Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 133, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 June 1911 — COOKING A HEDGEHOG. [ARTICLE]

COOKING A HEDGEHOG.

Bake It In Clay Into a Solid Mass and » Carve It With an Ax. When a Maine Indian has the choice Of n hedgehog, a skunk, a woodchuck and n muskrat for dinner he will select tbe first named invariably and take tbe sknnk as second cbolce, leaving the woodchuck, which is tbe only one of the lot a Maine white man will taste, to the last Unlike tbe skunk and the woodchuck, which are lean and unsavory except for a few months In the fall, or the muskrat, which is never fat and which has a strong flavor In spite of parboiling, the hedgehog Is always in edible condition,and has meat that is as tender and white as that of a spring chicken. Tbe method of cooking a hedgehog is so simple that a novice can learn in one short lesson. When the epicure is permitted to make a choice be should shun the large old males, which at times weigh thirty or forty pounds. The preparation consists in removing tbe viscera, washing out tbe interior and filling tbe cavity with slices of fht pork, peeled raw potatoes, sprigs of spearmint and wild celery from tbe brook. Then, without removing the quills or skinning, the body is plastered thickly with wet clay from tbe nearest bank. The muddy, bulky mass is thrust into live coals and covered with blazing fagots to be roasted for two hours. On removal from the coals, the clay is found to have been baked into a hard and solid mass, which must be broken open with an ax or a heavy stone, whereupon tbe skin and qnills of the animal cling to the clay wrapping and fall away, leaving the clean white meat ready to be eaten.—New York Herald.