Germany’s raccoon infestation could be transformed into a new culinary tradition. And the woodsman-wildchef-entrepreneur who came up with the idea into a national hero – if not an instant legend. Provided ‘Raccoon Balls’ catch on with the masses…
They’re suffering a raccoon infestation across the western part of Germany. Because 1.) the critters have no natural predators in the region, and 2.) they are incredibly prolific…
What happened?
German fur farmers imported a few pairs of raccoons in the 1920s, for controlled breeding. But – so the story goes – two pairs escaped into the wild in 1934. And they multiplied like crazy.
According to the Nature And Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) and researchers at the Goethe-Universität in Frankfurt, there are now more than 2 million raccoons roaming the forests, grasslands – and cities – of Germany.
Enter, Michael Reiss…
Reiss is a hunter, meat cutter, wildchef and entrepreneur. And his story begins with the search for a new recipe that would turn the 2022 edition of the Green Week international food fair on its head.
His creative journey led to the creation of a signature hit dish: Raccoon Balls. Meatballs, that is. It was a natural outgrowth of Reiss’ reputation as a champion sausage maker.
Reiss started selling his wares online, but has recently opened a butcher shop in the town of Kade, about 40 km west of Berlin. And he now offers no fewer than 7 raccoon meat products.
“We’re the only place in Europe selling raccoon meat,” Reiss told CNN. “People come from all over, sometimes driving 150 kilometers (93 miles) to come to my store and combining it with an daytrip because they want to try raccoon.”
What’s it like?
To start, it’s wild meat. But Reiss says it’s not too different from what you’re used to in a sausage. “It doesn’t have an overly unique taste. It’s slightly softer than other meat,” he said. “If you eat two [similarly-spiced] sausages, you’d know which one is raccoon. But if you didn’t know, you wouldn’t realize that anything is too different.”
My take
I have some reservations about the ‘harvesting’ of wild meat. I guess that comes from my personal association, since I was a middle-school kid, with marauding Canada Geese. They were all over the waterfront in my home town, Port Credit, in what’s now southern Mississauga, just west of Toronto.
Once they started overwintering in the town’s ice-free harbour on Lake Ontario, the Canadas’ large annual broods quickly made them a real nuisance. A certified public safety threat. They literally ate up everything green insight. And there’s no critter more dangerous for it’s size than a protective mo-ther Canada Goose with a new brood. Unless it’s a big, mean old ground hog. Or a hungry raccoon (see photo, top of page)!
Various entrepreneurs – and local politicians – proposed letting professional ‘harvesters’ ‘cull’ the goose population, donating the cleaned and plucked birds to local food banks and soup kitchens.
But there was one problem. Living as they did in such close proximity to humans, their meat was found to be severely contaminated wit heavy metals and other residues of civilization.
I saw nothing in the source stories I consulted to indicate that Reiss was differentiating between urban and wild-caught raccoons in his ‘culling’ program. But I assume, as a hunter, he is aware of the inherent dangers of eating urban ‘wild’ meat…
~ Maggie J.