We spent last Sunday night with a squirrel – two actually. I bought these at our farmers’ market (Ealing) and they were sold cleaned and skinned.
Butchering is obviously not my strength. I managed to get off the haunches and some of the forearms and various other bits of meat but couldn’t deal with the main chest cavities. Nothing I read online prepared me for the strong odour of one of the animals; while it certainly wasn’t a rotten meat smell, I just wonder if the squirrel’s scent glands had been accidentally activated.
They were stewed using my default stew recipe. Onions, carrots, (we didn’t have celery), a herb (this time dried oregano), flour, red wine, vegetable stock and a long slow braise.
The flavour? Well, while some of the meat had too much of that scent (discarded), other pieces were totally fine. It’s extremely lean and gamey and well, a bit chickeny. I won’t be rushing to have them again but at least I can say I’ve tried it!
Tamarind and Thyme 
Thu, 31 Mar, 2011 at 22:55
Rats, darling, rats!
Thu, 31 Mar, 2011 at 22:59
Are these brown squirrels the menace? Wonder if the meat tastes like wild rabbit?
Thu, 31 Mar, 2011 at 23:09
haha, I love this! I haven’t tried squirrel yet, but wouldn’t mind giving it at try. I wouldn’t have done your job of ‘butchering’ it though, brave girl!
Fri, 1 Apr, 2011 at 03:28
If you posted this a few hours later on April 1, I’d be wondering if it was an April Fool!
The line, ‘a bit chickeny’ made me chuckle, as so many ‘weird meats’ are compared to chicken!
Fri, 1 Apr, 2011 at 05:04
wow, I don’t know that I would’ve been able to eat this. give you credit for trying it.
Fri, 1 Apr, 2011 at 07:19
Wowza! Impressive that you stewed it, wonder if you can roast it like chicken?!
Fri, 1 Apr, 2011 at 07:24
Isn’t it odd how some animals seem okay to eat, but not others? It still looks so much like a little squirrel curled up on the tray, but then a whole chicken looks pretty much the same in the stewpot. I think the odor you described might have gotten to me a bit much, though. Even pork sometimes seems a little too gamey to me. But the pictures of the your stew do look pretty good!
Fri, 1 Apr, 2011 at 08:03
First time I’ve ever seen anyone cook with squirrel (at least in modern times anyway) so well done for giving it a go and sticking with it despite the stench. Kind of puts me off a lot but your stew looks lovely.
Fri, 1 Apr, 2011 at 10:15
wow! you actually bought and tried squirrel. i don’t even know of where that actually sells that.
was the meat tough?
Fri, 1 Apr, 2011 at 11:54
Tried some a while back we did them in a mix similar to KFC, deep fried they were great idela finger food. There are so many that we should use more of our natural resources and of course they are all free range 🙂
Fri, 1 Apr, 2011 at 13:44
Now, there’s something unusual… I saw the butcher prepping some of these up at the market the other day and was sorely tempted. That smell might put me off though. Still, as you say, worth a go for a new experience.
As long as it’s a grey one. I couldn’t bring myself to eat a Red!
Fri, 1 Apr, 2011 at 18:32
Mmm you still continue to surprise me!
Would I buy one and prepare it? I don’t think I would as the smell you mentioned put me off. But I would be happy to try the squirrel stew just for the experience.
Sat, 2 Apr, 2011 at 03:05
Very brave. Your stew looks good! I wouldn’t dare try it though!
Sat, 2 Apr, 2011 at 03:56
Wow…in my city, squirrels run amok everywhere and camp out in every park. They’re adorable rats with fluffy tails. I definitely commend you for trying this out, and your stew looks delicious, actually ;D But…they’re fluffy. This is so interesting!
Sat, 2 Apr, 2011 at 06:18
If I tried guinea pig in Peru, I think I could man up and try squirrel! Your stew looked delicious. Thanks for sharing your squirrel cooking experience!
Sun, 3 Apr, 2011 at 22:14
Yow! I’d love to try squirrel. However, the scent that you speak of sounds very off-putting. Is it kind of musky like lamb?
Mon, 4 Apr, 2011 at 09:03
And, here’s me thinking the only thing squirrels produced was Budweiser beer! 😀
Mon, 4 Apr, 2011 at 16:16
Thanks for your comments, everyone! An update – my MIL thinks the first squirrel (the stinker) wasn’t cleaned properly (intestines) and that’s what gave it the smell. Ick.
Les: Yes, darling, thank you! It was in the forefront of my mind the whole time.
sunflower: The grey ones, yes. Like rabbit… no, I’d say squirrels are gamier.
Ute: Next time (if there is a next time), I’m going to make sure it’s all cut up for me!
Mr Noodles: Hehe, I had to rush as I knew the wrong date would mean that nobody would take me seriously! I really really didn’t want to describe it as chickeny but…it was.
kat: Hehe… yeah, I’m a bit crazy.
Hungry Female: I think it’s just a bit too lean to roast. The vendor was the one who suggested stewing.
Donna: Hehe, thank you! Rabbit looks the same way too.
butterytoast: Hehe… I think some restaurants started selling it here for a bit but I haven’t seen it on menus at the places I go!
Kay: It was definitely very lean and the stewing really helped make it more tender.
Foodies Heaven: That sounds insanely good! KFS – Kentucky Fried Squirrel!
Chris: Definitely grey!
Robert: Yeah, butchery of itty bitty animals…not something I was expecting.
Alison: 😀
fattydumpling: Personally, I wouldn’t eat city park squirrels as I wonder what they feed on! I was told these were shot out in the country in Oxfordshire.
serenapram: If I’m ever in Peru, I would definitely try guinea pig!
Gastronomer: No… I think it wasn’t cleaned well. Boo hoo hoo. Definitely not like lamb.
travelrat: 😀
Tue, 5 Apr, 2011 at 13:34
Well done for braving on with the squirrel after all that!! I think I still need some convincing before trying it at home.
Thu, 14 Apr, 2011 at 21:49
Whueeerrrf. I’m not great with game (pigeon is probably the limit) so I can safely say I probably won’t like squirrel.
(I’d still try it though)
Thu, 5 Apr, 2012 at 01:29
Dear, i hope that squirrel would be your last ;).
You are a monster…
God help us!
Crkla da bog da 🙂 !