Today's special at NLBP - Entrecote à la bordelaise

Mr Mustard does not eat meat but pesky rats do need to be sorted out at the Barnet Council data centre where they can chew the cables.

Picture credit : www.aaanimalcontrol.com

Anyway the solution is apparently going to be to put them on the menu in the staff restaurant ( what a pity it isn't April 1 ) as that is easier than fixing the air con and the sprinklers.

Calvin W. Schwabe in his book Unmentionable Cuisine says that North Americans should be using many forms of protein which are routinely consumed in other parts of the world. The following excerpts are from a section of the book giving recipes for cooking rats and mice.

"Brown rats and roof rats were eaten openly on a large scale in Paris when the city was under siege during the Franco-Prussian War. Observers likened their taste to both partridges and pork. And, according to the Larousse Gastronomique, rats are still eaten in some parts of France. In fact, this recipe appears in that famous tome."

Grilled Rats Bordeaux Style (Entrecote à la bordelaise)

Alcoholic rats inhabiting wine cellars are skinned and eviscerated, brushed with a thick sauce of olive oil and crushed shallots, and grilled over a fire of broken wine barrels.

In West Africa, however, rats are a major item of diet. the giant rat (Cricetomys), the cane rat (Thryonomys), the common house mouse, and other species of rats and mice are all eaten. According to a United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization report, they now comprise of over 50 percent of the locally produced meat eaten in some parts of Ghana. Between December 1968 and June 1970, 258,206 pounds of cane-rat meat alone were sold in one market in Accra! This is a local recipe that shows the South American influence on West African cuisine.

Stewed Cane Rat

Skin and eviscerate ( remove the internal organs ) the rat and split it lengthwise. Fry until brown in a mixture of butter and peanut oil. Cover with water, add tomatoes or tomato purée, hot red peppers, and salt. Simmer the rat until tender and serve with rice.

Tomorrow's delicacy will be bird's nest soup.

And unless they are careful it will be moles on the menu on Friday.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard