Possum Paté
In the late 1980s, Susi Gott Séguret left behind the sorghum fields of Appalachia, where she grew up, for the wheat fields of France. The fiddle player and food lover from Madison County, North Carolina, spent the subsequent two decades spreading Appalachian music around Europe, along the way earning a diploma in gastronomy from Le Cordon Bleu. In 2005, she returned to her native North Carolina to open the Seasonal School of Culinary Arts in Asheville. Her new book, Appalachian Appetite: Recipes from the Heart of America, pays tribute to the region’s creative chefs and food traditions, such as this not-for-the-fainthearted recipe for Possum Paté.
Possum Paté
A possum has nine lives. Once you get beyond that fact, the actual preparation is no more challenging than cooking up a rabbit, which can be substituted in this recipe if you don’t get beyond the aforementioned fact, or if you are opposed to eating a marsupial.
You Will Need
- 1 possum (or 1 rabbit), skinned and cleaned
- A couple of shallots
- Dijon mustard
- A few sprigs of thyme
- A couple of bay leaves
- A bottle of dry white wine
- Salt and pepper, to taste
To Prepare
- Remove any silverskin, excess fat, and visible glands from the meat, and cut into pieces as you would a rabbit (which is similar to cutting a chicken). Sweat some chopped shallots in olive oil, in the bottom of a cast-iron Dutch oven. Remove shallots while still translucent and set aside. Salt and pepper the possum pieces and sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves. Brown in olive oil in the Dutch oven. Brush possum pieces with mustard (only Dijon will do), and sear again. Add a bottle of dry white wine, a few bay leaves, cover, and simmer for a couple of hours (two will probably do, depending on the size and age of your possum).
- At this point you can serve possum pieces with potatoes and poke sallet or collard greens or, to get to the paté stage, you can continue simmering until the meat falls off the bones.
- Pick all the meat off the bones with your fingers (be careful; there are many of them—bones, that is!), and pack in a small earthenware dish. Cover with a lid and refrigerate. When ready to serve, spread on toast and present as an hors d’oeuvre.
Excerpted with permission from Appalachian Appetite: Recipes from the Heart of America (Hatherleigh Press).