BADGER HAMS.
[To ran Earree or visa " SPEOTATOR."[ Sur,—It is gratifying at this time of scarcity to see that some ore has called public attention to an animal whose qualities as a food have hitherto been sadly overlooked; and it is distinctly interact- ing that this animal should be—in the words of Professor Owen-- " the oldest known species of mammal now living on the face of the earth," the Metes taros or European badger, not to be con- founded with his American brother the Melee labradorica. In the hope that it may be of use to your correspondent and others. I venture to offer such knowledge as is at my disposal regarding the badger, and the preparation of its flesh for the table.
My information comes from my mother, who was born on one of the islands of the Outer Hebrides, where the " break " need ta exist in great numbers. Despite her great age, she recollect, much of the methods of preparing the simple fare of these hardy islanders, among whom she spent her girlhood. One can well imagine that a badger was a great addition to a diet consisting mainly of " harish" (a dish much resembling our porridge), cirri out with fish and such sea-birds' eggs as were obtainable. The animals which, curiously enough, ware of the very rare brindled variety—and not the common greyish type found in the South— were sought out at all times of year except the autumn, during which season they are in poor condition owing to their changing their coats, or being, as we say in Scotland, "on the nook."
As to preparation, the animal was skinned and dismembered. The loins and shoulders were eaten in their fresh condition. either roasted before a slow fire or boiled, and the haunches wore cured and laid aside for future consumption. The curing was a simple matter. The joints were soaked for a period of a week or as in sea water, and then the further preservative of " smoking " was applied. The method of doing this was similar to that in use in Scotland to this day for smoking bacon. The heavily insalinated meat was placed over the rude peat fire and left hang- ing there for about the time usually considered necessary for th:i operation. A delicious broth or " glilee " was made from the head. It might be supposed that the pungent natural smolt of the badger would render the meat unpleasant to the taste, but these North- erners considered this odour, when detected, merely as adding a piquancy to the dish. Certain fatty products of the hide were esteemed as a sovereign remedy for cuts and skin abrasions; but, like many ancient beliefs, this one was, I fear, totally unfounded, and the prevalence in the island of sleuths, due—one would say from a description of the general epidermal sorosis which accom- panied the antecedent illness—to a form of blood-poisoning, lead one to suspect that the properties of this unguent were tonic rather than antiseptic. lIowever, not all their theories were erroneous, and the apparently fantastic one that the badger's diet consisted partly of wasps' eggs has been authenticated. It I% OR to this strange nutrient that they ascribed the delicate favour of the flesh.
I could describe the preparation of many a dish made from the viscera of the animal, but I fancy this kind of fare is unpalatable to an Englishman. It is doubtful if the eating of even the badger's fiesh has ever been a common custom in England, but the struggle towards economy to which we were forced in earlier days by the poverty of our country, and which now has become a second mature, has taught us Scotsmen to eat almost anything. In evidence of this have we not still the national dish of " haggis "- the ingredients of which the more fastidious Southerner would hold, with Dr. Johnson, to be "more fitted for the fertilising of the soil than for the nourishment of the body" ?
But tempora mutantar; and it would not be surprising to find that there is not a badger existing on the island to-day, and that the monotonous meals of the present inhabitants are now relieved by some noxious tinned product, in place of the rich and nourish- ing badger-meat so dear to their forefathers. I trust that this letter will help those whose enterprise in food economy has led them towards this rather unfrequented corner of culinary dloidart Milnoovic, N.B.
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