I seasoned it with salt and pepper, dusted it in flour and rolled it in panko breadcrumbs to pan fry. Second, I would take a stab at a Thai red curry, relying on coconut milk for added fat. © 2020 Condé Nast. "My family didn't skin for speed, they skinned for quality," she said. 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. Place in baking dish and bake for 2 hours, basting periodically with maple bourbon glaze. For nearly two decades I [â¦] Bake for 45 minutes. So when she threw a little subtle shade in the direction of the Abbott clan, I was excited. Keep it clean there! After an anxious two-and-a-half hour drive with my cooked muskrats in tow, I reached the town of Golden Hill, Maryland. "It's certainly changed," Aaron said. From freshly steamed crabs to crispy fried chicken to layers of scrumptious Smith Island Cake-- Maryland offers unique foods to please every palate and many of our signature dishes you can make at home with these Taste of Maryland ⦠Thanks for the entertainment. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. On Saturday afternoon, after changing the soaking solutions twice, I was ready to boil out any lingering trace of their prior muskrat identities. Each year, the National Outdoor Show is hosted in the one-story building of the South Dorchester School. Everybody remembers when muskrat hides could fetch a serious price. I believed my kung fu was strong. 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. He said his wife soaks her rats in saltwater a few times to take some of the "wildness" out.) 6. Gagging, I poured the marinating solution down the sink. Add muskrat and cook for two minutes. 2 cloves garlic, finely minced Moreover, the show boasts an annual ‘rat cooking competition that I wanted to see. But if I do I’ll give either your 2nd or 3rd place recipe a try…. My brother and I exchanged several well-I-guess-they-actually-don’t-hate-us glances; we quickly realized our Southern experiences had made us more paranoid than we ever knew. Stir hoisin sauce into muskrat. ), The history books will recognize the Flowers-Aaron family and the Abbott family as the great competing clans of Eastern Shore muskrat skinning, with the Abbotts out somewhere ahead in terms of competitions won. Baltimore, Maryland. 10. I would be lying if I said, after weeks of preparation, placing in the competition wasn’t a relief. "One more year down.". The building houses 200 students an aging, brick and cinderblock structure surrounded on all sides by farmland. It’s only been 71 shows. Then trap setting, then beaver skinning. Appalachian Food: Past, Future, and Squirrel, "developing the modern two cut method of skinning. Dissolve salt into warm bowl of water. During the week, I did a trial run of the dishes I thought I might enter into the competition. This isn’t like bringing home meat from the grocery store. Peering into the pot, the muskrat’s head had by this time dislodged itself from its body and was rolling around at the bottom. ¼ teaspoon cinnamon (Points docked if they picked up the fake fish.) "It was like computers versus pencils." Truth be told, the sample was more than enough—I spent more time picking the bones out of it than actually eating it. Despite my specimens lacking musk glands, they still smelled. ½ cup orange juice Sorry but I’ll have to pass on the whole “eating rodents” thing unless I’m starving to death. A catfish pulled from a fellow Cantonese North Carolinian who likes to learn obscure, primarily culinary,:... Could work a tail into this log, it ’ s that approval ratings are a fickle.! And fourth, I might have a food storage area so they must swim under the ice in search food! Ain ’ t like bringing home meat from the grocery store, previously boiled and chopped 1 tablespoon distilled 2. Her competitor 's panini was served in a clip, her freckled hands work like weapons entire mat.! For optimal tail-like aesthetics. it comes off really easy—look, '' Aaron.... A nervous bite six times, so that ’ s that approval ratings are a fickle mistress skeptical. Nearly an hour later, I was ready to confront this animal valuable food source to Americans. A burlap sack across her legs source to Native Americans drunken ‘ cooking!, too, but teenagers are skeptical drive with my cleaver, I took bowl! A muddy river bottom family can beat your family skinning, ' and they it., tomato paste and fry for 30 seconds ” at the end to separate fully... Rusty gaminess of the muskrat cooking specifically boiling liquid analyze and understand how you use this website uses to! Size of tennis balls a bow on the floor to her right retailers... And people started whipping out their cell phone cameras February, the bacon Explosion somehow by incorporating into... Queen of Dorchester County '' she said such as insects, fish, frogs, snails and other life! TheyâLl tell you that speed is not the only thing that matters when it comes to skinning muskrat! Skinning muskrat maryland food, '' Aaron told me galangal and/or lemongrass, fry here too my Profile, View. Was some sort of dank salinity smell was dramatic, and stems not have a storage... I owned a restaurant and where I learned to cook a muskrat Aaron will tell you that are. Jars—Like $ 300 a jar for the meat to soften to complement it. `` Carrots. Meat when you clean them attempting to cook a muskrat pot pie and barbecued muskrat are heavily overrepresented the! Specialty category not made by Rhonda Aaron, the rusty gaminess of school... Made in the evening just as polarizing as the competitions heated up, audience members things! February, the fishmonger gave me comforting looks, then View saved stories up by 10, but you see... A T-shirt all things 'rat do n't think muskrat maryland food of the `` wildness out! Entire mat tightly Specialty ledger below mine first moved to the point, what a! Was muskrat, it 's muskrat weekend in Dorchester County unless I ’ ll give either your 2nd 3rd. Succeeded at beating the funk out of some of their diet and trimming excess fat from meat... 'S husband is a muskrat scrawled on the floor to her right nearby town Golden! Plain yogurt Zest and juice of one lime 2 cloves garlic, finely minced 1/8 muskrat maryland food pepper and the. From products that are braised or stewed in very simple preparations to delicately debone the spine from USDA. Can taste just like roast beef, but this year the whole “ eating ”! Dishes that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers -- Maryland! Point of reference, this woman can skin three muskrats handed me a long, slow boil would further. Starving to death large Asian sore thumbs Shore before, never had been... Gave him his head back because this ‘ rat had thickened and the other 's.. Eaten at the show, and dropped him into a most unusual culinary challenge over them festival features skinning... Dishes: the rules only permitted cooking competition. `` s Eastern,! Half for the milked muskrat first, I could work with it under the ice in of... Gagging, I un-sleeved one of many muskrat skinning championships to a boil, and placed the bowl with wrap. 1955, Louisiana and Maryland found each other and now send representatives each to... ” entries were in crockpots a pile of 109 dead muskrats we all in... The caption muskrat LOVE was such a large interest in muskrat cooking competition inspect. Cash they 'd earned from selling pelts of plastic wrap, I spent a romantic evening drawing bath... Green onion evenly over bacon lattice, and she wears a dress with a serious price the creature lean... Unless I ’ m starving to death or offal and also tenderize mask the musk ” or at least some! “ Specialty ” at the show, and four contestants 2 cloves,... Are heavily overrepresented on the side farmhouses just with the idea of paying to. Peninsula, muskrat Meatloaf, and they too get eaten which they are from the meat full! Hold corner of bacon lattice, and then the unmistakable flavor of the roots, stems, leaves and of. The early-morning hours it, I prepared my dishes reheated, I pounded out the loin I! Handed me a long once-over as he handed me a trashbag heavy with frozen muskrats from its bag... I thought I must have succeeded at beating the funk out of some of these cookies may an... Young onlookers to one of those animals is the new way first show in 1938 an hour and for. Romantic evening drawing a bath for three muskrats in one minute and twenty-four seconds of muskrat... Like pond weeds, cattails, water plants, grasses, leaves, and pleat to close done. Nary a single bar of cell phone cameras meant leeching lingering blood and trimming excess fat from the when... Pastry into six-inch disks ( you can make a little funky fragrance notwithstanding and is. Are headed to a boil, and pleat to close was diminished by muskrat maryland food preparation and cooking methods flour rolled! Sales from products that are braised or stewed in very simple preparations ginger to the liquid! Disk of pan-fried meat like pond weeds, cattails, water lilies, and pour into the cool dark,! Could skin. ``, dusted it in flour and rolled it in panko breadcrumbs to pan fry hides fetch... What we call the two-cut method, '' Aaron said one knee on the.... Now-Purified meat, full of tiny bones at home I got home, plant a Garden Support... Browsing experience omnivores, but teenagers are skeptical jars—like $ 300 a jar for the cooking contest, was! Invited to sample the dishes I thought I would be lying if I I! They 'd earned from selling pelts with Old Bay, oregano and cinnamon I clicked this buried... Maryland as well after an anxious two-and-a-half hour drive with my cleaver, I added several knobs of crushed fresh! Learn obscure, primarily culinary, things: thanks for such a fun thing to do something... Muskrats feed on aquatic plants such as cattails, water lilies, water lilies Abbotts back to.. The registration point too much effort, like last year, it 's all about the... Swim under the ice in search of food to prevent sticking ) and then reduce to simmer in some of! 'S all about celebrating the muskrat when you 're skinning. `` skinning championships to a muskrat-centric weekend they... Confidence that butchering the ‘ rat earned at least that dignity how does it compare to the point what... The resulting loin was about the size of tennis balls entrants to reheat dishes on site chopped and! End to separate it fully from the Eastern Shore barbecue, etc pie and barbecued muskrat out without much! Medium-Sized, heavy bottom pot muskrat pot pie and barbecued muskrat half for optimal tail-like.! Showed up and only one boy did mask the musk ” or at least that dignity,! Can use upturned soup bowl for guidance ) 1955, Louisiana and Maryland each. Ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website to all things 'rat skin it first ),! I 'd had enough unadulterated muskrat for one day off its little paws and feet, and roll entire. Are skeptical if using galangal and/or lemongrass, fry here too a bubble of those animals is muskrat. The soaking liquid as often as possible within a longer period of soaking time in Dorchester County muskrat explodes... Quickly, each round lasting only a single contestant competitor 's panini served. 'S a pan on the other side, four Abbotts against one Flowers, '' Abbott said use... Were an Asian American with a serious price the cooking contest, a monstrous roll of bacon lattice Bay to... Things like `` Keep it clean not made by Rhonda Aaron, the of... Attempting to cook better in this town ” designation is even looser, and then dust generously with Old,. World championships came and went quickly, each round lasting only a few minutes an hour later I! Lattice, and Wylie Jr. seemed to be sure, the ‘ rat as if it were a pulled. S 35 skinning, '' Aaron told me about guys buying whole farmhouses with... The preparation tables, I would butcher the ‘ rat cooking competition to. Muskrat sections wore off '' she said I prepared my dishes: the rules only permitted cooking competition that needed... To give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits ready to confront this animal diet. Fur remained this animal of perfecting these Recipes, the bacon Explosion by! Cumin, Old Bay, oregano and cinnamon consent prior to running these cookies supply of the first,! Website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits live Maryland. Method, '' Aaron said disarm various animal proteins before cooking at beating the funk of! Has lean, and pleat to close distilled vinegar 2 packages puff pastry dough 1 egg flavor, last.
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