http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110302/LIFE05/103020309/Muskrat-love-?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CHome%7CpIt's that time of year. The yellow muskrat flag has been flying outside Bill's Meat Center, 215 N. King St. in Wilmington. Three fresh muskrats can be had for $10.
In Delaware, the muskrat trapping season begins in December and ends later this month.
The flag wasn't flying Tuesday, but that's only because the shop sold all of its muskrat -- locally trapped near Odessa -- last Saturday.
That's right. Sold out.
"People just love it," says John Assini Jr., whose father John Sr. owns Bill's Meat Center. "It always sells out. If I could stock my store with it all year, I'd be a millionaire."
Assini has never tasted muskrat and doesn't plan to do so anytime soon. "I've heard it tastes like chicken. Personally, I'll take chicken."
I have eaten muskrat before -- not from Bill's -- and, well, let's just say it's an acquired taste. The flavor tends to linger long after you swallow. Muskrat's taste has been compared to everything from duck (not even close, in my opinion) to gamy-tasting roast beef (that's probably a little closer to how I would describe it, though with more chew.)
Assini says the flag should be flying again soon. He's expecting another muskrat delivery, maybe even today. Call the store at 658-7701. There's usually a waiting list.
The muskrat is skinned, gutted and filleted. And the squeamish should know that it comes with the head on. "That's so you can identify it," Assini says.
Or you could just get your photo snapped next to Bill's muskrat sign. That's what lots of people do.
"I've had people from New York jump out of their cars," Assini says. "They can't believe what they're seeing. They didn't even know that people ate muskrat. They think it's something exotic. A lot of people have their pictures taken next to the flag and the sign."
While muskrat has fed past generations, changing diets and eating habits have made it an heirloom meat or culinary curiosity, if you will, that now has about the same appeal for modern diners as terrapin, opossum or even shad roe.
As one muskrat eater once told me: "This is not a young kid's delight."
If you're looking for a taste but don't want to cook it, head to Smyrna.
The Wagon Wheel Restaurant (110 S. Du Pont Highway; 653-1457) cooks and serves the aquatic rodent every Thursday night beginning at 3 p.m. Seasonal muskrat dinners have been a Wagon Wheel tradition for nearly 40 years.
A $15.95 platter includes 1 1/2 parboiled and fried muskrats, along with a heaping of fried potatoes, stewed tomatoes and a thick hunk of cornbread.
Season's eatings, folks.
