Sunday, November 17, 2013

Yeah, it's local...but I just ate WHAT?!

This too is local...

One morning I visited my Mom and Cousin Paige at my grandfather's farm.  Browned cow heart sat in a pan on the stove.  "It tastes just like roast beef," my younger nature-loving cousin said.  Well, I'll take your word for it.  Mom and Paige have been the caregivers for my 97 year old grandfather.  One night in the dark, while he was in the hospital, my Mom went into his room and fell over an extra wheel chair, hitting the side of her face on the way down.  The result:  two black eyes.

I love that Chris and I moved closer to my family because we share dinner together on Tuesday night, taking turns cooking.  The week after watching Paige and my Mom devour the heart, it was their turn to cook the family meal.  Needless to say, I'm cautious when we dine with them.  My Mom made lasagna and Paige prepared a roast beef in the crock pot.  I felt immediately suspicious, "no, really, it's roast beef," Mom insisted.



I cautiously put some on my plate after watching Dad have a second helping and Chris encouraging, "it's really good Paula." Here's my eating experience:  As I eyed the food sitting on my plate, my mind said, "Okay, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, it's roast beef."  Fork-full goes in and as I bite down I think, "this isn't a meat I'm familiar with, I need to spit this out,"  then I thought, "nah, it's just my mind not trusting them and making the tasting experience strange," so I swallowed and immediately dumped the rest on Chris's plate.  I was certain there was a bit of game taste, and I wasn't going back for more.

Later that evening, after dishes were cleared and dessert enjoyed, we again discussed the roast beef with comments of kudos from my Dad and Chris.  My Mom said, "Okay, do you want me to tell you what it was?"  Aha, I knew it wasn't roast beef.  "What, what was it, what?"  "Look at me," she responded.

    
Coon!  You're kidding, you fed us coon?!  Yep, Paige trapped a raccoon and decided she wanted to serve it up.  According to Paige, you should only eat wild animals after a freeze, which we'd recently had.  So there we were, dining on coon.  She was happy to take us out then to show us the carcass and the fur.  Now, how's that for local flavor?  Anyone want me to add a "coon" section to the Local Producers List?!

2 comments:

  1. Raccoon, huh? I've had rabbit, muskrat, squirrel, and dog, but never coon. Can't say I'm anxious to run out and try it, but I'll keep it in mind!

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    Replies
    1. Wow, dog huh. Where did you try that and what did you think of it?

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