How do you like your Squirrel…Fried or Baked?

April 7th, 2011

Having put grey squirrel on his menu, the owner of an Edinburgh restaurant Spoon cafe bistro described it as the “ultimate ethical food”.

He said grey squirrels were actually being killed to protect Scotland’s native red squirrel, so he saw no problem eating them.

Animal welfare charities however have been distinctly divided about eating squirrel.

Richard Alexander, the owner of Spoon cafe bistro insisted the squirrel meat was free range, low fat and ‘low on air miles’. He added that it has sold out every day since Friday when it went on the menu.

The Scottish SPCA said it has no objections to eating grey squirrels so long as they are caught and killed humanely, but OneKind, an animal welfare charity raised concerns that this could encourage the mistreatment of wild animals.

This is not the first time that eating the humble squirrel has caused debate.

Squirrel meat proved popular in a north London supermarket last year when Andrew Thornton, started selling the meat after requests from customers at his Budgens store in Crouch End, north London.

“There are too many squirrels around, we might as well eat them rather than cull them and dispose of them,” he said.

When he had them in stock Thornton was selling up to 15 squirrels a week and predicted more people would eat squirrel in the future. Mr Thornton added: “It’s quite tasty, a bit like rabbit and I really don’t see what the difference is between other meat.”

With this story being reported all around the world, it appears the shock factor is high, but actually it’s old news as squirrel is a dish that has been around since Tudor times.

 

Tags: squirrel, squirrel meat
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