A HEDGEHOG SUPPER.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3632, 3 March 1883, Page 4

A HEDGEHOG SUPPER.

Wo extract the following from a Welsh paper:—A strange dish was provided for the visitors to Rompney Castle, on Tuesday last, consisting as it did of well fattened— if not sleek-hedgehogs, of which thirty persons partook, and if we are to believe our correspondent to the full "considered a rare dainty, equal to roasted ducks." That it is a " rare " dainty is at any rate quite credible, for in this country we are very peculiar in our notions as to what is edible or not, and the average Englishman, when he gets outside the region of mutton_ or beef, generally begins to eat in a suspecting and incredulous manner, which would bring a smile to the faces of most foreigners. Weave insular in our ideas, and iv many respects we should not copy the ones prevalent amongst tho.-:e who live on tho Continent. There can be no objection to hedgehog as an article of diet, but it would not be well to attack for that reason the rank of the tribe. The hedgehog is insectivorous, and destroys slugs, frog , , and small snakes, and its only bad habit perhaps arises from its liking for eggs, which it will devour at every opportunity, and therefore is not welcome in game preserves. It is an ill wind that blows nobody good, and while the hedgehog may be thankful for that repugnance which is felt towards himself and numerous other eatable animals, we have, on the other hand, the satisfaction of knowing that the prickly brute is doing a u-ood work so long as he does not steal our pheasants' eggs. Whilst, however, the supper at Rompuey Castle was a somewhat peculiar one for ordinary people to partuke of, the hedgehog is a well-knowu_ and highly appreciated luxury among gipsies in this "country. Amongst the nomadic wanderers who live in tents, the hedgehog is put in the ashes just as caught, and, when cooked, the armour all comes oil, and the •• urchin " is ready for the tin or wooden platter of the gipsy.