Nina Matsunaga - uSING cUMBRIAN Squirrel
Chef Nina Matsunaga and her partner James Ratcliffe manage The Black Bull, Sedbergh, a charming pub nestled on the outskirts of the Lake District. They love using grey squirrel on their menus and have built a close relationship with the Red Squirrel Society
Image credit: Amanda Farnese-Heath
The Black Bull Inn, in Sedburgh. Image credit: @theblackbullsedbergh
How did you end up working with the red squirrel conservation group?
We moved to cumbria in 2014 from Manchester. I was raised in a city but my partner James was raised in Ireby, Cumbria near Kirkby Lonsdale.
We actually started with ferreting for rabbits with our dogs and ferrets. When people started getting wind that we used “pest” animals and also were after squirrels, someone in town shooting for the red squirrel society got in touch. He was called Gary and he regularly dropped us off some squirrels.
We now work with Wayne Edmondson in Middleton. He shoots for the red squirrel society and is a game keeper/groundsman on the estate.
Have learned anything from building this relationship?
The main thing is to keep communicating. With the groundskeepers as well as the customers. The key is to explain why we have it on the menu and why we use it. Some customers think we're joking when we put it on the menu. We reworded our dishes to cumbrian grey rather than grey squirrel. It is a laborious dish at times as we need to skin them, collect enough to make it worth our while and then process it.
The lightbulb that goes on in peoples heads though is worth the effort.
Do you have any advice for other restaurants/chefs looking to build similar relationships
I would say just try it. It doesn’t cost anything but your own time. Which I’m aware can be precious but it is good to build a relationship as for example we now get the odd muntjac or Chinese water deer from the same person and he always has plenty of rabbits for us too.
Is there anything chefs should know before using grey squirrel
Greys are not the easiest to skin and there is not much yield but it is tasty and worth the effort. However if you have high volume you might want to collect several before commencing.
How have your customers responded to you serving grey squirrel?
Customers are surprisingly receptive to it. It never used to be popular when we first started serving it 10 years ago but I think now people are a little more adventurous. Once you explain why greys get culled or what the theory behind the culling is, they are definitely more enthusiastic about it.
I think gentle education is the best way.
Image credit: Amanda Farnese-Heath
What’s your favourite way to use grey squirrel?
We like to use our squirrels fried, but it is a bit of a hit and miss in terms of tenderness as you can’t quite tell the age of them.
However if you sous vide it before and then fry it, it helps. The other way is to braise the whole squirrels, then pick them and press or roll them. It probably has the best yield and then you can use them as main courses, starters or canapés.
Other ways include just slow cooking and picking the meat and tossing it with cobnuts, pears and some wild garlic capers and serving as a snack.