Uses of Beaver Tail Meat
• For roasted beaver tail, season well with your choice of dry or fresh seasonings and roast over a campfire or in oven until tender.
• For crispy fried beaver tail, cut into strips and soak meat overnight in lightly salted water. Bread with flour or fish fry and deep-fry as with catfish.
• For barbecued beaver tail, place whole skinless tail on a grill set and cook until tender, turning and basting occasionally with your favorite homemade or store-bought barbecue sauce.
• Beaver tail meat can also be chopped or diced and used as a seasoning meat for beans, vegetables, soups and stews.
From “After the Hunt: Louisiana’s Authoritative Collection of Wild Game & Game Fish Cookery,” Chef John Folse, Owner & CEO of Chef John Folse & Company, 2517 South Philippe Avenue, Gonzales, La. 70737, http://www.jfolse.com.
Traditionally, the beaver tail has been considered a delicacy. Some people parboil it first, but the trick to getting the rough skin off the tail is to place it either over an open flame, hot coals on a barbecue pit or in a 400°F oven. Turn occasionally until the skin blisters and puffs away from the meat like a slowly expanding balloon. This should take 15–20 minutes per side. Remove the tail from the heat and let cool until you are able to handle it. Peel away the blistered skin, revealing the white meat beneath. The fat, juicy white meat, resembling pork, can then be used in many ways including the following.
