Mrs. W. H. McElwcc, of Statesville,
is a little ominous in forwarding her
suggestion, confessing "I have never
cooked one and I don't think I want
to cat any.” However, she adds, she
has seen colored cooks in her father's
house prepare lots of them, this way:
"You dress them like you dress a pig,
bake as you would a hen, adding a pod
of red pepper."
That's easy enough. Mrs. McElwee
goes on to say that we might try it, any¬
way, just to find out if we like possum.
Adding, somewhat encouragingly, "lots
of people do like possum."
Another skeptical chef is Silas
Nicholson of Kinston. Says Silas:
"Simple. All you do is put the possum
in an open baking pan (same one you
used for the Thanksgiving turkey), and
place it in the oven (top part, not the
broiling part), and cook at a very low
temperature until done, basting every
30 minutes with a barbecue sauce con¬
taining only vinegar, black pepper and
plenty of red pepper.
"The reason for the red pepper is
that the possum is very fat, and you
Photo by Roy Eubanks, Beaufort.
Possum & Taters
A lot of people talk about this South¬
ern dish, but few ever tasted it;
STATE readers tell what to do with
a marsupial.
By BILL SHARPE
Readers of The State are some¬
what divided as to the best way to
cook 'possum and taters. They also
are divided on what to do with the
possum after you cook it. Some think
the next step is to eat it, but some ad¬
vise giving it to someone you don't
especially like.
Several subscribers were kind enough
to answer our request for recipes. We
are especially proud of Rebecca Smith,
whose directions are brief, legible and
pleasant. Rebecca lives near Concord,
and is only nine years old, but her
recipe has been in the Smith family
for a hundred years. She also is an
intelligent person, since she says she
likes to read The State very much.
Anyway, here it is, titled "How to
Cook a Delicious Possum," under¬
scored three times:
"Cut in two pieces. Cook till tender,
then put in long greased pans. Chip
garlic in thin pieces, then put on pos¬
sum. Then put boiled sweet taters
around possum, and place in hot oven
and bake until golden brown."
Then there’s Mrs. Mary Regan of
Cerro Gordo, down in Columbus
County: "Dress Mr. Possum and soak
him in enough water to cover. Add
one-half cup salt — soak about 10 hours
in a cool place. Cook whole until ten¬
der, with one pod red pepper, then
place in baking pan, sprinkle with
black pepper to taste.
"Peel sweet potatoes — half or
quarter (according to size) — and place
around possum, and bake slowly until
potatoes are well done and browned.
This recipe was handed down from
my late grandmother, Mrs. R. D.
Sharpe of Wilkes County, and it always
turns out fine."
I want the reader to know that we
are not saying so because of grandma,
because those Wilkes Sharpes are no
kinfolks of mine, but possum connois¬
seurs of my acquaintance say that the
soaking trick is very good for the
dish, and we recommend it on their
say-so.
THE state. January 12. 1952
