Frogger
07-16-2007, 10:34 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Plague rats being used to supply restaurants
From correspondents in China
July 16, 2007 03:22pm
LIVE rats are being trucked from central China, suffering a plague of a reported two billion rodents displaced by a flooded lake, to the south of the of country to end up in restaurant dishes, Chinese media has reported.
"Recently there have been a lot of rats ... Guangzhou people are rich and like to eat exotic things, so business is very good,'' the China News Service quoted a vendor as saying.
Some vendors had asked people from a village in Hunan province, near Dongting Lake, to sell them live rats, the Beijing News said today.
"The buyers offered 6 yuan (9c) for a kilo, but as to where they will sell the rats, they would not say,'' the newspaper quoted a local resident as saying, adding that villagers had to catch the rats live.
"If we want to do that, there is no problem. We could catch 150 kilos of rats in one night .. .but we will not do this against our conscience,'' the villager was quoted as saying.
Some Guangdong restaurants were promoting "rat banquets'', charging 136 yuan ($20.70) for one kg of rat meat, the newspaper said.
Local governments in Hunan have been grappling with the rats, which had already destroyed 1.6 million hectares of crops and could spread disease, according to media reports.
A lack of snakes, also a popular dish in the south, and owls, a traditional Chinese medicine, was held partly responsible.
Chinese media reported last week that some internet users from Guangdong had offered rat recipes as a way to deal with the problem.
Scientists have also blamed China's massive Three Gorges Dam project and climate change for the Hunan rodents' flight to dry land.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22082887-2,00.html
Calvin W. Schwabe in his book Unmentionable Cuisine (Charlottesville, Virginia: University of Virginia Press, 1979, available from Amazon Books), says that North Americans should be using many forms of protein which are routinely consumed in other parts of the world. The following exerpts are from a section of the book giving recipes for cooking rats and mice.
"Brown rats and roof rats were eaten openly on a large scale in Paris when the city was under siege during the Franco-Prussian War. Observers likened their taste to both partridges and pork. And, according to the Larousse Gastronomique, rats are still eaten in some parts of France. In fact, this recipe appears in that famous tome.
Grilled Rats Bordeaux Style (Entrecote à la bordelaise)Alcoholic rats inhabiting wine cellars are skinned and eviscerated, brushed with a thick sauce of olive oil and crushed shallots, and grilled over a fire of broken wine barrels.What won't the French do next?
In West Africa, however, rats are a major item of diet. the giant rat (Cricetomys), the cane rat (Thryonomys), the common house mouse, and other species of rats and mice are all eaten. According to a United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization report, they now comprise of over 50 percent of the locally produced meat eaten in some parts of Ghana. Between December 1968 and June 1970, 258,206 pounds of cane-rat meat alone were sold in one market in Accra!
This is a local recipe that shows the South American influence on West African cuisine.Stewed Cane RatSkin and eviscerate the rat and split it lengthwise. Fry until brown in a mixture of butter and peanut oil. Cover with water, add tomatoes or tomato purée, hot red peppers, and salt. Simmer the rat until tender and serve with rice.
Stuffed Dormice / Ancient RomePrepare a stuffing of dormouse meat or pork, pepper, pine nuts, broth, asafoetida, and some garum (substitute anchovy paste.) Stuff the mice and sew them up. Bake them in an oven on a tile.
Roasted Field Mice (Raton de campo asado) / MexicoSkin and eviscerate field mice. Skewer them and roast over an open fire or coals. These are probably great as hors d'oeuvres with margaritas or "salty dogs.
"Farley Mowat also gives this innovative arctic explorer's recipe for souris à la crème.Mice in Cream (Souris à la crème)Skin, gut and wash some fat mice without removing their heads. Cover them in a pot with ethyl alcohol and marinate 2 hours. Cut a piece of salt pork or sowbelly into small dice and cook it slowly to extract the fat. Drain the mice, dredge them thoroughly in a mixture of flour, pepper, and salt, and fry slowly in the rendered fat for about 5 minutes. Add a cup of alcohol and 6 to 8 cloves, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Prepare a cream sauce, transfer the sautéed mice to it, and warm them in it for about 10 minutes before serving.
Plague rats being used to supply restaurants
From correspondents in China
July 16, 2007 03:22pm
LIVE rats are being trucked from central China, suffering a plague of a reported two billion rodents displaced by a flooded lake, to the south of the of country to end up in restaurant dishes, Chinese media has reported.
"Recently there have been a lot of rats ... Guangzhou people are rich and like to eat exotic things, so business is very good,'' the China News Service quoted a vendor as saying.
Some vendors had asked people from a village in Hunan province, near Dongting Lake, to sell them live rats, the Beijing News said today.
"The buyers offered 6 yuan (9c) for a kilo, but as to where they will sell the rats, they would not say,'' the newspaper quoted a local resident as saying, adding that villagers had to catch the rats live.
"If we want to do that, there is no problem. We could catch 150 kilos of rats in one night .. .but we will not do this against our conscience,'' the villager was quoted as saying.
Some Guangdong restaurants were promoting "rat banquets'', charging 136 yuan ($20.70) for one kg of rat meat, the newspaper said.
Local governments in Hunan have been grappling with the rats, which had already destroyed 1.6 million hectares of crops and could spread disease, according to media reports.
A lack of snakes, also a popular dish in the south, and owls, a traditional Chinese medicine, was held partly responsible.
Chinese media reported last week that some internet users from Guangdong had offered rat recipes as a way to deal with the problem.
Scientists have also blamed China's massive Three Gorges Dam project and climate change for the Hunan rodents' flight to dry land.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22082887-2,00.html
Calvin W. Schwabe in his book Unmentionable Cuisine (Charlottesville, Virginia: University of Virginia Press, 1979, available from Amazon Books), says that North Americans should be using many forms of protein which are routinely consumed in other parts of the world. The following exerpts are from a section of the book giving recipes for cooking rats and mice.
"Brown rats and roof rats were eaten openly on a large scale in Paris when the city was under siege during the Franco-Prussian War. Observers likened their taste to both partridges and pork. And, according to the Larousse Gastronomique, rats are still eaten in some parts of France. In fact, this recipe appears in that famous tome.
Grilled Rats Bordeaux Style (Entrecote à la bordelaise)Alcoholic rats inhabiting wine cellars are skinned and eviscerated, brushed with a thick sauce of olive oil and crushed shallots, and grilled over a fire of broken wine barrels.What won't the French do next?
In West Africa, however, rats are a major item of diet. the giant rat (Cricetomys), the cane rat (Thryonomys), the common house mouse, and other species of rats and mice are all eaten. According to a United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization report, they now comprise of over 50 percent of the locally produced meat eaten in some parts of Ghana. Between December 1968 and June 1970, 258,206 pounds of cane-rat meat alone were sold in one market in Accra!
This is a local recipe that shows the South American influence on West African cuisine.Stewed Cane RatSkin and eviscerate the rat and split it lengthwise. Fry until brown in a mixture of butter and peanut oil. Cover with water, add tomatoes or tomato purée, hot red peppers, and salt. Simmer the rat until tender and serve with rice.
Stuffed Dormice / Ancient RomePrepare a stuffing of dormouse meat or pork, pepper, pine nuts, broth, asafoetida, and some garum (substitute anchovy paste.) Stuff the mice and sew them up. Bake them in an oven on a tile.
Roasted Field Mice (Raton de campo asado) / MexicoSkin and eviscerate field mice. Skewer them and roast over an open fire or coals. These are probably great as hors d'oeuvres with margaritas or "salty dogs.
"Farley Mowat also gives this innovative arctic explorer's recipe for souris à la crème.Mice in Cream (Souris à la crème)Skin, gut and wash some fat mice without removing their heads. Cover them in a pot with ethyl alcohol and marinate 2 hours. Cut a piece of salt pork or sowbelly into small dice and cook it slowly to extract the fat. Drain the mice, dredge them thoroughly in a mixture of flour, pepper, and salt, and fry slowly in the rendered fat for about 5 minutes. Add a cup of alcohol and 6 to 8 cloves, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Prepare a cream sauce, transfer the sautéed mice to it, and warm them in it for about 10 minutes before serving.