By Lynn Kerrigan
(Also visit our main Halloween Party and Recipes page)
I've been collecting weird recipes for several years now. Though I've made few of these recipes, I find them fascinating for some reason. I hope to compile these unusual morsels into a book someday, but with other pressing projects and obligations, that day may never come.
What is a weird recipe? I define it as any non-typical food or combination of unusual ingredients—foods you would never dream of pairing—that turn into something more than mildly edible.
Weird foods have been around for centuries. The wild success of the American "Survivor" television series had many viewers gagging at the thought of eating rodents. However, Calvin W. Schwabe in his book Unmentionable Cuisine (Charlottesville, Virginia: University of Virginia Press, 1979) says, "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 parts of Africa, the giant rat, cane rat and common house mouse all grace the dining table. I know a man who, being a squirrel hunter, frequently dines on members of the rodent family. If you're game to try a few rodent recipes—try these:
Because some of you may have an aversion to cooking up rodents, here are a few tastier recipes that combine weird ingredients.
(Also visit our main Halloween Party and Recipes page)
Copyright © 1998, Lynn Kerrigan. No portion of this article may be reproduced for publication without express, written permission of the author.
This page created 1998 and modified February 2007
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