I ate a mouse and it was amazing — Larry Madowo

BBC Africa Business Editor Larry Madowo on Thursday admitted to eating a mouse and enjoying the taste.

While covering the Malawi Elections, the journalist and his crew took time to interact with the locals and engaged a mice seller on the roadside.

Shy at first, Madowo first took a close look at the delicacy before taking a bite.

From his words, it tasted like chicken and the journalist was quick to tell his followers that there is a difference between mice and rats.

“I ate a mouse for the first time and it was, well, amazing! Mice (not rats!) are a delicacy in parts of Malawi.

“Tastes just like chicken,” he tweeted.

In Malawi, mice are a common delicacy and you can have them cooked, salted or dried.

They are often strung on sticks and are sold in markets or the roadside. You might wonder how they catch the mice in the first place.

Well, where there is a will there is a way (read mouse).

They are often hunted in corn fields and the most preferred species is locally known as ‘kapuku.’

Speed of the essence if you want to catch a mouse but young boys do just that.

An alternative method involves digging holes and putting pots filled with water into them.

According to locals, smearing the mouth of the pot with fried corn husks attracts the mice and during the scramble, some fall into the pot and drown.