Game

Appears in

Published 1992

About

I don't hunting very much, but many of my friends do. I know octogenarian ladies who hunt in the Lowcountry; hunting has a long social history here. I have killed squirrels trying to rob my bird feeder; they are delicious if they don’t live in pine forests. My father and I used to skin and clean the freshly killed squirrels and put them in the freezer until we had enough for burgoo, though I also love them panfried, like chicken or quail.

It is illegal to sell game in South Carolina, but my hunter friends bring me all sorts of meats to cook—mostly venison. I’ll take whatever cut I can get; I turn the scraps into burgers. I am fond of raccoon, but it is a real labor of love to prepare. Most of the rabbit that I see is farm-raised; nonetheless I have included a German recipe that is a classic in the Lowcountry. Frog, turtle, and alligator are delicious, but I do not like the texture of those meats after they have been frozen. Recipes included for those meats are typical. Game bird recipes are found in the following chapter.