Possum or Bandicoot Soup

[Derek Bullock]

I found this on, of all places, an American website that lists recipes from Australia.

What do you think.? ? ? ? ?


Derek

Possum/Bandicoot Soup

1 Small possum or bandicoot*
2 litres Water
1 tablespoon Salt
1 Tin corn*
Any other vegies desired
1 punnet Celery leaves
1 bunch Parsley
Flour or gravox* to thicken
Fried bread, 1 slice per serve

Skin and clean possum or bandicoot, then quarter the animal. (Video tape this please. I have no idea how to do it.

Also "first you have to catch a possum or bandicoot", but then that's another story.)

Place it in a large pot or camp oven along with water and salt. Cover and simmer gently for 3 or 4 hours. (Tough little devils apparently.)

Add vegetables and simmer for another 1 1/2 hours (Still tough. Even the vegies are resisting being associated with this.)

Strain soup through a large holed colander when meat has left bone and remove bones, especially small ones. Return soup to the pot and add parsley and celery leaves.

Thicken with a little flour or gravox.

Cut fried bread into 1 inch squares and serve soup over toast,boiling hot.

*For those of you that haven't met a bandicoot, it is something between a possum and a raccoon, sort of, I think, maybe.

*Tin of corn? Well a can I guess, 16 oz.

*Now, when you boil this meat for 5 1/2 hours, strain it and throw it away, it does make me wonder why you started in the first place.

*Gravox is a meat concentrate seasoning I think. The dish must be need some flavor.

*Fry the bread any way you want to.

*All things considered, a brick or stone would be a reasonable
alternative if you don't happen to have a possum or bandicoot
available.

[mackmauler]

Derek, marsupials are protected in AUS to my understanding but dont let that stop you. there is a good population of rodents on sth straddy take a spear gun over or animal trap and get into the m8, ill watch your cooking posts for an update 8)

[Maria]

Next up I'd like to see a recipe for roast scrub turkey. Perhaps baked vegetables and stuffing inclusive.

[baldyhead]

YUMMY!!!!!!

[FLATHEAD1]

How about some koala casarole.

Yum
FH1

[philip_thomson]

mmm possum stew sounds great but koala casserole sounds even better

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

Strain soup through a large holed colander when meat has left bone and remove bones, especially small ones. Return soup to the pot and add parsley and celery leaves.


*Now, when you boil this meat for 5 1/2 hours, strain it and throw it away, it does make me wonder why you started in the first place.

Think you are supposed to throw away the bones, and put the meat back in the pot.

Not sure how wise that is though.

Cheers
Jeff

[SeaHunt]

I have it on very good authority that Possum are excellent eating a bit like sweat rabbit and the meat is not tough at all.
Maybe the gov should consider letting people farm them for meat same as emu, croc and roo, although roo is more harvested than farmed.
God knows with all the introduced fruit trees and and suitable urban habitat that we have created for them, there numbers are in plague proportions. There are probably 5 times as many here now as when Captain Cook showed up.
In NZ where they were introduced early last century they are a despised pest and are usually shot on sight.

[zedjack33]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm road kill

[bugman]

I've eaten possum - no different to any other form of meat.

The soup recipe is not as good as my grandmothers but you should substitute the possum or bandicoot for Kangaroo tail. My all time favourite soup.

My dad grew up in a poor family on the West Coast of Tassie. Their meat came from what they collected on the hunt every fortnight.

My nan has recipies for things you would not believe.

Bugman

[bruce4x4]

Give Granny a ring from the HillBilly's

Crawdads and possum soup mmm 8)

[el_carpo]

Well, I've never tried opposum yet but I suppose I would if the opportunity arose (someone mentioned road kill .) I have tried squirrel before and was pleasantly surprised. It tasted just like a combination of chicken and pork.

Derek, did you want to know how to skin (called dressing) an animal or how to quarter one? Either one is pretty easy (if you have a strong stomach, that is ).

I wrote out a step by step instruction on how to dress an animal but decided to delete it. I reread it for spell checking purposes and realised that it was a bit too graphic (especially for the kids who visit the site). Not something you would want to read after eating breakfast . I have seen a lot of pages on the net that show how to do this and I think it may be best to let you all visit them for details.

As far as quartering an animal goes. I think all that means is cut it in half one way and then in half the other way. I use heavy shears and or a cleaver to do that. The tough part is chopping through the bone. Wear protective gloves and make sure your cutting tool is very sharp and sufficiently "heavy-duty" enough.

Here's one site that shows how to dress small game (very simple step by step. There are more detailed guides available).

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/edu/home...ls/dresssg.htm

[Dug]

Koala have a strong eucalyptus flavor and are avoided by most aboriginal people unless desperate. their fur is excellent and the waterproof qualities are second to none.

They were nearly exterminated for fur mainly used as felt for hats early last century.

They were wiped out by commercial hunting in areas like Rockhampton.

Echidna is a surprisingly good meat slightly green but sweet and tender

[baldyhead]

I know a bloke(harry) who used to go fishing up P C Bay way with 6 mates. Harry always went to the camp spot the day before everybody else as he was retired and he would set up the camp with firewood tables and all that stuff and had a 12v windscreen wiper motor rotissery which he would set up and cook a leg or two of beef for his mates first nights supper. Well they would all arrive and set up their swags and tuck into a hearty meal of roast beef and potaters. This happened 4 times a year for many years.
One trip one of the mates couldnt go so Tom went up with Harry in his truck. On the way in Harry pulled up and shot a Roo and cut off the back legs and hung them off the bullbar. When they got to their camp spot Harry hung the Roo legs in the tree in the shade and they set up the camp. The next day they collected the firewood and fresh water and so on and built a good fire and Harry got the rotissery and put it on the fire and got the Roo legs from the tree and seasoned them then put them on the rotissery and proceded to cook them slowly.
Well Tom exploded and called Harry all the names he could think of as well as being a bloody tight arse for not buying a leg of beef. Harry explained to Tom that for many years Tom and their M8s had been eating roast Roo without a complaint and that they would eat it cold the next couple of days on their sandwiches and even for an evening meal as well.
Of course when the rest of the blokes arrived Tom rushed out and told them all about it and that was the end of a really good fishing trip. Not one of them would eat the Roo so Harry took what he didnt eat for the trip home and never went with those blokes again.

[SCOTTYGC]

I have a brochure from a company in tassy
companys called "Lenah Game and Gourmet"
the list things like
"Unique tasmanian wallaby"

or
"australin Possum" whole dressed, saddles , hind quaters or front legs
some resipies for possum
possum tagine
sweet spiced possum brias
potted possum a la bennelong

they also do
squab
guinea fowl
wild rabbit
hare
crocodile tail fillet
smoked tasmainian eel
a selection of wild fruits
and they have there own smallgoods range including
wallaby salami
wallaby kransky
possum and lemon myrtle chipolatas

we have used some of the kangaroo and croc meat at work
not to sure we would sell to much possum

scotty