Rat Meat

The BBC News reports that the rat meat industry is becoming increasingly lucrative in Cambodia because of a fondness for rat meat in neighboring Vietnam where wild, rural rats are considered a healthy delicacy "due to their free-range lifestyle and largely organic diet." The wild rats primarily eat rice stalks, vegetables from farmer's fields, and plant roots.

At the peak of the rat-catching season, in June and July, as much as 2 tons of rat meat is exported from Cambodia to Vietnam daily.

And what does rat meat taste like? Apparently "a bit like pork."

I wonder if it would be possible to make rat bacon?

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Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over forty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. Contact Us

Posted By: Alex - Mon Aug 25, 2014
Category: Food

Comments

I've seen documentaries on this and talked with friends who were in Viet Nam. The rats that are collected are field rats and not the sewer rat most Americans invision.

In the US we hunt & eat squirrel, coon, and (not me) opossum so rat can't be held be too far afield.

Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 08/25/14 at 12:07 PM

:sick: :sick: No f-in' way! ACK,!!!!

Posted by patty on 08/25/14 at 12:07 PM

My mother used to tell stories of dining on squirrel as a child. There was no money at that time - tail end of the Great Depression.

Using certain animals for dinner is a matter of perspective. Don't forget that Fido is found on the menu in other places.

Posted by KDP on 08/25/14 at 02:48 PM

Alex, your joke made my day. Squirrel is a staple of Cherokee dining, and "possum" is routinely eaten in South Georgia. In France, wine cellar rat is considered a delicacy. Finally, the celebrated Cajun nutria is known as gooher rat outside that area.

Posted by Angie unduplicated on 08/26/14 at 07:44 AM

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