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NAGANO (majirox news) - Most people are repulsed by the idea of eating crows. The mere mention of eating these unpopular birds is like suggesting eating rodents.
It's a shame, said Norihiko Fujiki, a French-trained chef and owner of the trendy French restaurant Espoir, because if properly prepared crows are delicious.
"If we can get over our cultural prejudice it would become a gourmet treat," the 41-year-old told Majirox News.
Fujiki serves such meals as grilled crow in red wine sauce and roasted crow smothered in herbs at Espoir, located in Chino City in Nagano prefecture. A fixed menu that includes crow as the main course costs 6,000 yen ($77).
"The crow has an image of being sinister, and people see them as scavengers," he said. "I want to change that."
The meat doesn't have any bacteria in it, and safety is not an issue.
According to Mitsuo Sekikawa, a professor at Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, "Crow meat has no residual heavy metals or pesticides. Microbial testing showed there were no problems. In fact, crows contain more iron than chickens, ounce for ounce."
Some even claim crows are good for men because it increases sexual potency. In medieval times they stood for virility. To many Native Americans the raven (belonging to the crow family) was a bird of extraordinary knowledge and power, honored as being unearthly. The raven plays an important part in rituals and myths of the Inuits in North America, who say they were the harbingers of light.
Fujiki got the idea for cooking crows from an old French cookbook. From that, he devised his own recipes and put them on the menu about a year ago. His customers who like game birds didn't hesitate to order the crow. However, his other customers refused to eat it, saying they felt repelled by the idea.{Read on}