I've never eaten possum and don't care to try it. I wondered how you cook it, so I had a look at that classic standard "Joy of Cooking" and, of course, there's a recipe. It starts out in the manner of Mrs. Beeton, "If possible, trap 'possum' and feed it on milk and cereals for 10 days before killing." It then goes on to tell you how to remove the hair and glands, then tells you to parboil it in 2 or 3 changes of water, then roast as for pork and serve with turnip greens. Ugh! Capfka's recipe is about right. Aside from the issue that if you're going to keep the critter around and feed it for a week and a half, you might as well make a pet of it.
But then there is muskrat. In former times you could always find skinned dressed muskrats in the markets. The law required that their heads be left on so you knew what it was. A gruesome sight, but they did sell. There is an Episcopal Church on the Eastern Shore of Maryland which raises money by an annual muskrat dinner in the fall. People come from hundreds, even thousands, of miles for this. (Muskrats are abundant in the marshes along the eastern shores of the Chesapeake Bay and there are lots caught by traplines). Incidentally, JofC's directions for this go, "Remove all fat from hams and shoulders of 1 muskrat, which are the only edible portions. Remove musk glands and white stringy tissue attached. Poach in salted water 45 minutes and drain. Place cut-up meat in a Dutch oven and cover with bacon strips, add 1 c. water or light stock, 1 sm. sliced onion, 1 bay leaf, 3 cloves, 1/2 tsp. thyme, cover & simmer until very tender. Serve with creamed celery." Creamed celery???????? even my grandmother never cooked that.
