Racoon the new dark meat

[Adjam5]

Raccoon, the new dark meat

By Lee Hill Kavanaugh | Kansas City Star

He rolls into the parking lot of Leon's Thriftway in an old, maroon Impala with a trunk full of frozen meat. Raccoon — the other dark meat.

In five minutes, Montrose, Mo., trapper Larry Brownsberger is sold out in the lot at 39th Street and Kensington Avenue. Word has gotten around about how clean his frozen raccoon carcasses are. How nicely they’re tucked up in their brown butcher paper. How they almost look like a trussed turkey … or something.

His loyal customers beam as they leave, thinking about the meal they'll soon be eating.

=2 0 That is, as soon as the meat is thawed. Then brined. Soaked overnight. Parboiled for two hours. Slow-roasted or smoked or barbecued to perfection.

Raccoon, which made the first edition of The Joy of Cooking in 1931, is labor-intensive but well worth the time, aficionados say.

"Good things come to those who wait," says A. R eed, 86, who has been eating raccoon since she was a girl.

"This right here," she says, holding up a couple of brown packages tied with burlap string, “this is a great value. And really good eatin’. Best-kept secret around.”

Raccoons go for $3 to $7 — each, not per pound — and will feed about five adults. Four, if they’re really hungry.

Those who dine on raccoon meat sound the same refrain: It's good eatin'.

As long as you can get past the "ick" factor that it's a varmint, more often seen flattened on asphalt than featured on a restaurant menu. (One exception: French restaurant Le Fou Frog served raccoon about a dozen years ago, a waiter said.)

Eating varmints is even in vogue these days, at least in Britain. The New York Times reported last week that Brits are eating squirrels with wild abandon.

Here in Kansas City, you won't see many, if any, squirrel ads in the papers. But that's where Brownsberger was advertising his raccoons last week.

The meat isn’t USDA-inspected, and few state regulations apply, same as with deer and other game. No laws prevent trappers from selling raccoon carcasses.

As for diseases, raccoon rabies doesn't exist in Missouri, state conservation scientists say. It's an East Coast phenomenon. Parvo and distemper kill raccoons quickly but aren’t transferred to humans. Also, tr appers are unlikely to sell meat from an animal t hat appears to be diseased.

"Raccoon meat is some of the healthiest meat you can eat," says Jeff Beringer, a furbearer resource biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation.

"During grad school, my roommate and I ate 32 coons one winter. It was all free, and it was really good. If you think about being green and eating organically, raccoon meat is the ultimate organic food," with no steroids, no antibiotics, no growth hormones.

And when people eat wild meat, Beringer says, "it reminds the modernized society — people who usually eat food from a plastic wrapper — where food comes from.”

Statewide, consumption of raccoon meat can be tracked somewhat by how many raccoon pelts are harvested each year. In 2007, 118,166 pelts were sold.

But there are plenty more out there, Beringer says. The raccoon population "doubled in the '80s. There's more now than when Missouri was first settled."

He estimates the re are about 20 raccoons per square mile of habitat.

In the wild, raccoons typically live five or six years. Populations that grow too dense can be decimated by disease, especially when temperatures drop, Beringer says.

"The animals huddle together, passing on the infections. In the winter, we sometimes have massive die-offs. If we can control the fluctuations in the populations by hunting20and trapping, we can have healthier animals."

Fur trappers, who harvest mo st of the raccoons sold in Missouri, "try to kill as humanely as possible," says Beringer, a trapper himself. "It's part of the culture."

Pelts last year sold on average for about $17. They're used for coats and hats, and many are sold to Russia. But the conflict between Russia and Georgia severely cut into the fur-trading market, Beringer says. "Pelts will probably be less this year."

For the average person, who probably doesn't spend much time thinking how a steer or a pig or a chicken might meet its maker, raccoons may seem too cute to eat.

Until you try one.

At the Blue Springs home of Billy Washington, raccoon, fish, bison and deer are staples on his family’s table.

On this day, it's raccoon.

All night he has been soaking a carcass in a solution of salt and vinegar in a five-gallon bucket. Now he rinses the raccoon in his kitchen sink.

"Eating raccoon has never gone out of style. It's just hard to get unless you know somebody ," he says as he carefully trims away the fat and the scent glands.

"My kids love eating game. They think eating deer and buffalo make you run faster and jump higher. My grandkids will just tear this one up, it'll be so good."

The meat is almost ready to be boiled, except for one thing: Although its head, innards and three paws have been removed, it still has one. That’s the law.

"They leave=2 0the paw on to prove it's not a cat or a dog," Washington says.

He cuts off the paw and drops the carcass into a stew pot, slices up a carrot, celery and onion, and sprinkles some seasoning into the water. Two and a half hours later, he transfers it to a Dutch oven. It looks a lot like chicken.

He bathes the raccoon with his own combination of barbecue sauces. Stuffs the cavity with canned sweet potatoes and pours the rest of the juice from the can over the breast.

"I follow the same tradition I watched when I was little. My uncle would cook 'em all day, saving the littlest coon for me," he says.

"If stores could sell coon, we’d run out of them. It's a long-hidden secret that they're so good."

After several hours, a delicious smell — roast beef? chicken? — drifts from the oven.

A mingling of garlic and onion and sweet-smelling spices.

And when Washington opens the lid, a tiny leg falls easily from the bone.

“See that? Tender as a mother s love,” he says with a grin. “Good eatin’.”

And the taste?

Definitely not chicken.

[Texan_Til_I_Die]

No thanks. I had bobcat a couple of years ago and I wouldn't recommend that either.

[mrswtnhunt]

I think I'll pass on Raccoon. I like deer and wild turkey though.

[Heavy Metal]

Nasty....no thank you!!!!

Possum anyone???

[redkneck]

They're not bad at all. About two years ago I started a mission to thin them out at the camp. I was selling about 2-5 a week at work for as much as $15 each....(i know, god what a boston butt you could get for that money...) but they would pay it, especially when they are having a superbowl or new year's party! hahaha

[Heavy Metal]

I was selling about 2-5 a week at work for as much as $15 each....(i know, god what a boston butt you could get for that money...)

LMAO, I was thinking the exact thing while reading this.

YIKES....some bowl party!!! LOL!

[Ohiobucks]

Annual event in my hometown:

Danville Lions 65th Raccoon Dinner

Monday February 2nd, 2009

Contact: Sandra Crow

Phone: 1-800-837-5282

Email: [email protected]

Location:St. Luke's Community Center

7 West Rambo Street

Danville, OH, 43014

(click for map) InformationDinner at 5:00 pm at St Lukes Community Center located immediately behind St. Lukes Catholic Church

Danville Jazz Band at 7:00 pm

Program at 8:00 pm at Danville High School Auditorium

The 2009 Danville Lions Club Raccoon Dinner will be held Monday, February 2nd at the St. Luke's Community Center, in Danville located immediately behind the St. Luke’s Catholic Church. The meal will be served from 5:00 until 7:30 p.m. on a first come, first served basis. At 7:00 p.m., the Danville Jazz Band will perform for the attendees across the street from the Community Center in the High School Auditorium. The main event will follow the band at 8:00 p.m.

Clyde Banbury and Clyde Cornell started the first Raccoon Dinner. The meal was served in Banbury's basement with 30 in attendance. After a few years, the annual dinner was moved to the elementary building at the school cafeteria since the interest in attending was dramatically increasing. As the event evolved, guest speakers were included as part of the program. There have been many notable and outstanding speakers such as Ohio Governor Jim Rhodes, OSU head coaches Woody Hayes and John Cooper, Gordy Coleman (Cincinnati Reds), Jerry Razor (newscaster), Ed Johnson, Steve Newman, Andy Geiger, Bill Conley, Craig Krenzel, and many more. The largest attendance to the event was over 800 people.

At the Dinner, over 600 pounds of raccoon is served as the entree coupled with a full course setting of mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, raccoon gravy, cake, and a generous serving of fresh homemade cornbread. The participants come from all over the United States and Canada to attend this famous event. Past events have seen a gentleman fly up from Missouri in his airplane just for the dinner and a newspaper editor come from Pennsylvania attending to enjoy the unique cuisine. A limited amount of ham is prepared for those wishing to attend whose health may not permit them to consume the raccoon.

The 69 year old Danville Lions Club, chartered in 1939, was sponsored jointly by the Fredericktown and Mount Vernon Lions Clubs. Since the beginning, the Club has truly lived up to the Lions Motto "We Serve." They have sponsored and facilitated many hundreds of fundraising events and service projects to help the Danville area community and its citizens.

[stevebeilgard]

you can have mine, thanks.

[Ohiobucks]

Raccoon Dinner tonight, see above for info and directions!

Texas Hold'em game to follow at the cabin afterwords, if you don't know where the cabin is, your probably not invited. :D

[redkneck]

I bet that's a blast.

[Dawg]

Hey don't down it till you try it. Coon is some gooood eatin!! I've had it bbq and roasted, both are very good! Though having the WHOLE roasted coon on a pan is a little weird, its still good though.

[Tink]

Friendof mine was force to try rattlesnake Told him it tasted like chicken. So the tried it Wasnt bad taste just like chicken but now he can;t eat chicken- it reminds him of rattlesnake Tink

[Ravin R10 man]

Neighbor lady made one for our wild game feed..she did it in a creme sauce..might have been cooking cherry?

I got the leftovers..man was that good!

[Dakota]

Nope, not for me!

Dakota

[redkneck]

You guys are missing out!

[Curdog]

Coon and sweet taters..........

[redkneck]

Coon and sweet taters..........

That's it! Dont knock it till you try it