Happy Birthday young ‘n’
Granny has come wid gud stuff! say hello t’ gran
Here is her recipe:
Roast Possum
P[i]Possum is easy to catch. Hit ‘em with a rock or a stick when they’s up a tree and you can have ‘em in your sack afore they knows it. The yellow-bellied goomers is too scared to fight back, and they play dead jest long enough to grab ‘em.
Boil up half a peck ‘o water or more, dependin’ on the size o’ your possum. Dunk the critter in boilin’ water an’ right away pull off his hair n’ scrape ‘em clean. Don’t forgit to cut off his feet, his head n’ his tail! Clean out his innards. Put the possum in a hefty jug o’ cold salty water and let ‘em soak overnight. Change his water the next day and start boilin’ him ‘til his skin lets a fork pop through it easy like. They ain’t no time for cooking possum ‘cause some is tougher than others. When the feller is jest right, dry him off and put ‘em in a bakin’ pan with a bit o’ pot likker (juice left over after cooking greens or other vegetables) ‘n some seasoned salt over his belly. When he is brown ‘n toasty, he is ready for slicin’ and servin’. Back home we fattens possum with ‘simmons (persimmons), and most often we eats him with yams.
Granny’s right, possums are easy to catch, but bear in mind they are scavengers. Once you catch a possum, it is best to grain feed him or fatten him with ‘simmons for about 4 weeks. They paunch the same as most small game, but they do have scent glands, so be careful.
And now for that all important question…What wine do you serve with possum?
I suggest a crisp Pouilly-Fuissé. After all, it is the other white meat.[/i]
Things just haven’t been the same since they took Hee Haw off the air. Uncle Daddy and Aunt Momma brought my baby cousin sister for the birthing day ceremony. We had a spittin’ contest, and then Jimbubba Joe popped the hood on his truck and we sat around and stared at the motor. I’m much obliged for the possum recipe, but there’s only one kind of wine to wash down such a delicacy: Old Milwaukee. All in all, it was a respectable celebration; we usually save the real debauchery for the family reunions.
Some day, we’ll have to get you out here on the homestead. You should be safe if you stick close to me.
They do much the same in Stockport, Sin. At least they do outside the Red Lion Tesco, only they tend to start their revelry in the nude, all apart from a buxom bint named Belinda who generally favours tanned cowhide and bull horns. She’s a bit like your neighbour/half-sister Ellie-May, but more sartorially focused.
Oh, and the motor is normally a 1977 Ford Zodiac, but it keeps Vic and his kin staring anyway.
Vic’s recipe reminded me of a family favourite, passed down through the generations: cockatoo stew. I won’t bother with all the herbs (it’s hard to find gum leaves in your part of the world), but if you cook o’possum you’ll appreciate the effectiveness of this recipe:
Cockatoo Stew Ingredients
1 cockatoo (plucked)
large pot of salted water
2 river stones
Method
Place cockatoo and stones in the pot of water.
Boil for 5 days (top up the water as needed).
When the stones are soft, throw away the cockatoo and eat the stones.
‘s that one of Nigella’s
Y’ do realise, don’t y’, that some folk are dumb enough to think it’s a joke recipe even though there are no typical Aussie snide innuendoes, an’ wotnot!
Would it work with parakeet, nom? We have a plague of the blasted birds round here in West London. A couple of green parakeets escaped from a cage some time last century. Now they fly around in huge flocks making dawn and dusk hideous with the raucous screeching. They haven’t any predators to keep them under control
The nerve of some people! How else do they think you can get cockatoo flavoured stones? And if they think they can find a different way of making cockatoos edible, then good luck to 'em.
Bury them. Traditionally, you dig a hole 3’3" deep (or one arms length, whichever is shorter), drop the pips in, wee on them (that’s important!), then fill in the hole. When you come back 100 years later, you’ll find a cockatoo gum tree growing there.
Yep, but use potatoes instead of the stones. You might also want to use stock instead of water, perhaps also throw in some leek, garlic, cannellini, carrot, celery, fennel, rosemary, bay leaves and risi pasta. This way, if you can’t catch the parakeets the dish is not ruined.
‘s that one of Nigella’s
even though there are no typical Aussie snide innuendoes, an’ wotnot!
sorry about that, couldn’t resist it
