origin of "eat crow" and other disgusting things
J. Spencer
(which are members of the crow family) when the question of the origin
of the term "eat crow" arose and I offered to look it up. I haven't
noted the reference (it's at home) and I hope I remember the correct
dates too.
During the 1812-1814 British-American war, a ceasefire was agreed by
both sides. An American soldier went off hunting for something to eat.
Finding only a crow, he shot it. However, he was behind British lines
and was apprehended by a British officer. The British officer, who was
unarmed, engaged the American soldier in conversation and by way of
admiring his gun, disarmed him. He then forced the American to eat part
of the crow and, having warned him to keep to his own lines, handed him
back his gun whereupon the tables were turned and the officer, too, was
forced to eat crow. The next day, the British officer made formal
complaint to his American counterpart who had the soldier brought
before him. "Do you recognise this British officer?" he was asked. He
replied, "Yes. We had lunch together yesterday."
The book claims that this origin is widely accepted and goes
unchallanged. Tickles me. :-)
ObTastelessQuarry:
I had a yearning to try a coot (a black waterfowl - not a duck -
smaller than a mallard and noted for its white bald spot, poor flying
ability, and general stupidity) and I knew where there were some. My
twin argued that I was wasting my time: if they were any good to eat
they would have a reputation for it, which they don't and people would
queue up to shoot them, which they don't. We scanned all my game recipe
books and couldn't find any. I wasn't going to let a little thing like
that put me off, enquiring minds wanted to know. :-)
We got to the ground as dusk struck, and found a bunch of coots
paddling around on some inland water (lake) and, since they virtually
refuse to take to wing thereby giving Ben something on the wing that he
might actually hit, I plugged one with a nifty 75 yard shot from my .22
rifle. (What d'yer mean "unsafe, unsporting"? It was neither.) The coot
rolled over and sank. What!? It bobbed up again. My dog had not marked
the shot since he hadn't seen the coot in the first place. (They were
75 yards out on choppy water at last light.)
I sent him in and he went out as directed to about 50 yards, stopped,
circled a few times, stuck his head under water and groped around,
circled some more and, deciding that a miss was a miss, came back in.
By then, the light had gone so that Ben and I could no longer see the
coot. However, the wind was such that, ten or twenty minutes later, as
we walked back along the water's edge, I spotted the coot bobbing in
the waves only twenty yards out. Ben sent his GSP, Otto who had marked
it. My dog, who was someways off, saw the action and jumped in,
overtook Otto, stole his retrieve, about turned, and got back to shore
before Otto. Hurrah! He delivered it to hand without pausing to mince
it to a pulp - another first! :-) Otto, came over and submitted a
formal complaint about protocols, and etiquette, and an old man being
allowed to finish a retrieve without young whippersnappers charging in
and stealing it. His complaint was duly noted. :-)
Yesterday thinking that it might be better to have a brace for the
oven, I plugged another coot and Otto retrieved this one from 35 yards
in grand style. When we got home, I was unable to pluck either coot,
the skin not relinquishing its grip on the feathers, and ended up
skinning the first one. There was negligible flesh on the breast, it
was mostly on the legs, and the thick white fat smelt terrible.
Altogether, it wasn't very appetising. I was still prepared to have a
go, but I was outvoted three to one against. We ended up having turkey
pie and the coots are going to my hawk and ferrets.
Moral: if you can't find a recipe for it anywhere, it just ain't worth
eating. :-)
The coots are [reasonably] safe from me from now on.
--Jonathan
Chris Barnes
>Moral: if you can't find a recipe for it anywhere, it just ain't worth
>eating. :-)
>
>The coots are [reasonably] safe from me from now on.
Don't give up on them quite yet. I kinda have reputation for trying
game that aren't normally eaten (alligator gar is quite good, btw).
One of the things I've eaten is coots. They're a pain to clean, less
so if you skin them soon after you shoot them. The meat isn't the best,
but I've had worse.
Now I shoot them to use to train my dogs.... They make great training
birds (especially for blinds - they smell like a duck, but are black).
------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Barnes (409) 846-3273 (home)
cba...@tamvm1.tamu.edu (409) 845-8300 (work)
"Success is the progressive realization of your worthwhile dream".
randy nessler
> J. Spencer (J.M.S...@ncl.ac.uk) wrote:
> : A wee while ago, "The Elitist" and I were discussing recipes for rooks
> : (which are members of the crow family) when the question of the origin
> : of the term "eat crow" arose and I offered to look it up. I haven't
>
> : Moral: if you can't find a recipe for it anywhere, it just ain't worth
> : eating. :-)
>
> : --Jonathan
>
> While discussing different animals to eat, what about pigeons? It seems
> to me that pigeons eat all the best grains available and live in the
> comfort of barns and other buildings. Always have water available from
> the corral stock tanks. And they do seem to be healthy birds. They
> remind me of an overgrown dove.
>
> Has anyone eaten these? I can't find any recipes anywhere, so does that
> mean "it just ain't worth eating." :-)
>
> Doug
When I worked on a farm, I shot pigeons out of the barn, and took
them home to eat. The breast is dark meat, and not a whole lot there for
the work. It wasn't bad, though. Squab (baby Pigeons) are considered a
high dollar item is some finer eating establishments.
When I was working on the farm, money was tight. When it was time
to castrate, I took home the "oysters". I found it tough to enjoy the
meal, after being involved in the "harvest" and prep work, but it was
good, cheap eating.
Randy Nessler
rnes...@emiris.iaf.uiowa.edu
Doug Lynch
: A wee while ago, "The Elitist" and I were discussing recipes for rooks
: (which are members of the crow family) when the question of the origin
: of the term "eat crow" arose and I offered to look it up. I haven't
: Moral: if you can't find a recipe for it anywhere, it just ain't worth
: eating. :-)
: --Jonathan
While discussing different animals to eat, what about pigeons? It seems
to me that pigeons eat all the best grains available and live in the
comfort of barns and other buildings. Always have water available from
the corral stock tanks. And they do seem to be healthy birds. They
remind me of an overgrown dove.
Has anyone eaten these? I can't find any recipes anywhere, so does that
mean "it just ain't worth eating." :-)
Doug
J. Spencer
>J. Spencer (J.M.S...@ncl.ac.uk) wrote:
[snip]
>: Moral: if you can't find a recipe for it anywhere, it just ain't worth
>: eating. :-)
>While discussing different animals to eat, what about pigeons?
[snip]
>Has anyone eaten these? I can't find any recipes anywhere, so does that
>mean "it just ain't worth eating." :-)
It means you don't have the right books. Pigeon are some of the very
best eating. Buy yourself a copy of the NRA Members' Cookbook as a
starting point. :-)
--Jonathan
Ron Guidry
<CBA...@tamvm1.tamu.edu> writes:
|> On Mon, 21 Nov 1994 14:00:52 GMT J. SpencerTRAI said:
|> >Moral: if you can't find a recipe for it anywhere, it just ain't worth
|> >eating. :-)
|> >
|> >The coots are [reasonably] safe from me from now on.
|>
|>
|> Don't give up on them quite yet. I kinda have reputation for trying
|> game that aren't normally eaten (alligator gar is quite good, btw).
|>
|> One of the things I've eaten is coots. They're a pain to clean, less
|> so if you skin them soon after you shoot them. The meat isn't the best,
|> but I've had worse.
|>
|> Now I shoot them to use to train my dogs.... They make great training
|> birds (especially for blinds - they smell like a duck, but are black).
|>
In Louisiana we actually go on hunts especially for poul-deux (American
Coot). They have a great gizzard, although I must agree about plucking for
the breast. I've always skinned them. Smoothered in onions or in a
gumbo they are quite good.
My mother found an excellent way to prepare alligator gar. She grinds it
up like ground meat. Mixes the meat with potatoes, onions, parcely, egg,
etc. and maked fish patties. Ummmm Ummmm Good!
--
====================================================================
| |
| Ron Guidry email:rgu...@relay.nswc.navy.mil |
| Naval Surface Warfare Center - Dahlgren Division |
| Dahlgren, Virginia 22448 |
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
| After more than 15 years of driving I finally figured out |
| traffic lights: Green means go - Yellow means hurry up - and |
| Red means 3 more! |
| |
| Disclaimer: My opinions are my own not NSWCDD. I don't get |
| paid enough to express theirs. |
| |
====================================================================
David Burgess
randy nessler <rnes...@emiris.iaf.uiowa.edu> writes:
> > While discussing different animals to eat, what about pigeons? It seems
> > to me that pigeons eat all the best grains available and live in the
> > comfort of barns and other buildings. Always have water available from
> > the corral stock tanks. And they do seem to be healthy birds. They
> > remind me of an overgrown dove.
I've heard that pigeons and doves are practically the same species.
Genetically, they are nearly indentical. Still, I've seen when urban
pigeons eat, and I'm not ready to touch one.
Interval Research
1801-C Page Mill Road
Palo Alto, CA 94304
Usenet posting reflect personal opinion only.
DontTread1
|> >Moral: if you can't find a recipe for it anywhere, it just ain't worth
|> >eating. :-)
If I may offer an analogy from fishing: in the 60s we used to regularly
throw back a plug-ugly fish called cusk [I think it's proper name is
Atlantic Wolffish].
Then one day somebody on the boat asked for our cusk, which we gave him
gladly [considering him foolish at best]. Then one day we actually took
some home and found it to be a delicacy -- way better than the bland cod
we prized.
Live and learn.
DontT...@aol.com = Michael Powers @ real.life
philip allenp
folk. It can be skinned and roasted like a very small chicken.