Not Your Average Recipes

Eating skunk was not always considered "unorthodox". Our Archivist delves into the history of eating wildlife. 

By Liz Dommasch, County Archivist

We had so much fun compiling recipes for our online exhibit: Spanish Food: Food for Thought (which looks at the types of meals Canadians were eating at the end of World War One and during the years of the Spanish Flu Epidemic), I thought it might be fun to share some other recipes with you from the Archives.

In our reference library we have a vast amount of cookbooks that were printed by community groups and organizations (often as a fundraising endeavor) or were printed by large scale publishing houses for nationwide distribution. One of my favourite cookbooks in our collection is the “Wild Life Cookbook” produced by the Oxford Fish & Game Protection Association sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s.

Originally known as the Oxford Fish and Game Gun Club, the Association was organized in 1936, with a small clubhouse located on the 11-acres behind the Woodstock Fairgrounds. In 1956 they purchased a 25-acre property on Concession 3 in East Oxford Township. In 1977 the club became incorporated and the name changed to the Oxford Fish and Game Protection Association with the aim to promote active, safe participation in all shooting sports and interest in conservation of fish, fauna and wildlife. Presently, the organization is known as Oxford Fish and Game and is located on Pattullo Avenue in Woodstock, Ontario.

What I love about this cookbook is that it goes beyond just your typical meats like beef, pork, chicken, and fish and contains recipes involving a large variety of wildlife including moose, bear, skunk, porcupine, squirrel, raccoon and even turtle.

For the more adventurous I’ve include a couple of recipes below to try:

Deep Fried Squirrel

Dressed Squirrel

4 tbsp. cracker crumbs

2 egg yolks

Fat for frying

Cut squirrel into four portions. Drop pieces in boiling water and boil 15 mins. Remove pieces and dry on towel. Prepare batter of egg yolks and cracker crumbs. Dip meat in batter and deep fry in smoking hot fat (375 degrees F.)

Roast Skunk

1 c. clear soup (bouillon cube)

2 sliced carrots

1 tsp. onion juice

Dissolve 1 bouillon cube in 1 c. hot water. Skin, clean and remove insides. Remove scent glands. Parboil in salted water for 15 minutes. Drain off water. Then place meat in fresh water and steam until tender, about 1 hour. Transfer to roasting pan and put in over at 375 degrees. Add 1 c. clear soup (bouillon cube), 2 sliced carrots and 1 tsp. of onion juice and cook uncovered for 2 hours.

For those interested in learning more about our cookbook collection, please contact the Archives. For those interested in learning more about our online exhibit: Spanish Food: Food for Thought please check out our exhibit page.