There comes a time in your life, when, if you wish to try something new and exotic you have to go the extra mile. Now, I don’t often take road kill home for the pot, in fact this would be a first. I like to go and shoot/trap my meat this assures me of freshness, a factor that you can only use your nose to rely on when it comes to picking up dead animals from the side of the road. I must stress there are a few “disturbing” pictures in this post of a badger being taken apart for which I do apologise…but then again, this is where my meat comes from, so I would urge you to look on.
Badger meat is something that has come under serious scrutiny over years. Fair enough. I certainly would never shoot one or even speed up the car to take out one of these fantastic bumbling creatures. I am extremely fond of badgers; one of my favourite countryside moments was watching 10 of the black and white beasts rolling around outside their burrows for a good half hour (downwind of course). So this delve into the wild larder was going to be a difficult one, curiosity had the better of me: what can I say?
Despite the stories I had heard that badgers are known carriers of TB and still stand accused of donating it to cows, I continued the rather perverse quest to taste its flesh. After all, I had a TB jab, all be it some time ago…
Whilst looking after my landlord’s animals, morning and night, I noticed something by the roadside that was not there the night before…a badger, probably laid to rest over the last 12 hours, so… fresh.
Passing cars slowed down to witness me sticking the badger in a bag, what they were thinking I have no idea: “Is he going to bury it?” or “Is the bastard going to eat it?”
This badger was going to need some serious cleaning and careful butchery. I decided to take it to the family home to process it and call a man who would know about preparing badger for the pot, so I called Fergus Drennan.
“Have you got a girlfriend? Because it takes about 3 days to get rid of the smell of badger flesh from your hands.” Said the man with the know-how. Luckily Clare was in London for the week.
“You can clean out the intestines and use them for making sausages.” Fergus was clearly a man who had made the most out of his badgers…but for this amateur, I would stick to concentrating on the meat alone.
After various tips from Fergus, I set about doing some badger butchery. Luckily, it was not breeding season, which meant the badger would not smell quite as musky. Still the smell was pretty strong, with the smell factor at the forefront of my mind, I donned the marigolds, pulled the jumper over the nose and got to work.
This was, other than dealing with my Cook Island piggy on shipwrecked, the biggest animal I had processed by hand. Despite the smell and my appreciation for the creature I was dissecting, instinct set in and pretended it was a large rabbit or squirrel. The skin wasn’t too hard to remove but was riddled with ticks, none of which I wanted on me! I was hoping to include it in the rabbit-skin rug. Oh well!
It soon became clear that the vehicle that had caused the badger’s demise had hit the upper body, hence little mess when it came to skinning and gutting. The smell was quite full on all the same.
That evening I had a knees up at Safari Britain: the end of season BBQ, so I thought it would be appropriate to take a long some Badger burgers for the occasion so some of the surrounding country-folk could sample this hard to come by meat.
I couldn’t resist trying a bit of the fillet before turning the meat into burgers, so I treated the red meat as I would a piece of beef fillet, but with a lot more cooking time to be safe. It was absolutely incredible on it’s own, a little seasoning and a bit of time brought out a mix of beef /venison on the palate…very odd, but well worth the effort. Convinced by this triumph, I went a head with the burgers using a straightforward burger recipe:
Badger Burgers:
Meat from one badger (de-boned)
1 Red onion (finely chopped)
1 Tbsp of ketchup
2 Garlic cloves (minced)
1 tsp of Worcester sauce
½ tsp of Tabasco
1 tbsp Mustard
A pinch of salt and pepper
Mince the onion and garlic in a food processor, remove. Then do the same with the badger meat.
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and form into patties for the BBQ or pan.
The burgers went down a storm at the BBQ, everyone was well aware of what they were eating and seemed pleasantly surprised at the taste of this novel burger.
The following day I had the pleasure of showcasing my Treehouse larder of wild preserves and brews on UKTV food’s Market kitchen. So, I took along the badger. After all, its not everyday you get to feed Tom Parker-Bowles Badger burgers is it?
There you have it: Road kill Badger. Would I do it again? I think so, perhaps not something I would make a habit of but well worth the culinary plunge. I think there is far too much hullabaloo made of eating strange meats that perhaps shouldn’t be part of the menu, but without variety: life would be dull. There will be naysayers who will no doubt be appalled by the subject of eating badger, but to those of you who point the finger, I will say this: At least I know where my meat comes from. Badger has been eaten for thousands of years in this country, It is certainly nothing new.
If you were to do experiment at home, make sure the meat is well cooked. I dedicate this post to Mr Arthur Boyt, a brave adventurer on the front of wild meat and a fine example of British man, please check out this short film about his choice of meat.
I think I will be a Vegetarian now until I forget about these images...lol I still thought it was VERY cool though. And amazing that you were brave enough to even DARE try this! I've eaten LIVE baby octopus and butterfly larvae while in Korea. That is something you should try sometime...the larvae I DON'T THINK tastes very good and well the octopus while still moving takes on any flavour you put with it...it's just rubbery.
THX for bringing me on your adventure!
Posted by: Demara | September 08, 2009 at 03:53 AM
You are one attention seeking, shocking, BUTCHER! ;-) hhahaa!! That was kinda sick. But you are right, "at least I know where my meat comes from"... fair play. Have a good week Mr Treehouse Kruger... ;-)
Posted by: Giles | September 08, 2009 at 07:36 AM
Nice last photos- poor badger...but still, at least he didn't die in vain - he went on to fulfil one last purpose in his life and I think that is good. I'd like to try badger meat - what does it taste like/what meat is it similiar to? Rather you than me on the skinning and carving front though I'd like to learn how to do all that without being squemish about it...xxx
Posted by: The Curious Cat | September 08, 2009 at 10:39 AM
I love the way you posted the recipe so that we can try this at home!!! Possible the most gruesome blog phot's I have ever seen. Very brave.
Posted by: Diane | September 08, 2009 at 01:26 PM
I really don't understand why some people will happily eat the meat they find in Tesco's, but are repulsed by something different.
I can't see how anyone would have a problem with eating an animal that had already been killed and was just waiting to get squashed futher on to the road. Too much gets wasted (food and otherwise) by people who think they're saving the planet.
Posted by: Rob | September 08, 2009 at 04:29 PM
I find it amusing that some commenters are shocked by the photos. Think about it.. how does ground beef end up on your table? They don't gently place cows on a memory foam pillow and tap a magic wand-- Wala! Burgers galore.
It strikes me what you're illustrating is how it was truly done centuries ago. And frankly, I vote for eating a deceased badger from the side of the road rather than a hundred tortured, doped up cows.
You make meat palpable to me,and I'm a vegetarian!
Posted by: Invisible G. | September 08, 2009 at 08:36 PM
Well done fella. Great stuff.
Posted by: Alex | September 09, 2009 at 09:57 AM
great post nick - just in from some wild boar hunting in france. just as bloody.
nice make up!
Posted by: Tom | September 09, 2009 at 12:46 PM
Viva la marigolds!
The irony is - and I didn't mention this in your call because you bloody spoilt it!- is that after reading that people bring you a gift when they visit you, I had decided to bring over a badger! Your last picture is brutal in its honesty - unlike the almost scientific pictures I took for The Ecologist blog when I skinned a badger. Also,as such, it is a work of art! Roadkill Adam would be proud!I love him!
http://www.adammorrigan.co.uk/news.html.
Three cheers for Arthur Boyt - the lunatic! Good on you for giving some of the burgers to Tom Parker-Bowles. Next stop, Prince Charles and then, finally, the Queen!
Posted by: Fergus Drennan | September 09, 2009 at 02:05 PM
My husbands Father was once presented with the gift of a road kill deer but never a badger.
Posted by: re | September 10, 2009 at 10:58 AM
Fantastic post. I heard about this via your tweet and was hoping for a similar tasty roadkill treat on my highlands escapade (http://www.becauseitisthere.co.uk) but alas it was not be. I saw a badger that had succumbed to the tires of a car a few weeks back. Kicking myself now!
Fantastic blog by the way! Will try and read from start to finish when i get home after the weekend.
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Posted by: Pharmb934 | September 17, 2009 at 08:17 PM
Well done for getting in there and butchering that badger! I think I would give it a god for sure - the eating of it that is. I'm not sure I'd butcher it unless I had to as the descriptions of the overpowering scent made me feel a bit queasy!
Posted by: Helen | September 20, 2009 at 01:48 PM
I meant 'give it a go' obviously - not 'give it a god'!
Posted by: Helen | September 20, 2009 at 01:48 PM
Unbelievable, great, great post. Very interesting, wish I could have tasted it, kind of. I should do an episode on it.
Rob Barrett
host of Cooking for Dads
Posted by: rob barrett | October 02, 2009 at 04:37 PM
just tasted road kill badger in a curry, all kids tried the meat before it became curry, and surprisingly all of them liked it and compared it to lamb but not quite as fatty, i thought it tasted great, would even consider it as sunday roast.
Posted by: tommo | February 15, 2010 at 09:29 PM
Great that you do not like to see waste, good on you!
Posted by: Olly | February 25, 2010 at 12:54 PM
Olly- If you want to try something different you DO have to go that extra mile...Badger highly recommended!
Posted by: Nick Weston | March 09, 2010 at 01:41 PM
Dear Mr. Weston
As an MA student Documentary filmmaking, I am making a documentary about roadkill.
I would like to show others how to make good use of a wasted kill.
Would you be interested to participate on this for a day? You will be one of three participants. All of you have a different approach towards roadkill.
Kind regards
Posted by: Demelza | May 10, 2010 at 05:42 PM
Hahahahaha Mr Boyt! "Here's my freezer... badger legs, dog, hedgehog, barn owl very nutricious ...off the A30, very good road the A30, oh look, a green badger, yes thats a 30 day old badger thats starting to go a bit, see how the fat has a tinge of green, will taste very good though that!"
What a legend!
Posted by: Mike Jones | May 30, 2010 at 08:22 AM
it's good to see road kill not going to waste; plus people need to get a grip if they eat meat, many are too used to seeing clean processed meat. i didn't enjoy the random (unnecessary?) photos of the badger head and feets though!
if i wasn't vegi i'd eat road kill all the time, because im a tight arse.
Posted by: alexandra,uk | May 12, 2011 at 02:37 PM
Nice one! :)
Hehe, you are clearly not an experienced hunter, judged by the way you skin and butch the animal :D
You should learn some better techniques so you can preserve the skin aswell. But I think it's very good what you are doing, not waisting the cadaver. It's free meat, not as good as deer or moose, but still more healthy than supermarked-meat from lifestock fed up on gmo and drugs. Just remember to cook it thoroughly! The meat is often infested with parasites which are common in predators. Good luck getting more roadkill-food! :)
Posted by: Norwegian | September 21, 2011 at 11:01 AM
I always thought that smelly animals did not taste good .
hope this is not too late to be read
Posted by: e hunter | September 28, 2012 at 01:48 PM
I've just been pointed in the direction of this site as I mentioned to a friend I was boiling up some badger meat.Mine was a male, knocked down by a car.I always assumed males woukd smell really bad, but this one, although strong, wasn't too bad (If you can cope with dog fox, which is VILE you should be able to cope with badger)loads of fat on it though, but it smells like lamb to me.I'm trying to dry out the skin too & am salting it every day, but not sure if it'll work or not. I'm a big fan of roadkill (provided it's really fresh of course)& living in a village with a very fast road going through it, we tend to get an awful lot of squished animals.
Rachael.
Posted by: Rachael | October 27, 2012 at 02:43 PM