Muskrat Casserole: An Annual Southeastern Michigan Favorite

You've just had a stressful day at work. Or just a long workday. And you are beyond ready for dinner. You're imagining the mouth-watering food that awaits you at home; what'll it be? Steak, spaghetti & meatballs, lasagna, a big bowl of chili, goulash, macaroni & cheese, stuffed pork chops, fried chicken with corn on the cob, or maybe juicy cheeseburgers?

Then you get home to see your loved one has made you a big pot of.........muskrat.

Well, down in southeast Michigan, that's just what they get every year. Call it muskrat casserole, stew, or stroganoff, it's a big pot of muskrat, fried in butter & garlic, slathered in gravy and served with mashed potatoes, corn, and sauerkraut.

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During Lent in the Downriver area of Detroit, churches serve up an annual, traditional muskrat dinner, part of the area's history of eating wetland rodents just before Easter. Referred to as a “four-legged fish” because of its fishy taste, muskrat meat is acceptable during lent.

Guests are served the meal on a paper plate, with a big chunk of jagged, gravy-soaked muskrat meat that has no recognizable shape. It's not unusual to pull pieces of bone out of your dinner.

How long has this been going on? No exact year has been pinpointed, but in 1906 there was a Gala Muskrat Banquet in Monroe County, where Americans from both the east and west coasts traveled to Michigan for a muskrat meal. 2,000 muskrats were needed to feed the crowd. The dinners are still popular, yet not as widespread as they used to be...but there's plenty if you wanna get in on it.....