Raccoon Meat Is A Popular Delicacy In The South

Many Americans consider raccoons to be a nuisance. They might steal cat food, make a mess of curbside garbage, or squabble with house pets (and win). According to a Southern cooking tradition that dates back centuries, there's at least one surefire way to get rid of a raccoon: eat it for dinner. 

Atlas Obscura's Luke Fater writes that, per chef and food historian Michael W. Twitty, enslaved African people brought over to the United States would trap the animals and cook them whole in stews; this added protein to their diets the negligible meals provided to them by plantation owners did not. The practice likely originated with Native Americans — the word "raccoon" itself is derived from the Powhatan word aroughcun, which means "hand-scratcher." 

From there, according to the article, eating raccoons became more popular in Southern households, particularly among poor communities, around the 18th century. To this day, you might still find raccoon on restaurant menus in the South and beyond. If not, you'll definitely find it in some Southern home kitchens. 

In a 2020 write-up on raccoon-eating traditions, Serious Eats spoke to "Big George" Drayton, a Georgia native who shared how he grew up eating roasted raccoon with sweet potatoes, and how the dish was, and is, commonly prepared, the meat parboiled and baked alongside the sweet startch. However, the raccoon-heavy food of his youth, according to Drayton, is a dying tradition. "None of the young people know how to do that," he explained.

He might not be entirely wrong. Drayton was born in the 1950s, when raccoon cookery was more of a staple in rural parts of the South. Case and point: Gillett, Arkansas still boasts a sign from 1958 that proclaims its raccoon-eating traditions. According to former U.S. Representative Marion Berry, a longstanding annual fundraising feast held in Gillett, Arkansas involves soaking raccoon meat in salt water overnight, boiling it until tender, smoking it in a tank, and throwing it on the barbecue. It's often served with rice or sweet potatoes on the side.

Former President Bill Clinton has attended the event in Gillett in the past. The same enthusiasm for raccoon-eating can't be said of his predecessor Calvin Coolidge, who declined to eat a raccoon sent to him by a Southerner on Thanksgiving. (Instead, he named the critter Rebecca and gave her the esteemed designation of First Pet.)

The Mississippi resident who sent a live raccoon to the White House wasn't trying to cause a stir; Thanksgiving was once a popular time to dine on raccoon meat in the South. For some, that tradition is still very much alive. 

Take Marvel star Anthony Mackie, who told Entertainment Tonight in 2015 that raccoon is the star of his family's Turkey Day menu. "[There's a] butcher shop in New Orleans [...] where they take another wildlife and put it in the turkey," he said. "You can get a raccoon in it, you can get a squirrel in there." In response to skeptical looks, Mackie claimed that raccoon is "honestly the best meat you'll ever have."

The tradition has even made its way up north. In fact, one reader told The Ringer's Kate Knibbs that they ate a raccoon pot pie at a "trendy" Los Angeles restaurant on Thanksgiving. When it comes to raccoon meat, it seems you just need to know where to look.