Hedgehog
Culinary and medicinal use

Hedgehogs are a food source in many cultures. They were eaten in Ancient Egypt and some recipes of the Late Middle Ages call for hedgehog meat. They are traded throughout Eurasia and Africa for traditional medicine and witchcraft. In the Middle East and especially among Bedouins, hedgehog meat is considered medicine against rheumatism and arthritis. Hedgehogs are also said to cure a variety of disorders from tuberculosis to impotence. In Morocco, inhaling the smoke of the burnt skin or bristles supposedly remedies fever, impotence, and urinary illnesses; the blood is sold as a cure for ringworm, cracked skin and warts, and the flesh is eaten as a remedy for witchcraft. Romani people still eat hedgehogs, boiled or roasted, and also use the blood and the fat as a medicine.

In 1981, British publican Philip Lewis developed a line of Hedgehog Flavoured Crisps, whose taste was apparently based on the flavourings used by Romani to bake hedgehogs. As they did not contain any actual hedgehog product, the Office of Fair Trading ordered him to change the name to Hedgehog Flavour Crisps.
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