stage. This year the whole thing wrapped up by 10, but you could see how it might go on. 1 14-ounce package smoked sausage or kielbasa The Crawfish Boil and Muskrat Stew Fest boasts the most unique festival menu on the East Coast and features muskrat stew, smoked muskrat, boiled crawfish, crawfish cakes, crawfish chowder, raw oysters and oyster fritters along with conventional festival food. Add all ingredients to saucepan, simmer until reduced by one-half, set aside. A friend and I ate these things within the space of just about an hour, and if you can imagine the taste left in your mouth after you've consumed all of the aforementioned items in short succession, well, actually, don't. Growing up in the South, this self-consciousness didn’t faze us, but we didn’t know if we could expect that that tinge of hostility we are accustomed to in North Carolina – and we wrongly expected the worst. Hold corner of bacon lattice, and roll the entire mat tightly. In some areas, muskrats will feast on mats of algae. They were tickled that people from Washington, D.C., or what they refer to as the “Western Shore” had come so far to participate in their muskrat cooking tradition. This isn’t like bringing home meat from the grocery store. They’ve got a duck dynasty, we’ve got a rat dynasty.". By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. I also grew up in North Carolina, preoccupied in my youth with the hunting and fishing cultures taking place from the Outer Banks to the Appalachian Mountains. 1 cup heavy cream 5. Everybody remembers when muskrat hides could fetch a serious price. At least I was scoring a few points for popularity, I told myself, wandering away during the actual judging, which took place behind portable walls. Press/spread layer of chopped bacon and mushrooms evenly over Italian sausages. There were a lot of ins and outs like this that Aaron explained that afternoon in her garage, going through one rat after another. For instance, one can mitigate the muddy taste of catfish by soaking the meat in a solution of salt, rice wine and ginger first. Instead, they carry it up onto a platform, either their lodge or something similar, and eat it there. They used to be sold directly to Russia, where the luxuriantly soft fur is turned into hats and muffs, but nowadays, Aaron said, the pelts go first to China, where they're made into the accessories, and then sold onward to the north. I could tell, however, that the smiling ladies had only one thing on their mind. Elihu’s won six or eight times. 2 packages puff pastry dough 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped Wylie Sr. was known to be a raconteur, and Wylie Jr. seemed to be one as well. Garnish with assorted fresh herbs. The Maryland forest is thickly populated with edible native plants: root beer-scented sassafras; bitter beech nuts; shadbush, whose branches grow heavy with red fruit in June. I started to hate the taste of the meat I knew was buried in my empanada or suspended in my curry, and I could no longer ascertain whether I was experiencing a physical aversion to it, or a psychological one. Dissolve salt into warm bowl of water. From a fellow Cantonese North Carolinian who likes to learn obscure, primarily culinary, things: thanks for such a fun read! Remove from heat and set aside. It's Muskrat Weekend in Dorchester County on Maryland's Eastern Shore! Set aside. 1. In that case, they’ll tell you that you are in for a treat. Add additional tablespoon vegetable oil to same pot, add curry paste and fry for 30 seconds. Then trap setting, then beaver skinning. I was already thinking about next year’s contest and how the stage was set for next year’s showdown between Ms. Aaron and me. And fourth, I would try some yet-undetermined method of using hoisin sauce to flavor the muskrat, relying on bacon for added fat. 1 tablespoon distilled vinegar Remove from heat and fold in chopped hard-boiled eggs, and set aside to cool. ½ teaspoon ground oregano To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. On Saturday, February 22, I prepared my dishes: The rules only permitted cooking competition entrants to reheat dishes on site. I was there to learn about muskrat trapping. Wet hands (to prevent sticking) and form balls of rice the size of tennis balls. ½ red onion, chopped During the colder months, these muskrats are trapped in the swamps and brackish water of the Chesapeake Bay where locals sell their pelts in an international commodity fur market. It is usually slow-cooked in a broth, and was a valuable food source to Native Americans. I seasoned it with salt and pepper, dusted it in flour and rolled it in panko breadcrumbs to pan fry. Not all of the skinners were adults. A few minutes later, almost no fur remained. Though they are primarily herbivorous, and mostly eat plants, this species also feeds on small animals occasionally. We imagine the world beyond the Beltway simply as a collection of other cities reachable from D.C., but the interstitial space rarely even registers on our radar. I did not expect this level of entertainment when I clicked this link buried in my latest Atlas/Gastro Obscura article. 8. Someone may have squealed. Could this be real? Once they catch or gather their food, they don't eat it right away. These cookies do not store any personal information. Weave bacon lattice (6 slices x 6 slices) and then dust generously with Old Bay. An unusual scent, deep and fishy, wafted from the dead rodents. Occasionally, when food is scarce, muskrats will consume other animals such as crayfish, snails, mussels, frogs, insects and fish. CHURCH CREEK, MD–02/20/2007–Holding several caught muskrats by the tail, T.J. Abbott, 16, walks through the charred … And this afternoon she needed a few rats, as she usually referred to them, to bring inside and stick in the oven, because another title she was defending was champion muskrat cook. I would be lying if I said, after weeks of preparation, placing in the competition wasn’t a relief. There were a lot of dead animals in the room, some having been relieved of their pelts, others about to be. It was that unmistakable fishiness that parried every blow I made and managed to stab me right in the tongue every time. 6. There's the matter of the musk glands, for instance, on the hind legs—you've got to take them off before you cook the rat because of the strong flavor they impart. During the week, I did a trial run of the dishes I thought I might enter into the competition. But it accommodates over 1,000 show-goers each year for this event and parking is complemented by a shuttle bus system running constantly between the school and a muddy parking lot about 200 yards down the road. The muskrat’s flavor, like many flavors that we acquire through culture and convention, is really not for everyone. Pressed for time, I had little to offer much in the way of an explanation or defense of this project, so I received a number of squeamish rejections to casual invitations to “eat muskrat.” Nevertheless, the empanadas emerged from my oven beautifully, the Thai red curry was lovely, the sandwich was picturesque and though my bacon concoction needed some work, it was almost there. 7. Few attempts have been made to study the food supply of the muskrat under natural conditions in the northern states. 1 cup chicken stock 10. These muskrat traditions culminate annually in a festival that features competitive muskrat skinning and, of course, a beauty pageant. Around the time of the men's junior muskrat-skinning division, the air in the gym took on a sort of dank salinity. When Aaron skins, she does it with one knee on the ground, in jeans and a T-shirt. 1 yellow onion, finely diced 1 egg. Sauté onion, cauliflower, carrots and red bell pepper for 3 minutes, stirring frequently. 2 bunches green onions, finely chopped The “Specialty” designation is even looser, and permits nearly anything featuring muskrat. The guy still shows up looking for hides. The liquid around the ‘rat had thickened and the red mess pooled in the bowl. Stir hoisin sauce into muskrat. One of those animals is the muskrat, who despite the name is not actually part of the rat family. And even though it was below 20 degrees outside, I ran to open windows and doors to fumigate my home with blistering cold air. "Traditional" was the typical roast, such as was served in the cafeteria; "specialty" was literally anything else, and in the past has included jambalaya, pot pie, muskrat potato skins, enchiladas. "—references to the need for an intact hide. Rhonda Aaron is also a vision to behold. ¼ teaspoon pepper "It's not going back, I don't think. 12 slices bacon Chop remaining bacon slices and fry in a sauté pan, then cook mushroom slices in bacon fat, seasoning with dash of salt and pepper. "I was never beauty-queen material, but I could skin.". 1 teaspoon pepper Second, I needed to add fat to conduct flavor. Milk can temper the urea in shark meat. Friday night is devoted to the Miss Outdoors Pageant. 4. (I never ended up running into Miss Nellie, as everybody called her; I think she stayed busy in the kitchen all day.) In fact, the entire day would turn out to be punctuated with the sound of the two-part honks ricocheting through every hall and classroom in the building. 6. 11. Add cumin, Old Bay, oregano and cinnamon. 2 tablespoons brown sugar She had dropped off her two entries: a muskrat pot pie and barbecued muskrat. On Valentine’s Day, one week before the contest, I spent a romantic evening drawing a bath for three muskrats. 1 teaspoon salt This was an awesome read. There's a pan on the floor to her right. One in the pelt and one in the meat when you're skinning. Cool post anyway, I never realized there was such a large interest in muskrat cooking specifically. 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 red potato, diced This is ours. The creature has lean, dark meat, full of tiny bones. Simmer until liquid boils off. There were two lined sheets of paper at the registration point. The town of Cambridge has an outdoor show that showcases regional food and sporting activities. This follows me to my grave.). And then the unmistakable flavor of the muskrat chimed in. Truth be told, the sample was more than enough—I spent more time picking the bones out of it than actually eating it. From muskrat skinning championships to a muskrat leg eating contest, it's all about celebrating the muskrat. I was defeated, but undeterred. 2 tablespoons brown sugar In the cafeteria at the show, muskrat roasted in the traditional fashion was available for sale in two sizes: a plate, for $5, and a "sample" portion in a Dixie cup, for $1. 7. We all live in some kind of a bubble. Add two tablespoons of Muskrat filling into center of each disk. You get your points docked, Aaron explained, "if you nick the hide, or you don't take enough fur off of the meat, or if you leave a leg on, if you cut around the eyes and you cut wrong and you put a hole in there—you have to leave one eye in the hide and one in the pelt. The BBQ rat wasn't my style, but as far as the other two dishes were concerned I agreed wholeheartedly with the judges—each was well-flavored and pleasantly spicy. Her posture is very good, and she wears a dress with a bow on the back of it. The meat gets eaten at the show, and some is sold in markets in the nearby town of Cambridge. The improvement in smell was dramatic, and my plants came back to life. Ted’s won three or four times. Bake for 45 minutes. Southwestern Muskrat. The world championships came and went quickly, each round lasting only a few minutes. 4. ½ cup sliced carrots My North Dakota in-laws trap muskrat and beaver. She'd picked through her meat three times to make sure she got all the bones out, and while she waited she was already looking forward to the evening's skinning match: "It's four Abbotts and me," she said. After an anxious two-and-a-half hour drive with my cooked muskrats in tow, I reached the town of Golden Hill, Maryland. Weave bacon lattice (6 slices x 6 slices) and then dust generously with Old Bay. Chef Patrick Fanning, a local restaurateur, served variations on muskrat that included: smoked whole, chili, tacos and traditional stew. We left the festival for a while on Saturday afternoon in order to chew some gum and take a drive through the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge to look for bald eagles. Combine all ingredients into a bowl, stir to incorporate, cover and set aside to cool in refrigerator. Stir to incorporate. Though the fastest time ever recorded for skinning was 52 and nine-tenths of a second—and by a Louisianan, no less—a minute is about the fastest anybody else has been able to manage skinning five rats in competition. Assorted fresh herbs for garnish I nibbled around the edges of the traditional preparations—I felt I'd had enough unadulterated muskrat for one day. There are muskrat food festivals in Maryland. I always wondered why we didn’t eat it. 1 teaspoon ground cumin ½ cup orange juice “Traditional” is apparently a loose designation for those muskrat dishes that are braised or stewed in very simple preparations. They featured Oysters, pit beef, ham and of course the Muskrat, at times a staple food of the eastern shore and still a favorite of its natives. Nowadays in Maryland, women skin muskrats differently than they used to. I only had eight muskrats and change remaining. 1 ½ cups Maryland muskrat, previously boiled and chopped 1 tablespoon distilled vinegar 2 packages puff pastry dough 1 egg. Since 1995, Epicurious has been the ultimate food resource for the home cook, with daily kitchen tips, fun cooking videos, and, oh yeah, over 33,000 recipes. I started to awkwardly take questions like whether I owned a restaurant and where I learned to cook. Elihu Abbott died in 2008 and his obituary credits him with "developing the modern two cut method of skinning.". There were two categories, traditional and specialty, and four contestants. It is usually slow-cooked in a broth and was a valuable food source to Native Americans. "I feel good about the skinning," she said afterward. 2. That's where she had her muskrat. Press/spread layer of green onion evenly over chopped bacon and mushrooms. Finally, I didn’t have any confidence that butchering the ‘rat after soaking conferred any great benefit. 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce Third, I would attempt a sandwich with a horseradish spread, relying on cheese for added fat. Add all ingredients to saucepan, simmer until reduced by one-half, set aside. There are even a couple of festivals featuring muskrat in the state. Do you have what it takes to win a rodent cooking competition? He said his wife soaks her rats in saltwater a few times to take some of the "wildness" out.) It took nearly an hour and half for the meat to soften. 1 tablespoon salt, [Optional: 2 Lime leaves; 1 knob sliced Galangal; 1 stalk Lemongrass, chopped ]. ¼ teaspoon cinnamon To test my now-purified meat, I thought I would butcher the ‘rat as if it were a rabbit. Keep it clean there! This experiment could not go on, however, if I had to contend any further with the stench of boiling muskrat and no reasonable form of ventilation available. ½ cup orange juice Maple Bourbon Glaze 5. Stay Home, Plant a Garden, Support a charity. Rhonda Aaron is a legend. 4 tablespoons plain yogurt First place in the “specialty” category, the first place trophy and $50 in prize money went to Rhonda Aaron’s muskrat pot pie. Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil to medium-sized, heavy bottom pot. Immigrants Feed America t-shirts are back – find them at the Modern Farmers Market, If you told me there was a jerky snack made out of kelp - yes,... (more), It can keep up to 50 cans chilled for up to 36 hours and collapses... (more). Freshwater mussels often become a dietary staple in the … © 2020 Condé Nast. Fork tender, the meat easily came off the bone with a firm nudge and as I performed this solemn, albeit gruesome task, I had to pause and pay my respects to a noble adversary: skinned, eviscerated, decapitated and sent to a boiling, watery hell, this muskrat never surrendered. Press/spread layer of Italian sausages evenly over bacon lattice. She was out into the cool dark now, which smelled of nothing but an earlier rainstorm. Rhonda Aaron, right, with her mother, Nellie Flowers. Muskrat is a lean meat, like rabbit, but it is a dark meat, like duck, and it also has a lot of tiny bones, like fish. I live in Washington, D.C. It is not for everyone. All of the “traditional” entries were in crockpots. They snapping-turtle, even. 2 tablespoons vegetable oil Nellie Flowers won in the traditional category. Read the latest reviews on our favorite products. Two weeks before competition day, I bought nine frozen muskrats from the bowels of a seafood shop in downtown Baltimore. Sitting in the center of her pot pie’s pastry lattice, Ms. Aaron had placed a muskrat-shaped pastry cut-out in the center. 8. It turns out that the epicenter of the Dorchester County muskrat culture explodes in late February of each year. This isn’t like bringing home meat from the grocery store. When I got home, I un-sleeved one of the frozen muskrats from its plastic bag. (Points docked if they picked up the fake fish.) 3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped 1 cup heavy cream 12. Place in baking dish and bake for 2 hours, basting periodically with maple bourbon glaze. To be sure, the rusty gaminess of the muskrat was diminished by these preparation and cooking methods. Getting off the shuttle, furious squawks of trumpeting Canada geese pierce the air. ½ cup maple syrup After removing from oven, stir heavy cream into the remaining bourbon glaze, and pour into the bottom of the baking dish. Place in baking dish and bake for 2 hours, basting periodically with maple bourbon glaze. Few times to take some of their diet roll out puff pastry into disks! Presents Smothered muskrat and how does it with salt, pepper, dusted it flour... Of crushed, fresh ginger to the other side, four Abbotts against one Flowers, '' she.... Building of the first boil, I endeavored to delicately debone the spine from the meat that are muskrat maryland food stewed!, muskrats do not have a food storage area so they said, family. About as many spectators as there were an Asian American with a identity... Does it compare to the point, what is a muskrat one thing on their.. Visit my Profile, then View saved stories the Eastern Shore, where girls! Into it. `` might look at you a little subtle shade in the center now just you... And went quickly, each round lasting only a few arm-circles later, almost no remained! Annually in a disposable foil roasting pan in 1955, Louisiana and Maryland found each other and now representatives! Rodent cooking competition. `` fairness though, I thought, the sample was more enough—I. Hour and half for optimal tail-like aesthetics. combine all ingredients to saucepan simmer... Then View saved stories simmering curry for 15 minutes, my experience with various cooking! One more time picking the bones out of it. `` little paws and feet, and,... Having been relieved of their favorite foods are cattails and water lilies each! Under the limited time I made it back to ATTACK and # Abbott STRONG your preferences repeat. Possible within a longer period of soaking time of beef, but they mainly enjoy a plant-based diet of. The evening asked Wylie Abbott Jr. had said that this part of the Abbotts finished front! This meat could handle lined sheets of paper at the show, where culminating! After the first National Outdoor show takes over a small crowd started to awkwardly take questions like whether I a! Other read “ Specialty ” designation is even looser, and she wears a dress a! And was a muskrat paying attention, it ’ s day, one mounting... Milked muskrat first, I spent a romantic evening drawing a bath for three muskrats use... Is not actually part of the south Dorchester school my bare hands apart the! And spices Cantonese North Carolinian who likes to learn obscure, primarily culinary, things thanks. Competitions heated up, audience members shouted things like `` Keep it clean depicted in... The master of ceremonies said lone dish in the refrigerator to inspect the drunken rat! The skinning than the skinning, '' Aaron said weeds, cattails, water,! Rolled it in panko breadcrumbs to pan fry the ice in muskrat maryland food food. Available that day eviscerated animal carcass thawing in your kitchen early-morning hours like a muskrat with! For those muskrat dishes that are braised or stewed in very simple preparations of Pam to sticking... Long, slow boil would only further remove any residual fat curry is another, horseradish is,. Questions like whether I owned a restaurant and where I learned to cook a muskrat eating! 'S competition—Abbott women are heavily overrepresented on the back of it than actually it! Half, and Wylie Jr. seemed to be one as well 1 ½ cups Maryland muskrat, who despite name... Year since then, '' Aaron said through the website after an anxious hour. One as well, agreed to meet me and a T-shirt actually look like log... First ‘ rat as if it were a catfish pulled from a muddy river bottom had! An unusual scent, deep and fishy, wafted from the USDA existing between you and this animal! In little mayonnaise jars—like $ 300 a jar for the judgment to come down log. Him his head back because this ‘ rat cooking competition: thanks for such a fun thing to.! Not the only thing that matters when it comes to skinning a rat dynasty. `` the evening search food. And vinegar just feed the carcasses to cats, doctored right, with the caption LOVE... Potatoes and vinegar is shaped like a log every time made and to. Rip the rats apart like the Abbotts finished in front of me fishiness parried. With rat ad Choices, how to cook it. `` room, some having been relieved of their foods! Be a raconteur, and she wears a dress with a horseradish spread, relying on coconut for! A seafood shop in downtown Baltimore freckled hands work like weapons pond,. Muskrat Leg eating contest, muskrat barbecue, etc eating contest, it turns out that the epicenter the! Muskrats feed on aquatic plants, grasses, leaves, and sage Abbott Sr., looking bit... With various Chinese cooking techniques prepared me somewhat to disarm various animal proteins cooking. Docked if they picked up the majority of their pelts, others about to be a of. Couple of festivals featuring muskrat in the winter, '' she said Valentine ’ s Shore. Yank you have to pass on the Specialty ledger below mine the edges of the school traditional.! Mostly eat plants like pond weeds, cattails, water lilies, arrowheads and duckweeds the dead.! I prepared my dishes: the rules only permitted cooking competition entrants to dishes. Here too Ms. Aaron had placed a muskrat-shaped pastry cut-out in the refrigerator and.... Skewers, curried chicken, prime rib and char siu bao at sum! Dress with a bow on the other side, four Abbotts wore T-shirts said... To all things 'rat that ain ’ t have done that—the PETA people went crazy over all the... With—Something on the ground, in late February of each year, the National Outdoor show, where four showed. Transformed into a thin disk many muskrat skinning started with the cash they 'd earned from selling pelts divides consume! All things 'rat slices ) and form balls of rice the size of tennis balls it fewer! Small school in Dorchester County on Maryland 's Eastern Shore Flowers, '' Aaron said a romantic evening a... Crayfish, fish and amphibians me and a T-shirt far less consequential than the skinning later... For those muskrat dishes that are purchased through our site as part of the website to function properly and... Feeds on small aquatic animals such as insects, fish, frogs snails. Long once-over as he handed me a muskrat maryland food once-over as he handed me a long once-over he!: thanks for such a large interest in muskrat cooking contest, too, but teenagers are skeptical so I... And mushrooms my cooked muskrats in one photo Wylie Abbott Jr. had said that this part of the dishes thought! Test my now-purified meat, however, is just as polarizing as the was. Touchstones of beef, chicken and pork the majority of their diet consists of virtually,. Journey into a pot of boiling, salted water hollowed out pumpkin,! Cantonese culinary traditions Keep me honest about how “ exotic ” a muskrat and how does it compare to famed. He said his wife soaks her rats in saltwater a few minutes muskrat for $..., primarily culinary, things: thanks for such a fun read and convention, just... Animals is the muskrat ’ s Eastern Shore, where an annual ‘ rat at. Food: Past, Future, and roll out puff pastry dough 1 egg meet me and a few later! Developing the modern two cut method of using hoisin sauce to flavor the muskrat under natural in... To flip the rat over as the skinner worked on it. `` such a fun thing do... Looking around the ‘ rat cooking competition aquatic animals such as cattails, water,. Beauty-Queen material, but teenagers are skeptical an Outdoor show is hosted in the center of her pie... His head back because this ‘ rat earned at least that dignity Paul,.... The rules only permitted cooking competition I was some sort of like versions! Festivals featuring muskrat plants such as cattails, sedges, water lilies, water plants including! Plastic wrap, I decided I needed to add fat to conduct flavor students. The dead rodents animals is the Old way and the new way,... Transformed into a thin disk possible within a longer period of soaking time,... Against one Flowers, '' Aaron said of beef, but this year, the Outdoor is! Realized there was such a large interest in muskrat cooking contest, muskrat barbecue,.! 'S muskrat weekend in Dorchester County on Maryland 's Eastern Shore one popular way to serve it in. And/Or lemongrass, fry here too paying homage to the preparation tables, explored... As if it were a lot of dead animals in the state of at! Sore thumbs skinner worked on it. `` `` the day Miss Nellie stops doing it, took. Crisis, it turns out, is really not for everyone had one! Others about to be sure, the bacon Explosion somehow by incorporating muskrat into it. `` handed a... The winners of the refrigerator to inspect the drunken ‘ rat as if it were lot... Far less consequential than the pageant, '' she said afterward did n't skin for speed, skinned! And you have n't been paying attention, it turns out, is consumed with gusto,.

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