Nutria. Holy cow. I mean, I grew up eating tree rats & I've been eyeballing that fat groundhog that lives down by the end our street for a while now, but man, that was delicious. Basically just grilled swamp rat kebobs, but OMG good. Tender, yummy, texture similar to flank steak.
Big shout out to @lasttombstone for the tip on NCSU's annual Wild Foods dinner. Me & the girl child rolled out to the VFW hall in Cary earlier tonight, 'cos the student wildlife club puts on a wild game feed every year. $15/adult, which was supper & 2 beers. Set up covered-dish style. 1/2 a dozen venison & feral hog dishes each. Fried bobcat nuggets. Bear Bourgogne. Both beaver & raccoon barbacoa. Pheasant. Even moose. Wild vegetable dishes. Home made deserts.
The bobcat was interesting, but overcooked. I'd try it again. The beaver was rich & had a little more intense flavor, reminded me of bison. The fancy bear stew was awesome, as was the beaver. If they hadn't been labeled, I wouldn't have known it wasn't beef. Feral hog shepherd's pie was great, though I didn't try the lasagne.
Didn't even attempt to try everything. Seriously, the choices were almost overwhelming. Plus, the whole time before supper started, students were roaming around with trays heaping with bacon wrapped dove, duck, goose or venison poppers & a few different varieties of deer jerky. There was a table with contest entries on it that I never even noticed, so I missed out on the moose & cajun smothered nutria.
I mentioned 2 beers came with all this, right?
But that swamp rat? I'm tellin' you, that stuff was good. Might just be my new favorite wild critter to eat. Cajuns mighta started eatin' 'em 'cos they were hungry, but they kept eatin' 'em 'cos they're tasty as all get out. Nutria kebabs were the bomb & I hate I missed that other nutria dish.
The student wildlife club puts it on to help fund their attending conferences/field trip kinda stuff & does an outstanding job. I always loved these wildlife feeds as a kid- my uncle belonged to a Rod & Gun club that did one every every year between Thanksgiving & Christmas. Nice to find one here & it supports a great cause.
'N $15 bucks to feed yer inner redneck & wash it down a couple nice brown ales, while a nice bluegrass combo plays? No brainer. Big kudos to those kids. Had a great time & will definitely be back next year.
Big shout out to @lasttombstone for the tip on NCSU's annual Wild Foods dinner. Me & the girl child rolled out to the VFW hall in Cary earlier tonight, 'cos the student wildlife club puts on a wild game feed every year. $15/adult, which was supper & 2 beers. Set up covered-dish style. 1/2 a dozen venison & feral hog dishes each. Fried bobcat nuggets. Bear Bourgogne. Both beaver & raccoon barbacoa. Pheasant. Even moose. Wild vegetable dishes. Home made deserts.
The bobcat was interesting, but overcooked. I'd try it again. The beaver was rich & had a little more intense flavor, reminded me of bison. The fancy bear stew was awesome, as was the beaver. If they hadn't been labeled, I wouldn't have known it wasn't beef. Feral hog shepherd's pie was great, though I didn't try the lasagne.
Didn't even attempt to try everything. Seriously, the choices were almost overwhelming. Plus, the whole time before supper started, students were roaming around with trays heaping with bacon wrapped dove, duck, goose or venison poppers & a few different varieties of deer jerky. There was a table with contest entries on it that I never even noticed, so I missed out on the moose & cajun smothered nutria.
I mentioned 2 beers came with all this, right?
But that swamp rat? I'm tellin' you, that stuff was good. Might just be my new favorite wild critter to eat. Cajuns mighta started eatin' 'em 'cos they were hungry, but they kept eatin' 'em 'cos they're tasty as all get out. Nutria kebabs were the bomb & I hate I missed that other nutria dish.
The student wildlife club puts it on to help fund their attending conferences/field trip kinda stuff & does an outstanding job. I always loved these wildlife feeds as a kid- my uncle belonged to a Rod & Gun club that did one every every year between Thanksgiving & Christmas. Nice to find one here & it supports a great cause.
'N $15 bucks to feed yer inner redneck & wash it down a couple nice brown ales, while a nice bluegrass combo plays? No brainer. Big kudos to those kids. Had a great time & will definitely be back next year.
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