Exquisite Mice Recipes for Beginners :)

To a lot of people, cooking and eating mice is unthinkable. But in some portions of the world, mice make up an important role in their native delicacies. In fact, in North America, people eat rat because of their nutritional value (being rich in protein), while in some parts of Paris, mice are eaten because they taste like a crossbreed between chicken and pork. And yet, to the rest of the world, mice have become a stable source of meat that can be cooked in many different ways. Some restaurants even have mice in their menus. Thus, no matter how unthinkable it may seem to you, mice cooking and eating is actually an old practice and many people are so into it ever since.

The common house mouse has been very popular in West Africa that about 50% of all the locally produced meat there mouse or rat meat. To be exact with numbers, according to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, more than 250 thousand pounds of mouse and rat meat are sold in the market of Accra alone. So, here are some of the recipes that are quite popular among the mice-eating people:

Grilled Mouse Bordeaux

The other name of this recipe, "Entrecote a la bordelaise", sounds like any other classy food you can get from a high-class restaurant. Well, in fact, this mouse meat recipe is served in popular restaurants in Paris! The skin of the mouse is removed before it is eviscerated and glazed with an exquisite sauce made from a mixture of olive oil, some shallots and other spices. The meat is then grilled over a fire made from old and broken wooden wine barrels.

Mouse Stew

Just like the meat in the Mouse Bordeaux, the mouse is also skinned and eviscerated when cooking Mouse Stew. The mouse's body is then split into two from the neck down to the tail bone and then battered with a mixture of butter, peanut oil and some spices. The battered meat is then deep-fried until it turns golden brown. The fried mouse meat will then be covered with an elegant sauce mixed from water, fresh tomatoes, red peppers and some other spices. For the meat to absorb the taste of the sauce, the entire dish is simmered for a couple of minutes and then served hot with rice.

Stuffed Mouse Dormice

The mouse is skinned and eviscerated; head, tail and feet removed. The stuffing is made from ground meat (can be mouse meat, pork, beef or chicken) mixed with pine nuts, garum or anchovy paste, asafoetida, homemade broth and other spices. The mouse is stuffed with the stuffing and then sewn properly before it is cooked in the oven for a prescribed length of time.

Roasted Mice

The best mice to use for this recipe are the field mice primarily because of their meat is not as tender as that of a house mouse, thus it is very fitting for a roasting recipe. The mice is skinned and eviscerated before it is skewered and roasted over hot coals. This recipe is best eaten with Margarita.

Creamed Mouse

Just like all other recipes, the mouse should be cleaned out of the head, feet and tail. It should be skinned too and the rest of the internal organs should be removed. The meat is then marinated in a pot of a mixture of ethyl alcohol and some spices. After marinating for at least 2 hours, the meat should be dredge into a batter mixture consisting of flour, salt, pepper and some spices. The battered meat is then fried under a low fire for about 5 minutes before another cup of alcohol is added into the pan. Along with the alcohol, about 8 cloves of garlic are also added. The mixture is to be simmered for another 15 minutes before it is transferred to a pan of cream sauce. The meat is sautéed for another 10 minutes before it becomes ready for serving.

Mouse Enchiladas

The mouse should be skinned and eviscerated before it becomes fit for cooking. In this specific recipe, the mouse is cooked in a regular enchilada sauce made from chillis mixed with liquor. Chile skin is supposed to be separated from chilli meat before it is mixed with the liquor and some fried onions. The tortillas are to be filled with the mouse meat mixed with the enchiladas sauce, rolled and then baked for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

You see, there are so many other great-tasting mouse dishes out there that are not mentioned in this article. Although it is really quite ironic how such wonderful dishes were derived from an animal most people consider as pest, still one truth remains, the people behind these recipes are really able to bring out another dimension of the mice. They may not be as main stream as chicken, beef and pork, but with all honesty, people who were able to eat game and veal can be outnumbered by those who have already tasted mouse meat at least once in their lifetimes.

We can't really say which cuisine is exotic or not simply because we do not eat certain kinds of foods. To some places, the normal food that we are eating may be categorized as exotic and the foods that we consider exotic might be categorized as normal to them. This diversity in taste and preference is what makes the different cuisines around the world unique.

Of course, I am not encouraging you to feed on the mouse that you see in your house simply for the purpose of establishing that a new predator (that's you) has just emerged in their habitat (that's your house). There are some findings too that suggest that improper preparation can also cause food poisoning. The preparation of mouse meat may not be as easy as you think, so if ever you are enticed to taste mouse meat one of these days, better go to a restaurant instead and just enjoy your experience without having to worry about other things.

All the best,

Sergiu Zburatoru

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