In 1967 the Canadian Government published a collection of backwoods recipes from native and non-native peoples in the nations far north, It’s now out-of-print, but here are a few highlights. And if ever you find a copy of The Northern Cookbook, grab it – it’s a classic.
Muskrat Tails
“Cut off the tails and dip them into very hot water, Pull off the fur. Either cook them on top of the stove, turning them after a few minutes, or boil them. (This is the same method as for beaver tails. Both are very sticky to eat.)”
Stuffed Muskrat
“Clean the rats well and put them in a roaster with bread stuffing on top. Roast until the muskrats are soft.”
Boiled Porcupine
“Make a fire outside and put the porcupine in it to burn off the quills. Wash and clean well. Cut up and boil until done,”
Grizzly Bear Steaks
“Cut up meat as for frying and fry in deep grease in frying pan”
Bear Fat Pastry
“1-1/2 cups flour, ½ tsp. Salt, 1/3 cup bear fat (from a little black bear that was eating berries). Makes rich white pastry.”
Muktuk (meat inside skin and fat of a whale)
“After taken from whale, leave 2 days hanging up to dry. Cut into 6” x 6” pieces. Cook until tender. After cooked, keep in a cool place in a 45-gallon drum of oil, in order to have muktuk all year.”
Oven-roasted Lynx
“Wash and clean the hind legs of the lynx and roast it with lard and a little water.”
Boiled Lynx
“Cut up the lynx and boil it until it is soft and well cooked. Good to eat with Muktuk.”
Steamed Muskrat Legs
“Cut off the muskrats leg, dip in a bowl of flower with salt, pepper, and other strong seasoning. Put grease into a large frying pan. Put in the muskrat legs. Cover and cook for a long time, as they take long to become tender. The strong seasoning takes away the actual taste of the muskrat.
Boiled Reindeer Head
“Skin and wash the head well. Then chop it in quarters, splitting it between the eyes with an axe. Cover with cold water and boil until soft. One can also roast in an open pan in an oven very slowly.”
Boiled Reindeer or Caribou Hoofs
“Put hoofs (skin still on them) in a large pot. Cover and boil for a couple of hours. The skin will peel off easily. The muscles are soft and very good to eat. The toe nails also have some soft sweet meat inside them.”
Boiled Smoked Beaver
“Smoke the beaver for a day or so. Cut up the meat and boil it with salted water until done.”
Frozen Fish Eggs
“Take fish eggs out and freeze them. They are good to eat like this.”
Boiled Bone Grease
“Boil whatever bones are left after all the meat has been cut off. Boil them all in a big pot for two hours. Then let the grease get cold in the pot. It is easy to pick the grease off. Keep the grease to eat with dry meat or add to pounded meat.”
Boiled Reindeer Tongues
“Boil tongues until thoroughly cooked. Potatoes and vegetables are good with this.”
Dry Fish Pudding
“Pound up 5 to 6 dry fish. Throw away the skin. Add sugar, a little grease, and cranberries”
Jellied Moose Nose
“Cut the upper jaw bone of the moose just below the eyes. Boil in a large kettle for 45 minutes. Remove and chill. Pull out all the hairs (like plucking a duck) and wash until none remain. Place nose in a kettle and cover with fresh water. Add onion, garlic, spices, and vinegar. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until meat is tender. Let cool overnight. When cool, discard the bones and cartilage. You will have white meat from the bulb of the nose and dark meat from the bones and jowls. Slice thinly and alternate layers of white and dark meat in a loaf pan. Let cool until jelly has set. Slice and serve cold.”
Baked Skunk
“Clean, skin, wash. Bake in oven with salt and pepper. Tastes like rabbit (no smell).”
Taken from “Uncle John’s Slightly Irregular Bathroom Reader”.
I swear I was trying to think of something to post when I opened this book that was sitting on my counter and opening it randomly to the middle right to the page with this on it. As recently I have been reading some wonderful blogs written by some canadien friends I felt this must be providence and had to be shared. I hope this is taken with the love it was intended.
5 comments:
I was raised on Vancouver Island...my dad used to hunt as a means to support the family.
I've personally eaten bear (though I don't recall loving it) and I remember that after my mother had cooked a goose, my father kept the fat in a mason jar and used it as a spread for homemade bread.
And this is in the 70's and 80's!
I feel the love, Dagoth. Though of course there are a lot of vegetarian Canadians in my neck of the woods---we'd eat a reindeer-shaped piece of tofu though. :)
I feel terribly unpatriotic, having never had such fine Canadian fare as beaver tails and reindeer tongue.... I have, however, enjoyed whale tails. Does that count? :)
(A whale tail is basically deep-fried bread dipped in sugar, and contains absolutely no whale whatsoever! Mmmm!)
I once had Bear/Moose/Deer combination sausage. My uncle had made from The Moose and Bear he got on a hunting trip to Canada. As I remember it tasted like sausage with a little gamey taste and seemed to me would have been better kept separate so you could experience the different tastes. Also as Backwoods Survival has been a lifelong "hobey" of mine some of the things I've eaten out of the woods would probably put that book to shame (fried grasshoppers stuffed with blackberries immediately comes to mind)...
I remember way back to elementary school, also on Vancouver Island (hi tai!), in grade four when we had "Native Day." It was a mock Haida potluck, and some poor kid's intrepid mother actually brought in a haunch of venison and cooked it for us in the gymnasium. (You can't make this stuff up.)
If you've never eaten venison, in the raw form the meat is kind of purple-coloured. Little kids were crying, the whole gym was stunk up with the skunky smell of gamey boiled deer meet, and it really ruined the innocence of the whole shell-and-blanket exchange we had planned.
The kind of scene that could only transpire when the indigenous native heritage of Canada meets overachieving PTA mom.
Post a Comment