Grilled rat Bordeaux-style

A recipe from Calvin Schwabe's "Unmentionable Cuisine."

Mar 4, 2002 | Animals: Love them or hate them, we also eat them. And nothing better illustrates just how many of them we eat (and how thoroughly) than Calvin Schwabe's giant compendium of recipes from every corner of the world, excerpts of which are appearing in Salon this week, Monday through Friday -- one recipe each day on the Life and People sites -- by kind permission of the University Press of Virginia. This one comes from France where it's known as "Entrectte ` la bordelaise."

"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 partidges and pork. And, according to the 'Larousse Gastronomique,' rats still are eaten in some parts of France. In fact, this recipe appears in that famous tome.

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."

 

 

 

 

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