Depression Era Cooking

[Sammi1961]

I grew up eating wild game (my dad, mother, brothers, grandfather all hunted) I have eaten wild duck, pheasant, partridge, goose, turkey, rabbit, bear, deer, moose, trout, salmon, bass etc. We rarely had store bought meat though occasionally my mom would throw in a chicken or a beef steak. We didn't have a lot of money when I was growing up but we sure never went hungry. Now though, I don't eat a lot of wild meat (I didn't marry a hunter) but I still like deer meat and partridge (my favorites). For several Thanksgivings recently we have had wild turkey. It was excellent but does taste different than farm raised (store bought) My brothers still give us deer meat when we visit (steak and stew meat).

[danstigerangel]

When my mom was little her dad would walk to work and bring his gun with him. He would sometimes bring home dinner. They ate frog legs, squirrel...You name it.
Me....I have eaten venison, trout---and it wasn't filleted so we had to learn how to remove the bones, rabbit, duck.

[Pag36]

I have had wild turkey and partridge but honestly don't remember how they tasted. These were Thanksgiving days as my uncle left EARLY in morning and came back soon as he could with one or both. Sammi can we buy Partridge in grocery stores in this day and time?

[apricot]

How big is a patridge compared to a turkey? I've only seen them in the "Partridge in a Pear Tree" pics and they don't look very big.

[Pag36]

You are right they are not very big. I did not mean to imply a partridge alone was our dinner.

[Sammi1961]

Patti, I have never seen partridge sold in the stores.

Partridge is a small bird so it would take several to make a meal for a family. My mom used to fry it and it was sooo good!

[Pag36]

I did not think I had ever seen any partridge in reg grocery store. And I imagine if they were in specialty stores they would be way out of my $$ range

[RobertaD]

My Great Aunts used to eat dandelions every spring wilted will bacon grease. They would never eat them after the first flower as they get strong and bitter.

Roberta

[SanDansMom]

I was raised a city girl, so we just ate "regular" food. My grandmother used to talk about poke salad, but I never saw any. I did eat fried squirrel in gravy at a friend's house years ago. It was good--tasted like fried chicken. DH's family was in Sicily during WWII. There was no refrigeration, and just about no food. They ate dandelion greens, and anything they could get their hands on. DH and his older brother spent summers in the mountains, basically foraging. He says they climbed up lots of fruit trees!

[MKS]

I bet they have some interesting stories to tell.