I came across a recipe 25 years ago by Canadian author and conservationist
Farley Mowat, that I would like to share with you. But first, a little about the author.
As a biologist, Farley Mowat spent many years of service with the
Canadian government in the Arctic. He has written
numerous books about wildlife and has become kind of an authority on many subjects Canadian.
The book topics vary greatly. Topics such as the military (
The Regiment), teenagers lost in the artic (
Lost In The Barrens), childhood stories (
Owls In The Family and The Dog Who Wouldn't Be), to the destruction of animal life in the North Atlantic (
Sea of Slaughter). He also wrote two books about
Dian Fossey, an American ethologist who studies gorillas. To date, some 38 books have been penned by him, all on an old typewriter.
One of the books he wrote that intrigued me as a student in school was one he wrote in 1963 called Never Cry Wolf, which was later made into a
movie.
At the time, the government was concerned that the size of
caribou herds was shrinking, and they suspected that
wolves were eating the caribou, so the best way to protect the caribou would be to kill wolves.
Flying into the heart of the wilderness on a small plane, Farley set up an observation camp near a local wolf population. After months of observation, Mowat concluded that, contrary to the ranchers' claims, the wolves mainly ate
field mice and only ate old or sick caribou — by killing off the weakest of the caribou, wolves actually strengthened the caribou herd.
The trappers in the area were, according to Mowat, using the wolves as scapegoats for the decline of the animals, for which they themselves were responsible; one Inuit trapper, who helped Mowat in his observations, estimated that he personally killed three hundred caribou per year to feed his dogs and himself.
Never Cry Wolf, the book he wrote which was widely read around the world, was one of the major reasons
the Soviet Union banned the killing of wolves.
Now to the reason of this post. In the book, Mowat came up with a recipe that I wanted to share with you, especially if you cook at all. The subject is mice, and so without further adu, here it is:
Souris A' La Creme
One dozen fat mice
One cup white flour
One piece of sowbelly (fat salt pork or bacon)
Salt and pepper
Cloves
Ethyl alcohol
Skin, gut and wash some fat mice without removing their heads. Cover them in a pot with ethyl alcohol and marinate 2 hours. Cut a piece of salt pork or sowbelly into small dice and cook it slowly to extract the fat. Drain the mice, dredge them thoroughly in a mixture of flour, pepper, and salt, and fry slowly in the rendered fat for about 5 minutes. Add a cup of alcohol and 6 to 8 cloves, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Prepare a cream sauce, transfer the sautéed mice to it, and warm them in it for about 10 minutes before serving.
Cool!
Not one to experiment myself, I believe that I will save this adventure for a time when I may be lost in the arctic with no chance of rescue for two years.
Farley Mowat is considered a "natural" storyteller; he is also a brilliant stylist. No matter what the context, his narratives and anecdotes are fast-paced and compelling; his tone is graceful, personal, and conversational.
Pick up a copy of
Never Cry Wolf or any other titles today. You will be pleasantly suprised.
YIS...LE
