We cannot say that we have had much experience in cooking the above
animals, but they are all eaten by many persons, in different parts of
this and other countries. We have tasted of all or them except the
raccoon, and we must say that we found them palatable. It is well known
that when our soldiers retook possession of Ship Island, they found
plenty of raccoons on it, and ate all they could catch. One day we
happened to meet a sub-officer, who was there at the time, and inquired
of him about it. He said he had never eaten any raccoons before, and did
not know that they were eatable; but now he could eat them as readily as
rabbit, as they were quite as good.
The best time to eat any of the animals enumerated above is from
Christmas to the 15th of February.
_How to prepare them._--As soon as the animal is killed skin it, take
the inside out, save the liver and heart, and wash well with lukewarm
water and a little salt, inside and out; then wipe dry with a towel, put
inside a few leaves of sage, bay-leaves, mint, and thyme, and sew it up.
Hang it outside in a place sheltered from the sun, such as the northern
side of a building; leave it thus five or six days, then take off, and
cook.
_How to skin a Skunk._--We were hunting one day in New Jersey, northwest
of Paterson, with a friend and two farmers living there, when one of
them shot a skunk. We asked him how much he could get for the skin. He
said it was not worth while to take it to town, but that he would eat
the animal, as it was very good.
We thought at first that he was joking; but putting his gun and game-bag
to the ground, he looked at us earnestly, and said, "Gentlemen, you seem
to doubt; I will show you how it is done." We soon saw that we had been
mistaken.
We made a fire, took hold of the skunk by the head with one hand, and
with a stick in the other held the skunk over the fire. He burnt off
nearly all the hair, taking care to avoid burning the skin, commencing
at the hind legs; then with his hunting-knife he carefully cut off the
bag containing the fetid matter, and skinned and cleaned it.
We then examined the skunk, and although it had not been washed, we
could not find any part of it with a bad smell, and if we had not seen
the whole operation we certainly would not have thought that it was a
skunk, the very name of which is repulsive.
The following week we dined with the farmer, ate some of that identical
skunk, and found it very good.
_How to cook the above-named Animals._--Take out the leaves of sage,
etc., which you put in the animal before exposing it to the weather.
Pound well the liver and heart with about the same quantity of bacon,
then mix that with two or three teaspoonfuls of chopped parsley, a pinch
of grated nutmeg, salt, and pepper; stuff the animal with that mixture,
and also with six small onions fried in butter, and a bunch of seasoning
composed of four sprigs of parsley, three of thyme, two cloves, two
cloves of garlic, and two bay-leaves, and sew it up again. Butter it
well all over, place it on a spit before a very quick fire; put three or
four sage-leaves in the dripping-pan, and baste often with the
drippings. Serve it when cooked with the gravy, throwing away the
sage-leaves.
It may also be served with a _Mayonnaise_, _ravigote_, or _Tartar_
sauce.
_Squirrel._--A squirrel is prepared as a rabbit in every particular.