Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 311, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 December 1910 — ODD THINGS EATEN [ARTICLE]

ODD THINGS EATEN

Few People Aware That Muskrats Are Good. •• i-”"',- •’■ ■ • Pork Is Important Article of Food with Anglo-Saxons and Teutonic People— Indiana Eat Snakes and Grasshoppers. New York.—Possum and raccoon ere generally considered pretty good eating in the United States by. folks who wouldn’t dream of tasting woodchuck. And yet, says a writer in the American Boy, the woodchuck is far more cleanly in habits and diet and Is far better eating than either of the former. Few people are aware that muskrats are good to eat, and still more rare is the man who eats skunk, yet both of these animals are excellent if properly cooked. Pork is an important article of food with Anglo-Saxon and Teutonic peoples, and yet there are whole races which regard it as absolutely unfit for human consumption. Snakes are not at all bad, once people can overcome their natural prejudice, and lizards are eaten in many parts of the world. -Grasshoppers are said to make excellent soup, to be good fried or roasted, and many Indian tribes dry them and grind them into flour. , y ■ Crickets are also dried and ground into meal by Oregon and California -Indians, and ants are used to a large extent as footTbf Indians and African tribes. The Samoan Islanders are very fond of a species of marine worm which appears periodically at their islands, and the natives leave all other occupations to gather the harvest of worms. In Japan Terns of several kinds are eaten to a great extent, while burdock is raised extensively for the tuberous roots, and seaweeds of various kinds form an Important article of diet. On the American coast there are numerous edible seaweeds, but few People are aware that they are edible and nutritious. In fact, the value of sea animals and plants as food is lit-

tle known, and many a white man would starve to death where an Asiatic or South Sea islander would find abundant food if cast away on an oceanic island. Crabs, shrimp, sea shell?, in fact, nearly every marine creature is edible, while the gigantic holothurians, or “sea cucumbers,’’ so abundant in many tropical seas, are considered a great delicacy by many races, and the industry of gathering, drying and shipping these is very important in the Malaysian and Australian waters. Dried and prepared for market, these creatures are known as beche-de-mer, and bring a good price in the Japanese, Chinese, Greek and southern European markets. *The octopus or devilfish is also eaten extensively in China, Japan, Greece and West Indies, and when this repulsive looking creature is pounded into a pulp and inade into soup it is really excellent In the West Indies the natives are fond of the great tree lizards known as iguanas. These creatures often grow to five or six feet in length, and the meat is white, tender and flavored much like chicken. In the West Indies there is a native land frog which is considered a delicacy by natives and European visitors alike. These big tropical frogs are eaten whole, and are either fried, broiled or stewed, and taste so much like chicken or quail they., are commonly called mountain chicken when served on hotel tables. The French and Italians consider snails and slugs as dainties of the highest order, while pickled earthworms are a common relish in southern Europe and Asia. ** In New Zealand there occurs a grub which lives in the earth and which is often affected by a fungous growth that springs from the grub’s neck and pushes upward to the surface of the earth. These worm grown mushrooms are gathered and eaten, and are said to be very delicious when properly cooked. Doubtless many other insects are edible, and the Chinese even devour the chrysalids of the silkworm after i the silk is unwound from the cocoon.