Possum and Taters

Name: Possum and Taters
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 3 h
Total time: 3 h 30 min
Ingredients: 1 young, fat possum.; 8 sweet potatoes.; 2 tablespoons butter.; 1 tablespoon sugar.; Salt.; Freshly-ground black pepper.

SpotX Wild Foods Recipe from Bert Christensen
Prep:30 minutes Cook:3 hours Difficulty:1

Ingrediants:

1 young, fat possum.
8 sweet potatoes.
2 tablespoons butter.
1 tablespoon sugar.
Salt.
Freshly-ground black pepper.

Directions:

Skin the possum, gut and remove the head and feet.
Take care to remove the scent glands without cutting.
Soak possum in cold, salt water for 10 hours.
Rinse meat in cold water and refrigerate 2-4 hours.
Be sure to wash it thoroughly.
When ready to cook, peel the potatoes.
Boil them tender in lightly salted water along with the butter and sugar.
At the same time:.
Stew the possum tender in an oven bag with a little water (2 hours).
Remove from bag and lay in roasting dish.
Pour liquid from bag over meat.
Arrange the taters around the possum.
Season with salt and pepper.
Leave the cover off and return to the oven to brown (1 hour).
Baste often with the drippings.

Possum
Possum Possums were introduced into New Zealand from Australia in 1837 to establish a fur trade. With the abundance of food and the lack of predators they quickly spread throughout the country. For a while a booming fur trade, that killed 20 million possums a year at its height, helped control the numbers. But with the shrinking of the fur market the possum population exploded and the species became enemy number-one of the Conservation Department, who use cyanide and 1080 poison to control possum numbers.
Two varieties of brush-tailed possums were introduced: the darker Tasmanian blacks were highly prized for their quality fur, but the more common grey possum has thrived here.