Beaver baked in the oven. Badger meat: beneficial properties

Do they eat badger meat? Badger meat is tasty and fatty, but it should be cooked a little longer than other species. Its fat is considered healing and is widely used in folk medicine to treat many diseases.

- a predatory animal of the mustelidae family. Quite widespread, but the numbers are relatively small. Average annual catch of badger in 1920-1950. reached 100 thousand individuals (according to data on the receipt of skins for harvesting). In the last 2-3 decades they have decreased to 10-20 thousand. In 2007-2010. Badger prey varied between 2047-2646 individuals.

The size of the badger in comparison with other members of the family can be called large: body length 60-90 cm, height 16-20 cm, average weight in summer 6-10 kg. During the fall, the badger becomes very fat, the layer of subcutaneous fat reaches 4-5 cm in thickness. Body weight increases more than 2 times. In old males it can reach 20-30 kg.

The badger's body is massive, squat, sharply tapering towards the muzzle. The neck is short, almost invisible. The tail is short and covered with coarse hair. The hairline is coarse, with a long sparse spine and short, rough downy fibers.

The general color tone of the dorsal side and sides of the badger in winter is grayish or brownish-gray with small ripples. A dark brown stripe stretches along the ridge, gradually spreading backwards. The muzzle is white. A black or black-brown stripe runs along the head through the eyes. The throat, lower neck, chest and belly are black-brown or black. There are several subspecies of badger, which differ mainly in size and color shades.

Badger fat

The history of the use of badger fat in folk medicine dates back centuries. From time immemorial, in Siberia and the Far East, badgers were valued not only for their fur, which could effectively retain heat, but also for their fat, which made it possible to avoid hypothermia, heal wounds without a trace and quickly, and protect the skin from problems with frostbite and chapping. Traditionally, domestic healers used badger fat as a remedy to fight coughs, colds, and also to strengthen the immune system. Badger fat is often used in the treatment of burns, as well as for recovery and recuperation. Badger fat contains a large amount of active substances and vitamins that guarantee the healing effects of this product on the human body. The most valuable is badger fat that was obtained before the beginning of winter - it is at this time that badgers, preparing for long-term hibernation, accumulate maximum fat, which contains many substances useful to humans.

High-quality badger fat is a white mass with a specific faint odor. If badger fat emits a putrid, sour odor or has turned yellow, this indicates a violation of storage rules or the expiration date of the drug. Badger fat is an important source of vitamins and substances that the human body needs. Particularly noteworthy is the presence of vitamins E, A, group B, as well as various micro- and macroelements. These vitamins help activate tissue healing, increase immune defense, help produce steroid hormones, and help optimize the functioning of the reproductive system.

Badger Mind

For some reason, humanity looks to the sky with hope and is still waiting for the arrival of brothers in mind. At the same time, people are sincerely afraid that they are alone in an infinite universe. Of course, I want to meet aliens, but, you know, it’s kind of scary, damn it. And then, since they can fly to us, and not we to them, it means they are smarter than us, and much, again, somehow not very pleasant. But many creatures live among us, and they are quite intelligent, and we simply do not notice these creatures. But really, what kind of intelligence can we talk about if it’s a penguin? But, you know, we still need to make sure who is an unreasonable creature and who is endowed with intelligence.

European badger. An extremely unsociable, lonely, gloomy and gloomy creature. The badger does not like to contact its relatives. It happens that they meet, sometimes, and this is associated with some unpleasant responsibilities, sometimes you need to reproduce. Just don’t think that the parent badger will hurt himself to teach his offspring something. A newborn badger stays next to its mother for several months, and then the caring mother exposes the offspring to misery, without suffering from remorse. It cannot be said that the badger, whatever it does, does instinctively and thoughtlessly. Young people, no matter what they undertake, make a lot of mistakes. Either the vault being built will collapse, or the badger will fall into the river from the embankment, or it will start hunting for inedible things. That is, the mother who unceremoniously kicked the badger out the door did not teach him anything. There is only one “but”, the badgers analyze their mistakes and quickly draw conclusions. Badger is a genius of analysis, logic and conclusions. Why they treat him like a dumbass is unclear. Probably because he is unsociable, absolutely lacking in understanding when communicating with other representatives of wildlife, and is almost impossible to train at all. We are accustomed to consider those who follow our commands well to be smart.

Without approving plans and without developing complex schemes and projects, alone, without any devices, “hired workers,” the badger erects two and three-story structures, moreover, underground. Its buildings can stretch not for hundreds, but for several kilometers, and there is no fastening system. The ventilation hood is well thought out, with many, sometimes up to a dozen, emergency exits. Like a real architect, the badger alone, and not like us, as a whole team, studies and takes into account the local terrain in construction. This allows him to carry out calculations in such a way that the main entrance of his home is illuminated as much as possible by sunlight throughout the year. The badger loves to soak up the sun and therefore at the main entrance he arranges sunbathing for himself, constructing special niches. The remaining entrances and exits are fire safety and are carefully camouflaged. The badger covers them with dead wood or hides them under trees, directly in the roots.

This animal is well versed in the forest world around it and is able to identify not a hundred, but thousands of different insects, as well as amphibians, various types of plants and roots. Under no circumstances will a badger touch poisonous mushrooms or berries. It is able to create optimal temperature conditions for storing its reserves. The badger's storerooms are always located on their own level, and each one stores a different type of stock. This allows stocks to remain fresh for a long time. All kinds of traps, electric traps or simply traps are powerless against a badger. He quickly learns to get around them and not get caught. Now imagine, you need to build a similar structure that a badger builds, without various diagrams and all kinds of tools, without assistants, and even learn in one season to understand thousands of herbs, poisonous berries, insects and amphibians. Well, which of us is smarter?

The badger is a rare prey for hunters. This can be explained by several reasons, but the main ones are the difficulty of hunting this animal and the specific taste of its meat. If the method and processing of the carcass is incorrect, the meat actually has an unpleasant aftertaste. However, if everything is done correctly, badger dishes will delight you with their piquant taste.

Beneficial properties of badger meat

Opinions about the quality of badger meat differ, however, its gastronomic characteristics deserve the highest praise from nutritionists. Often people who have tried this product refer to its pungent aroma and specific taste. In fact, if cooked correctly, you can get a dish with a pleasant smell and soft texture. But violation of processing and preparation technology will ruin the product irrevocably.

The composition of badger meat is not inferior to fat and has certain therapeutic properties. It contains a number of useful substances:

• vitamins A and E. Stimulate collagen synthesis, necessary to maintain youth. Responsible for strengthening the immune system;
• vitamin K. Its deficiency in the body leads to poor blood clotting. Regular consumption of badger meat has a beneficial effect on the process of hematopoiesis;
• B vitamins. Take part in hematopoiesis and regulate metabolic processes;
• unsaturated fatty acids. They have an effective effect on the cardiovascular system and help strengthen the walls of blood vessels.

The ratio of these elements in badger meat is balanced, so there is no fear of oversaturation and hypervitaminosis.

However, despite the beneficial properties of this product, there is a risk of infection with helminths, so before preparing badger meat, it must be tested for trichinosis. The product is tested in special laboratories, but this takes a lot of time. Meat can only be cooked if everything is in order.

The maximum nutritional value of fat and meat occurs in the autumn. If a badger is caught in the spring, then the products obtained from it do not contain anything useful.

On a note! After a fracture, it is recommended to include badger liver in the diet, as it contains substances that promote rapid restoration of bone tissue.

Cooking features

The beneficial properties and taste of badger meat are influenced by the method of its preparation. If cooked correctly, it will taste almost the same as beef.

To cook a badger, you need to properly gut the carcass. In the process of cutting the carcass, all fat should be removed, since it is this that has an unpleasant specific odor.

Important! The meat of an old animal is hard, so to cook it tasty, you need to use only the meat of a young badger.

According to experienced hunters, cooks and hunters, it is better to process meat in the following ways:

• boiling. Cut the carcass into small pieces and boil with vegetables in salted broth until tender. Cooking time depends on the age of the animal. The meat will be ready when it can be easily separated into fibers;
• extinguishing. In this case, it is necessary to use different vegetables. They go perfectly with badger meat and fill it with a piquant taste. Processing time can be 1.5-2.5 hours;
• baking. You can prepare many dishes in this way; in addition, cooking using this method is considered the healthiest, since it is during baking that the beneficial properties of the product are preserved to the maximum. To prevent the meat from turning out dry, you need to use a “sleeve”, then the dish will be juicy and soft. Before sending the product to bake, you can keep it in the marinade for 2-4 hours.

Badger meat recipes

All the recipes are quite simple, even a novice housewife can prepare them at home, the main thing is to follow the cooking technology.

Badger meat goulash

Ingredients:

• badger meat – 1-1.5 kg;
• 2-3 pcs. Luke;
• 50 g sour cream;
• 0.1 kg sauce (tomato paste);
• 0.5 liters of water;
• 0.2 kg of mushrooms;
• greens, salt.

Preparation:

Cut the soaked badger meat into pieces (straws), add salt, and fry in oil with onion cut into half rings. Add chopped mushrooms. Simmer over low heat for 15-20 minutes. Add sour cream, tomato paste to taste and stir. Transfer the whole goulash into the duck pot, pour in a bouillon cube diluted in boiled water and bake in the oven for 1.5 hours.

Badger stew

Ingredients:

• badger - pulp from the carcass;
• 3-4 pcs. potatoes;
• vegetable oil (50 milliliters);
• carrots – 1-2;
• 50 g celery;
• 2-3 pcs. Luke;
• one pineapple;
• 50 g honey;
• sugar, salt.

Preparation:

Before preparing the badger according to this recipe, its meat must be soaked in cold water for 10 to 12 hours. After that, cut large pieces into small ones and cook for 1.5-2 hours. After cooking, the product is fried in hot oil with various vegetables: carrots, potatoes, celery. To give the dish a delicious taste, you can add ripe pineapple pulp instead of these vegetables. In this case, you do not need to salt it, but pour liquid honey and sprinkle with sugar.

Badger shashlik

Ingredients:

• badger meat – 1 piece;
• 50 g vinegar;
• 2 kg of onion;
• garlic - head;
• greens, black pepper, cumin, salt;

Preparation:

To prepare a delicious kebab from badger meat, you need to cut off all the fat from it, chop the meat into large pieces, soak it in water for 24 hours, changing it periodically. Next, put the soaked meat in the marinade for a day, after which you can prepare aromatic kebab in the same way as with any other meat.

Marinade options:

• vinegar diluted with water, onion, garlic, chopped into rings, spices;
• pomegranate juice (1 l) and vodka (100 ml);
• onion, lemon and mineral water (sparkling).

Badger meat in the oven

Ingredients:

• 1-1.5 kg of badger meat;
• 4-5 potatoes;
• 1-2 pcs. sweet pepper;
• 100 g onion;
• 50 ml plant. oils;
• oregano, rosemary, cilantro – 10 g;
• salt.

Preparation:

1. Rinse the meat, remove all fat, cut into pieces.
2. Next, boil the potatoes in salted water for 10 minutes, after which you need to put them in a mold and bake.
3. Pour oil into a hot frying pan, add crushed garlic, oregano, rosemary. Place meat in this aromatic mixture and fry. Then put it in the oven with the potatoes, placing it on top. The dish should be baked until done for 20-30 minutes.
4. Instead of meat, place chopped onions and cilantro in a fragrant bath. Fry for 5-7 minutes.

Place the resulting mix on a dish - potatoes, meat and lentils, garnished with tomato slices, strips of bell pepper and herbs.

You can prepare many tasty and healthy dishes from badger meat. The main thing is to follow the technological process, from cutting the carcass to cooking. Only then can you experience the piquant taste of this healthy product.

First of all, of course, trim the fat from the badger meat. I'll tell you that even if you like fat, it is still advisable to trim the fat from badger meat. Fat smells very bad and tastes unpleasant. The meat must be soaked as badger meat is very cruel. Soak the meat for 6-10 hours. After all this you need to cut the meat into pieces. Then fry the badger meat in a frying pan or you can stew the badger meat in the microwave.

My relatives love to hunt and then prepare various dishes from the game. I’ve never even tried it, so I can’t say what badger tastes like. After all, the meat is already sold in the store, and it’s a shame to kill animals, of which there are already so few in the forest, and to become an accomplice in their destruction.

About that Is badger meat dangerous to eat? then it's true. Badger meat must first be checked in the laboratory for any worms, some species of which do not die even with heat treatment, and for all sorts of infectious diseases called zoonoses.

Here are the zoonotic diseases transmitted to humans from untested wild animal meat:

- Trichinella

- Echinococcosis

You can still pick up salmonella, anthrax and other infections of bacterial origin.

Now directly about the method of preparing badger meat. You can smoke it; there is a recipe for which, in addition to the meat itself, you will need the following ingredients (per half the carcass):

Now the process of preparing badger meat:

• Badger meat.

  I don't agree with the answer above. Badger meat is very reminiscent of beef, and if cooked correctly, the result will be a finger-licking dish.

  Before cooking, the meat must be trimmed of fat; it is the fat that has the unpleasant taste and smell, not the meat. But the first thing to do is to check badger meat for a disease called trichinosis.

  It is advisable to soak the meat overnight, then it will cook faster and will not be dry, since badger meat itself is tough.

  We cut the soaked meat into portions, fry it with spices, coarsely chop onions, tomatoes, bell peppers and put it all in a casserole dish. dilute the bouillon cube in half a liter of water, add a little tomato paste, two tablespoons of sour cream and pour over the meat.

  Put it in the oven for an hour and a half, at 160 degrees.

  Before serving, it is advisable to sprinkle with fresh cilantro.

  Meatballs in tomato sauce are also delicious.

  

Badger meat must be tested in a laboratory before cooking. Only after this can you start cooking.

It tastes a little like wild boar meat. And, like wild boar meat, it is recommended to soak it in cold water before cooking.

They can cook anything from it - goulash, cutlets, azu. I like the recipe for cooking badger in a slow cooker: firstly, it is very simple - you throw everything you have into the slow cooker - meat, onions, spices, you can add a little carrots, peppers, eggplants and cook for 40-60 minutes.

The pieces turn out soft, they spread out and there is no need to fuss.

The badger is an animal that prefers to hide from people, so it is difficult for a hunter to get such a trophy. Badgers try not to go far from their place and just sleep for 5 out of 12 months. Hunters say that the best time to hunt a badger is autumn, when it tries to accumulate as much fat reserves and nutrients as possible, which will allow it to fully rest during hibernation.

Experts point out that not only fat, but also badger meat has great benefits. Badger meat is a real delicacy. There is a misconception among people that this product is of poor quality and has an extremely unpleasant taste. If a badger is harvested using the wrong methods or the meat is poorly processed, a bad taste may develop. If harvested and processed correctly, a dish with badger meat will turn out juicy, tasty and healthy.

The benefits of badger meat

Badger meat contains large amounts of vitamins A and E. When ingested, they strengthen the immune system and participate in the process of collagen production, which slows down the aging process in the body's cells.

The product contains B vitamins, which the body needs for metabolism to proceed as well as possible. In addition, they normalize the water balance in the body and take an active part in the process of blood formation. Muscles cannot function fully without this vitamin.

Another important vitamin for the body is vitamin K. If it is low, the blood clotting process is disrupted. Badger meat also contains unsaturated fatty acids, which have a positive effect on the cardiovascular system.

Badger liver is of great value. Back in the days of healers and shamans, it was used to treat fractures. Many studies have been conducted, based on which it was possible to prove that badger liver accelerates the process of bone tissue restoration.

So, we can draw the following conclusions about the benefits of badger meat:

• badger meat contains important chemical elements (vitamins A and E) that prevent premature aging of the skin;
• meat contains B vitamins, which activate the functioning of the brain and nerve impulses;
• The main benefit of badger meat for the body is that it contains vitamin K, which promotes blood clotting, which is important for the normal functioning of the body.

Harm of badger meat

Despite the benefits of this product, it can cause harm to the body, since the meat can be infected with trichinosis. Before eating it, it is necessary to do an analysis. Do not neglect checking the product for the presence of this disease.

It is best to eat boiled meat - after such processing, many nutrients remain in it, and pathogens are removed.

Every self-respecting hunter knows for sure that the meat of wild animals is tasty and healthy. You can prepare many dishes from it that are qualitatively superior to chicken, pork and beef. We know about the extraordinary medicinal properties of wild meat and lard; everyone knows that beaver streams are used to treat joints, and badger fat heals stomach ulcers; it is not for nothing that it is popularly called “ulcer”. Badger can be cooked in the oven, stove, or over a fire, and it tastes like the meat of a young bull.

Let's start cooking the badger...

Before proceeding with the actual preparation, the badger must be checked at the sanitary and epidemiological station for the presence of trichinosis. In the spring, male animals are often infected with this type of infection, which can harm human health even after heat treatment. Next, we begin cutting up the carcass. When you remove the skin, carefully examine its interior, which may contain tapeworms; they are washed under running water and then scalded with boiling water. If you cannot see the worms with the naked eye, still treat the carcass with boiling water.
If the meat sticks a little to your hands, it means the badger is old and needs to be cooked longer than usual.

To cook badger meat at home, you will need vegetables: onions, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, fennel, parsley or celery root, Chinese cabbage, Brussels sprouts, as well as honey to add a piquant taste, sugar, salt, spices.

Badger recipes

First, all fat from the animal should be removed, as it has a very strong, specific odor. It is used exclusively for medicinal purposes and is not eaten. To make the dish tasty, it is better to use the meat of a healthy young badger.

Fried badger

1. The meat needs to be cut into small cubes; to do this, after cutting the carcass, you need to keep it in the freezer for 30-40 minutes: the meat will be cut into beautiful and even slices.
2. Fry carrots and onions in a frying pan (for 1 kg of meat you need 3-4 carrots and 2 onions), at the end of frying add a few potatoes, cut into slices.
3. To get a vegetable side dish, you can steam the Brussels sprouts separately and add them to the dish at the end of frying the vegetables.
4. Fry the meat separately from the side dish for about 15-20 minutes in a well-heated frying pan with a lid. It should be salted and peppered.
5. When the vegetables are covered with a golden crust, put the meat in a common frying pan, stir and give another 10 minutes so that it becomes a little softer and more tender.
6. Add fennel and parsnips to the stew after cooking, before serving.

To surprise your guests with something interesting and tasty, you should cook the badger in the oven. Before starting, the badger is soaked for 10 hours, changing the water every hour so that the specific smell goes away.

1. Cut the meat into small pieces, add salt to each one, add seasoning and spices to taste, place the meat on parchment or foil.
2. On the sides we put carrots, which should add sweetness to the dish, a little celery and slices of fresh pineapple.
3. The contents should be wrapped tightly in foil and placed in the oven for 45 minutes. The dish should be cooked in the oven at a temperature of 180°C.
4. When the time is up, unwrap the foil and pour honey over the meat so that the badger in the oven acquires a slightly tart taste and a piquant aroma.

Cabbage goes well with wild meat. For the soup, we will take Chinese cabbage, since it is softer, 1 onion, 2 carrots, 2 tbsp. l. butter, 2 tbsp. l. olive oil, parsley and celery root.

The vegetable ingredients are finely chopped with a knife or on a coarse grater and placed together in a pan; the salted meat should be fried along with chicory in olive oil. When the vegetables are half cooked, place the fried meat in a saucepan, at the end of cooking, melt the butter and add to the soup for taste. Badger meat resembles young beef; it boils quickly if it is first soaked in cold water.