It’s hailed as a healthy, organic, free range and low fat meat – the ultimate ethical meal.
Celebrity chefs sing its praises and game butchers in some parts of the country can hardly keep up with demand.
But although the grey squirrel - Sciurus carolinensis - may be sought after in trendy London restaurants, it’s hard to track down in Shropshire.
After watching Channel 4’s Wild Gourmets programme, in which food writer Thomasina Miers conjured up some squirrel dishes which proved a big success at a pub in the Lake District, I was interested in trying it for myself. Her argument was that people should be encouraged to eat grey squirrel not just because it is a tasty source of meat but also because it helps our endangered native red squirrel.
However, squirrel is notable for its absence from the shelves of our local butchers.
There’s game on offer from time to time - pheasants, partridge, pigeon, rabbit, hare, wild duck - and I’ve enjoyed them all.
I’m also partial to the free wild food that can be found in the hedgerows near my home, including sloes, damsons, blackberries and parasol mushrooms.
But I finally got a chance to chance to try some squirrel, courtesy of a friend from Snailbeach who had bought himself a trap because his garden was plagued by the little varmints.
The creature which ended up on our kitchen table was not the fattest squirrel caught by my friend. Indeed, it looked decidedly skinny and I started going off the idea of a new taste sensation.
So my wife Sue took over. She beheaded, skinned and gutted the squirrel, as you would a rabbit, and Googled the term “squirrel recipes”.
There’s hundreds of recipes on the internet. You can stew it, fry it, kebab it, put it in a Cornish pasty and even serve it Peking duck style.
Sue plumped for southern fried squirrel, cutting off bite-sized portions of meat, coating them with breadcrumbs, herbs and spices and deep frying them in rapeseed oil until they turned crisp and golden.
The meat is similar to rabbit but sweetier and juicier with a stronger, more gamey flavour and a darker colour. That’s no doubt due to a diet of nuts and berries.
But I have to confess, I didn’t enjoy the experience. It tasted fine, but I could never forget that I was eating a squirrel.
I suspect that squeamishness is why squirrel has not caught on with the general public, despite the enthusiasm of Michelin-starred chefs like Kevin Viner, of Cornwall.
Certainly, there is no demand for squirrel in Shrewsbury, according to Stephen Green, of Castlemoor Meats, and Jon Sykes, of Corbetts game and poultry, both from the indoor market.
Nita Ling, of Appleyards Delicatessen, Wyle Cop, said: “A lot of the old country folk used to love squirrel and I can remember a butcher selling squirrel at Llantsantffraid 25 years ago.
Novelty
“It’s like tripe - people don’t like the thought of it - but I’d certainly eat it.”
Further afield, Sandra Jefferies, of the award-winning Fighting Cocks pub at Stottesdon, near Bridgnorth, used to win high praise for her braised squirrel with mustard, cream and marjoram sauce.
She said: “I haven’t served it for a while because the supply has dried up but I’d love to bring it back on the menu.”
Veteran butcher Douglas Griffiths, of AH Griffiths, Leintwardine, who has supplied squirrel to St John Restaurant in London, said: “I’ve been 40 years in the business and can remember squirrel-eating contests at the Three Counties Show in Leominster.
“Squirrel is a healthy meat and was very much in demand a couple of years ago as a novelty.
“We still sell a few occasionally but most of the supply I got last year is still in my freezer.”
By Peter Johnson
