Penny For Your Thoughts
By: Nancy Whitaker
I know that sometimes I wonder about the strangest things. The other night while riding home from a music gig with my friend, I looked over at the side of the road and saw an animal laying there which had probably met his demise on the highway.
The animal looked pretty big and we really could not decide exactly what is was. Of course we did not get out of the car and observe, but I said, “I wonder if it is a porcupine?”
He replied, “I doubt it. Don’t they live mostly in other countries?”
I said that the only ones I had ever seen were in a zoo. Then I began to wonder, “Are there porcupines around here? What do they eat? If they are around here, “Is there an open season on hunting them?” My enquiring mind really wanted to find out, so I came home and tried to find out what I may need to know about this critter.
According to my personal research, there are North American porcupines in the United States, as we know, we hope we do not come in contact with a porcupine because one porcupine can have as high as 30.000 quills. Many a predator has lost battles with this little creature and wound up with a lot of sticky quills in their fur.
I discovered that porcupines will eat bark, leaves, pine needles, fruit, flowers and new spring grass. However, they love salt. If there is an old outhouse deep in the woods nine chances out of ten a porcupine will have that wooden outhouse for dinner.
To have little porkers, two males fight over a gal porker and the winner gets the girl. A Mama porcupine can have 1-4 babies who are born with quills and can climb trees within a few days.
Let me ask, “Has anyone ever tasted porcupine?” Porcupine is an unusual thing to eat, but in Africa they do eat it. So how does it taste? Those who have ate it said it is weirdly good. It is like duck meat but with more flavor and crunch to it.
One can often collect a porky or two while driving on Montana highways. (not sure about Ohio) but if someone is really hungry there are ways to cook this prickly little animal. The following recipe was taken from a blog, but I thought that if you ever have the opportunity to cook one, we would all have a recipe. So here is:
ROASTED PORCUPINE
Leave porcupine whole. (After skinning and evisceration!). Chill meat to remove all fat. Parboil in simmering water to cover for 15 minutes with 1 teaspoon of baking soda.
Drain. Make your favorite stuffing. Stuff the porcupine and place on roasting pan. Cover with lid or foil. Bake at 325 degrees F. until meat is done, one to five hours, depending on the size of the porcupine. Then there is a spicy version:
TANGY BAKED PORCUPINE
1 porcupine, cut into serving pieces
Flour
Salt and ground pepper
3 tablespoons shortening
Dijon mustard
3 slices thick-sliced bacon
1 large onion, diced
1/4 cup carrots, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons parsley
1 teaspoon Kitchen Bouquet sauce
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sweet cream.
Soak the porcupine pieces in salted water overnight. Rinse and dry. Mix flour, salt and pepper in a paper bag. Add pieces of meat and shake to coat. Saute pieces in fat until browned. Remove pieces of meat and spread with the mustard. Place bacon strips in a shallow baking dish. Add meat. Saute onion, carrots and mushrooms. Add parsley, Kitchen Bouquet, more salt and pepper to taste, and also both creams. Stir thoroughly. Pour over meat. Bake 45 to 55 minutes.
I am sure we all want to have some good old porcupine for dinner and please pass the gravy. Now I know people who have consumed beaver and raccoon, but if anyone out there has tried porcupine, let me know and I’ll give you a Penny for Your Thoughts.
