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MAIL & GUARDIAN (Johannesburg, S Africa) 15 February 06 'Everyone enjoys a good rat, especially deep-fried'
Battambang, Cambodia (Sapa-DPA): For many Cambodians, the perfect end to a hard day at work is relaxing with friends over a nice, plump, deep-fried rat and a glass of local wine, according to vendors of the sought-after snack.
The Year of the Dog has already proven a bumper year for the local delicacy, vendors in the north-western provincial capital of Battambang said on Wednesday.
"I am selling 100 to 200 kilos of rat meat a day, and although the harvest [of rats] is up, so is demand and, therefore, so is the price," said Chea Thouen (34), a rat-meat vendor at a local market.
"Rice-paddy rats eat only rice, so they are very tasty," he added. "In fact, they taste better than fish or pork."
Mom (40), who has sold rat meat at the same market for the past six years, said she, too, is having the best season she could remember selling the sought-after delicacy, which is only available from January to April or May.
"Everyone enjoys a good rat, especially deep-fried and served with a good wine," she said.
Rat currently sells for about 70 cents a kilogram, up nearly five cents from last season, she added.
A father of three shopping for rat meat who declined to be named said he became hooked on the meat when he had to eat it to survive during the genocidal 1975-1979 rule of the Khmer Rouge.
"I ate a lot of rats under the Khmer Rouge, but now I still eat them," he said. "The bones are not hard like pork or beef. I think rats now taste even better than they did 30 years ago. They are better fed nowadays."
Bun Khuny (28), another rat-meat vendor in the market, brisk with business in the meat, said that although Cambodians of taste have been buying the meat in ever-increasing numbers, he has had more unusual customers snapping up his produce as well.
"Crocodile farmers buy as much as I can provide," he said. "I sell 300 kilos a day. They say their crocodiles like rats better than fish or snakes, and they get fatter on rat meat than on any other food. Who can argue with crocodiles?"
'Everyone enjoys a good rat, especially deep-fried'

LOL Too funny Wes!
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PHAlex
Forum Moderator
kingsnake.com

They're not just for dinner anymore

>>They're not just for dinner anymore
>>
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U.A.P.P.E.A.L.
Uniting A Proactive Primate and Exotic Animal League
www.uappeal.org

Try a Google search of "eating rats". The results will be ... enlightening.

DETROIT FREE PRESS (Michigan) 20 February 06 Hold your own at the bar
…
Know what's in the drink you're ordering. Don't order something just because it looks cool. Teymouri said people often order Sex With an Alligator for its three layers of color (Chambord, Midori and Jagermeister). "Girls order it because it looks cool, but then they choke on it."
…
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060220/FEATURES01/602200346/1026/FEATURES01

>>DETROIT FREE PRESS (Michigan) 20 February 06 Hold your own at the bar
>> …
>>Know what's in the drink you're ordering. Don't order something just because it looks cool. Teymouri said people often order Sex With an Alligator for its three layers of color (Chambord, Midori and Jagermeister). "Girls order it because it looks cool, but then they choke on it."
>>…
>> http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060220/FEATURES01/602200346/1026/FEATURES01
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U.A.P.P.E.A.L.
Uniting A Proactive Primate and Exotic Animal League
www.uappeal.org