Dinner gets very local for squirrel-eating Seattleite

Melany Vorass called to say dinner was trapped in her front yard.

A few hours later we were eating risotto di rodentia — eastern gray squirrel braised in Lopez Island white wine with mushrooms and Italian-style rice. It did not taste like chicken.

As you might guess, Vorass is serious about eating locally. She teaches urban foraging. She raises goats, chickens, bees and worms at her Green Lake house. And she believes she’s the only person in Seattle harvesting squirrels for protein.

“I know how out there it sounds,” says Vorass, a former state environmental analyst. “But the alternative is to close your eyes and eat what comes on a Styrofoam tray.”

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