Upcoming Muskrat Dinners: Must Get A Photo!
Posted on 10 January 2008 under Michigan Cuisine, Michigan History, Special Events
Why is it I can’t find a decent photo of a plated meal from one of these Muskrat Dinners?
Excuse me? Why the face?? You didn’t know we have Muskrat Dinners around these parts? For shame!!
Ok … well … neither did I …
When I moved to Monroe County in 2004 I had no idea what I was getting into food-wise. I didn’t know I’d be hanging out with chefs, designing web sites and menus for restaurants, or writing this blog.
I certainly had no clue I’d actually be planning to attend a dinner specifically to eat muskrat.
Or beaver.
Yes, there’s beaver available at one of these dinners as well. I’m not kidding.
In their book Celebrating 300 Years of Detroit Cooking, 1701 to 2001, the Detroit Historical Society included Native American recipes for Baked Beaver, Beaver Tail Soup, and Muskrat Fiddle Head Stew. In the chapter on the French occupants of Michigan from 1701 - 1800, apparently these folks were eating muskrat that was either roasted or fried as there are recipes for both. Later sections of the book leave out this game dish altogether.
Public Muskrat Dinners were apparently quite popular around here as early as 1902. The Monroe County Library System has an article online about one of the earlier dinners, from the Monroe Democrat January 5, 1906 edition:
All the catering privileges were let to George J. Wahl, manager of Wahl House. From parboiling the rats to serving them at the table, he handled all the arrangements, and the bar privileges were also his. Considering the number of muskrats served, they were remarkable good and no fault could be found with them. He brought seven professional waiters to supervise the serving, while thirteen volunteers from the yacht club assisted. The rats were stewed in sweet corn; mashed potatoes and butter, slaw, celery, bread and coffee being served with them. There was no limit to the number of helpings and on Tuesday morning we ran across an individual who confessed he had eaten five rats, but had eaten nothing since. In the annex Mr. Wahl had ten expert bar tenders from Detroit and Toledo, who specialty was “muskrat cocktails” at 20 cents per drink. Only one brand of beer was called for, that of the Koppitz-Melchers Brewing Co. of Detroit, who had prepared a special brew for the event and designed a suitable muskrat label for the bottle.
Over on MonroeTalks in the thread titled, “You Going?“, LunaPierCook reader erfire (aka, our neighbor Cyndi) wrote:
Let’s see…hmmm…the name ends with rat.
It is caught in ditches in Monroe County.
You have to smother it in creamed corn to cook the gamey taste out of it.Nah…I’ll pass.
You were thinking the same thing when you read the paragraph from the 1906 article, weren’t you? Right where it said, “From parboiling the rats (yeah, that word) to serving them at the table …”, right??
C’mon, fess up. You were thinking it. Cyndi only qualified the thought for you.
Muskrat is still here, still available. And some of the public dinners are coming up.
Over on his blog Expatriate Monroe, Mike Ingels talks about one of the reasons why Muskrat Dinners are still possible, specifically for Catholics:
… Catholics couldn’t eat meat on Fridays … But the locals were creative … since a muskrat swims, it should be considered a fish … the local bishop agreed … and the muskrat dinner was born.
Last March the Catholic News Service provided clarification of the history surrounding the eating of muskrat:
The custom of eating muskrat on Ash Wednesday and Fridays in Lent apparently goes back to the early 1800s, the time of Father Gabriel Richard … Legend has it that because trappers and their families were going hungry not eating flesh during Lent, he allowed them to eat muskrat, with the reasoning that the mammal lives in the water … The late Bishop Kenneth Povish of Lansing wrote in a 1987 column in The Michigan Catholic, Detroit archdiocesan newspaper, that “no (formal) dispensation was ever given to allow Catholics to eat muskrat on Fridays.” … He referred to what he called the “Great Interdiocesan Doctrinal Debate” of 1956, during which he determined that although muskrat is a warm-blooded mammal and technically flesh, the custom had been so long held along Michigan’s rivers and marshes that it was “immemorial custom,” thus allowed under church law.
Included in that article are photos of Chef Johnny Kolakowsi of the Kola’s Food Factory in Riverview, holding the muskrat dinner he serves. The Michigan Catholic has posted other photos of Chef Johnny and this same dish. Unfortunately, the dish could have been photographed better.
No, I’m not Catholic. Mary was raised Catholic but isn’t now. Still, curiosity can be a curious thing.
Articles on the subect date back over 100 years. And I can’t find a really good photo of a Muskrat Dinner.
Sure, there are these 2005 photos of the cleaning of muskrats for that year’s dinner at the Monroe Boat Club. Not being for the faint of heart, those particular photos aren’t at all helpful.
So, I have to do this myself. You’ll find Mary and I at one of the following Muskrat Dinners, trying to scrounge some grub along with decent photos. Many thanks the Monroe News Staffer Paula Wethington for this schedule.
January 12, 2008 - Rock of Gibraltar VFW Post 4230, 4 - 6 p.m.
I love how they snuck in, “There will also be spaghetti available”
January 19, 2008 - Monroe Rod & Gun Club, 5 p.m.
Muskrat and Beaver and Swiss Steak, oh my!
January 25, 2008 - Erie VFW Post 3295, 6 p.m.
Mary will just have the turtle soup, thanks!
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10 January 2008 @ 7:33 pm Posted by joey
OK Dave … I grew up eating muskrat (plentiful in the marshes surrounding Saginaw Bay) or ‘marsh bunnies’ as mother called them, often gracing the tables on Fridays in Lent. Sadly, my mother died with her ’secret’ recipe, otherwise I would ’share’ it on my blog …
10 January 2008 @ 8:42 pm Posted by JEP
Reading this post confirms my vegetarian eating choice! I am, however, on the edge of my seat waiting for your photos!
11 January 2008 @ 10:06 am Posted by Old Millington Guy
Dave: The southeast Michigan custom of eating muskrats must be widely known, as I have heard this quite often. Local trappers in my area have been eating ‘rats as well, and all pronounced them as excellent table fare. An outstanding post and research of this subject.
15 January 2008 @ 7:11 am Posted by Diane V
I grew up in Monroe eating this great animal. My grandfather used to trap them in the 30′ & 40’s, selling the meat to local restrauants and the pelts to furriers. You did your research well, and explained why the meat can be eaten on Ash Wednesday and during Lent. Most people didn’t know that. Hard to get Muskrat where I live now but I guess I’ll just have to make a trip home again during the festival.
29 January 2008 @ 10:24 am Posted by Monroe on a budget » Blog Archive » Family-friendly Lent food on a budget
[…] used to be very strict, which is where we find the origins of locally-observed food customs such as muskrat dinners, paczki day and Easter food blessings. (Go to AmericanCatholic.org to find the modern-day Catholic […]