In Ghana, not all rats a just dirty hungry rats that sneak under choked gutters at night. Fortunately, some rats fall under a menu of delicacy, which history stretches over hundreds of years back within the nutritional diet of some Ghanaians.
The category Thryonomys, also known as the cane rats, is a category of rodents found throughout Africa south of the Sahara, the only generation of the family Thryonomyidae. They are edible meat in some African countries and are a pest species on many crops.
The family name comes from the Greek word thryon, meaning a “rush” or “reed”. The cane rat looks docile enough but it has a taste for fingers and has therefore been on the menu for decades in Ghana.
Most grasscutter meat still comes from the wild.
But conservationists and officials are trying to curtail bushmeat hunting in Ghana because of concerns that it is wrecking the environment and upending food chains.
Grasscutter meat is a delicacy in cities and a part of rural diets. Its toilet, believed to be ‘digested medicinal grass’ with ‘some healing potencies’ make delicious soups. It is common to find its toilet being added to soup as ‘flavour’…
