Reporting from the Squirrel Cooking World Championship

Image by Connor Cockrell published by Eater Magazine.

Nope, it’s not me who did this fabulous reporting! But I have to admit that it’s an assignment I would totally eat up. Maybe next year I’ll have to make my way down to Arkansas for the World Championship Squirrel Cook Off.

Props to Eater magazine for this feature story “How to Cook a Squirrel: Professional chefs and amateur cooks compete for Arkansas pride in the annual World Champion Squirrel Cook Off.” The writer captures the vibe and takes the whole thing as seriously as the contestants and judges: “Officials award points for texture and taste, and the percentage of squirrel meat versus other proteins in main dishes, as well as squirrel-based side dishes.”

But not too seriously, as the backstory shows:

The whole thing emerged from a joke. In 2010, producers for Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern searched for folks who were versed in squirrel cooking for an Ozark episode. They got in touch with local small-game hunter Joe Wilson, who joked with them that northwest Arkansas was known for its “world champion squirrel.” The producers took him seriously and asked for more info.

“We throw the world championship right here,” Wilson says he told them, bluffing. They asked when the competition was held. “When y’all comin’?” Wilson asked.

That first cook-off, held in Bentonville, Arkansas, in 2011, was hastily thrown together in time for filming.

So if anyone is up for a road trip to Ozark Highlands Nature Center in Springdale for this championship next fall, let me know!