United Kingdom Goes a Bit Squirrely

“Squirrel!!!” Regardless of your opinion of Chevy Chase’s brand of stilted, cheeseball comedy, that one exclamation from the great, late John Randolph, the father of Clark Griswold (Chevy) in the film, in response to seeing the home-invading rodent perched on Clark’s back, is classic. Of course, mass mayhem rapidly ensues.

Personally, in our house, it’s not Christmas until the wife and I sit down for a good, long chuckle watching the film. If you ask (and you probably won’t), I can pretty much recite the film verbatim.

“Where’s Eddie? He usually eats these things,” asks Clark, just before that infamous bit, to which his Eddie’s wife, cousin Catherine, responds: “Oh, not recently. He read that squirrels were high in cholesterol.”

Regardless of their cholesterol-raising ability (their fat content varies depending on their diet...), the furry, little rodents are hitting menus with alacrity over the pond in England, as noted in a bit in The New York Times today. Evidently, eating gray squirrels—not red (the grays are invasive transplants from North America)—is viewed as a sort of environmental act due to the mass overpopulation of the rodents in England. The article notes some preparations include squirrel and hazelnut terrine, squirrel Peking-duck-style, braised with pig’s feet (and assorted forest fodder, like shallots and mushrooms) and squirrel pâté.

As budgets are stretched and the economy continues to worsen, I bet we’ll see all sorts of attempts at dietary diversification in the coming months.