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Munching on a tiny drumstick of squirrel, BBC Berkshire's Roberto Perrone said: "It's tougher than I thought it would be, it's very gamy. It's not that bad!"

The dish Roberto was sampling on air was the creation of adventurous chef, Chris Prow, author of Berkshire Brawn and Bread, a cookbook celebrating food sourced locally in the county.

The cooked squirrel

Slowly nibbling, Roberto warmed to his squirrel snack. "I never thought I would ever try squirrel, I've tried it and it's ok! This could be the perfect solution to the credit crunch." he said

Squirrel has been eaten for centuries by the English, but is only just coming back into vogue.

Chris said: "Grey squirrel is a very under-utilised food. Nowadays, squirrel is becoming really trendy and the price is rocketing. 

"Of course, if you kill them yourself they're free.

"With this squirrel a hunter friend of mine caught it. I butchered it like I'd butcher a rabbit. I took off its head and tail and took out the entrails.

"The amount of meat varies between 460g and 600g per squirrel, so there will probably be enough for a decent starter or a very small main course."

To put together a squirrel dish to tempt Roberto, Chris slow braised the jointed squirrel in Madeira and port for three and a half hours, and reduced the cooking liquids to a sticky sauce.

A rabbit - making Chris's mouth water

In his cookbook, the Pangbourne-based chef also utilises seafood and meat found in the county such as pike, rabbit, eel, squirrels, crayfish, deer and beef.

Chris said: "The River Pang runs through Berkshire, I've taken a pike from the River Pang, and made a classic quenelles de brochet, or poached pike dumplings.

"You get American crayfish in the river, and they erode the riverbanks. My recipes include a crayfish sauce, and ways to cook rabbit and slow-braised pheasant.

"Don't try jellied eels, try my smoked eel with horseradish apple cream."

Chris is so evangelical about eating squirrel, that he has even put it on the menu of his restaurant in Pangbourne.

Chef Heston Blumenthal

He said: "Hopefully a lot of my customers are broadminded. they know me and they know I'm quite adventurous.

"I will have some squirrel for the New Year. What I'd like to do is serve it with wilted nettles and chestnut puree."

And he is not alone, Berkshire-based chef Heston Blumenthal has also confessed to a penchant for squirrel recipes.