The Massive Swamp Rats That Louisiana Turned Into A Delicacy

What do you do when pests threaten your immediate environment, destroying foliage and turning beautiful natural habitats into wastelands? Why, you eat them of course. Wait, what? Yup, that's what Louisianians started doing in the late '90s when nutria — 20-pound rodents with orange teeth — started decimating the plants that kept their swamplands intact.

After nutria were first brought in from South America in the 1930s by fur traders as a cheaper alternative to mink and other furs, Louisiana traders had their hopes right up there that these fast-breeding, amphibious rodents would become the next big thing in fashion. However, the fur market began declining in the 1970s. Thousands of nutria were released into the wild, as they were no longer a lucrative source of income. The nutria bred quickly, and by the 1980s, they became a threat to Louisiana's coastal wetlands, burrowing underground and eating the roots of vegetation and even crops.

Eradicating them would be impossible, so in 1997 and 1998, Louisiana authorities started encouraging their residents to eat them, looping into the Cajun food culture that embraced unique and exotic foods. They hailed the health benefits of nutria meat, including that it was cleaner than other types of meat due to the animals being herbivores and high in protein — more so than beef. Additionally, the meat is packed with nutrients like zinc, iron, selenium and copper.

Getting people to see past the ratty look of the nutria may not always be easy, but one only need look at the example of redfish,  an unattractive bass-type fish that became a food craze in Louisiana in the 1980s with a single recipe created by celebrity chef Paul Prudhomme. Blackened redfish became so popular that it almost wiped out the redfish population, though it has since recovered. It's all a matter of finding that killer recipe (pun intended) for nutria, and getting Americans excited to try something new.

So what can you do with nutria meat? It's said to have the gently gamey flavor of rabbit, so you can use it as an ingredient swap for simple rabbit stew and other recipes that use the animal's meat. The flavor has also been compared to dark turkey meat, so give your fave turkey recipes a bit of an exotic twist. Nutria has also been enjoyed with tacos and enchiladas, in stir fries, and as meatballs, and of course with a few spicy Cajun twists. There's also this recipe book from 1963 that can give you other great ideas for nutria recipes.

When it comes to sides for nutria meat, you can consider those that go well with rabbit meat, given their similar flavor profiles. These sides include mashed potatoes or polenta, ratatouille or grilled veggies, strong mushrooms like shiitake or chanterelles, sauteed greens, honey-glazed carrots, Brussels sprouts, or deliciously sweet corn.