Tired of Fish for Lent?
March 25, 2007
Growing up in a predominately Catholic area like Boston I’m very familiar with the practice of giving up meat on Friday’s for lent. This is a form of penance practiced by Catholics leading up to Easter for those who may not be familiar with lent. Many of the churches around here have fish fries on Friday’s that I’ve been known to attend not because of lent but just because I like fish.
Photo Catholic Org
I was intrigued to discover that in Michigan Lent observers have another option besides fish to eat on Fridays… Muskrat?!! That’s right Muskrat the other white meat wait a minute that’s possum but anyways it seems some Michigan Catholics eat / prefer muskrat over a plate of fried fish.
The custom of eating muskrat on Ash Wednesday and Fridays in Lent apparently goes back to the early 1800s, the time of Father Gabriel Richard, an early missionary in Michigan whose flock included French-Canadian trappers. Legend has it that because trappers and their families were going hungry not eating flesh during Lent, he allowed them to eat muskrat, with the reasoning that the mammal lives in the water.
US Fish & Wildlife
I can think of some other creatures that live in water or at least spend a significant amount of time in the water that has to be better eating then a muskrat.
St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Newport, Mich., holds a muskrat dinner every year to raise funds for the parish’s youth sports teams. The early February dinner includes sides of creamed corn and mashed potatoes. It features prizes donated by local merchants and serves up to several hundred dinners.
Bill “Pip” Chinavare was president of the sports club for 29 years and still heads up the muskrat fundraiser. His wife, Candy, said not many women participate in the annual dinner.
“This is a men’s thing,” she said. “They pack the men in.”
“The majority of women can’t get past the ‘rat’ thing,” she said.
I think I might be with the women on this one.
Father Russ Kohler, pastor at Most Holy Trinity Parish in Detroit and a downriver native, is a regular at the St. Charles Borromeo muskrat dinners. He said the trick to making the muskrat edible is in the marinade, a secret recipe based on a French liqueur.
He said he never ate muskrat before he attended the dinner while filling in at St. Charles as a priest. He’s tried to make the dinner every year since then.
“I didn’t fall in love with the product until I could drink beer,” he joked.
He said muskrat has the consistency of chicken, but with a “unique” taste.
Some how I should of known there would be some alcohol in this story but I can’t believe its better then a piece of beer batter fish. I must admit I’ve never had muskrat, I tried possum once and that wasn’t very good, nor to I plan to have it any time soon. As long as the Catholic Churches and civic groups have fish fries I’ll stop by but don’t slip me a hunk of muskrat. I guess my view would concur with Bishop Povish who said “anyone who could eat muskrat was doing penance worthy of the greatest of the saints.”
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Fo you that have not tried it….. you are truly missing out. Sounds nasty. eating rat..but oh they make the best stew. Use to trap….froze ‘em for year round cooking. Especially good as a mystery dish at church Game banquets.
I guess I’ll have to take your word on that; between moose, deer, bear, ducks, geese and whatever else I get I don’t see that ending up on the menu at my house anytime soon.