How to Cook Reptiles

Anthony Bourdain has hosted a series of gourmet travel shows on a variety of cable networks. He has eaten unusual foods around the world and with more style than some host that just eat gross things with a smug expression on their faces.

Chef Bourdain appreciates different cultures and their customs, no matter what they entail or leave out compared to other peoples and ethnicities. One thing I have noticed, is that he does not prefer to butcher an animal that he has seen living. In one fascinating and entertaining show, Chef Bourdain was hosted through many regional foods that he had not previously eaten. A camel was to be prepared for him to enjoy with the extended family of his host. She took him to a camel bazaar where they were to choose a young camel calf. He requested a "stunt camel" from the market, already butchered for cooking. And so it was.

I would also not eat a camel I had seen as a living being, but rattlesnake and alligator do not affect me in that manner. Both are good tasting, but I prefer the lighter flavor of alligator. It is distinctive, but is reminiscent of a light pork sausage.

Kids love Hot Dogs and Beans, so why not snake and beans?

When I was a child, the S.S. Kresge variety store maintained a small food sectiont that included canned meats. This was the usual canned hams and tuna, but also canned beef and canned rattle snake in a long, oval, 1-inch high can. By the time I considered purchasing a can of it, the chain had closed down in our region. Here's a recipe I could have used:

INGREDIENTS

• 64 oz can of pork and beans [I like to use dark kidney beans, with the juice]
• 30 - 36 oz can of stewed tomatoes, with onions and /or peppers if you like
• 4 oz can of diced jalapeno peppers or pepper rings.
• 1 large red onion, peeled, trimmed, and cut into quarters
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 pound of ground beef,partially browned and drained
• 1/2 pound of rattlesnake meat (8 oz can or frozen from the market)
  

INSTRUCTIONS

• In a large soup pot on the stove top over medium high heat, pour the beans, add the salt, red onion, and garlic. Stir and cook 10 minutes.
• Add all remaining items, reduce heat to simmer and cook another 10 minutes or until rattlesnake meat is done.
• Serve with something cold to drink.

To my taste, snake is a bit gamey in flavor, but can be soaked for an hour in salt water to make it more mild-flavored. It reminds me somewhat of frog legs and somewhat of emu jerky.

Makes enough for 10 - 12.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound of alligator meat, minced.
  1 large egg, well beaten
• 1 Tbsp each of finely chopped Spanish onions, celery, parsley, green onions, green peppers
• 2 tsp lemon-pepper mix
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 Cup fine bread crumbs

For frying: 

• 1 Cup vegetable oil for pan frying
• A bowl of all purpose flour for dredging meat

INSTRUCTIONS

• In a large mixing bowl, place all the of the first list of ingredients and hand mix well.
• Make meat balls of 1-inch diameter on a clean baking sheet and set the set aside to set and meld flavors for 60 minutes.  
• Dredge in flour and fry a few at a time until brown. 

Michaul's is my favorite restaurant in New Orleans. it was here that I first dicovered alligator fritters and enjoyed them while listening to Cajun music and watching the free dance lessons during the dinner hours on the dance floor. .

Michauls has been voted Number 1 Best Cajun Restaurant by the public through City Search surveys.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds of alligator meat, cut into 2-inch peices
• 3 Cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 Cup milk
• 3 large eggs, well beaten
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp white pepper
• 3 cloves garlic and 6 green onions, chopped fine
• 3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro (coriander)
• Vegetable oil in an amount for deep-frying the fritters

INSTRUCTIONS

• In a large mixing bowl, place the meat.
• Pour in milk, egg, flour, baking powder, and garlic and mix well by hand.
• Add green onions, salt and pepper, and cilantro and mix. The mixture should be sticky and adhere to each piece of meat as you take it out. If not, added another beaten egg.
• In a fryer or large iron skillet, heat 1.5 to 2 inches of cooking oil to 360 degrees F by thermometer.
• Form fritters with a spoon and drop in batches of a few, with tongs, frying each side about 2 minutes or until golden brown.
• Drain on paper toweling and serve hot with dipping sauces.

I once received a request for directions for cooking a dinosaur and whether this could be accomplished or not, if America began to clone them. I had cartoon visions of a T-Rex sitting on an iron skillet.

Larger and/or older reptiles may have a more distinctive gamey flavor than smaller or younger reptiles and require the meat to be soaked overnight in a salt water bath after being cut up, in order to remove some of that taste.

Whole lizards are cooked over fire on sticks in some parts of Africa and insects and grubs are eaten from sticks, often sold that way in markets and vendor stalls (See a friend's full report at Don't Kill 'Em, Eat 'Em). At the Alice Springs Desert Park in Australia, it is advertised that visitors can see individuals cooking Aboriginal foods (Bush Tucker) - including lizards buried in a portion of a fire pit.

Women also create simple breads from various available seeds and grubs for nutrition. Particular areas of an open campfire are used differently - outer edges contain hot soil and ash, while in the middle the fire contains hot coals. Some chili cook offs in the US are performed cowboy-style, using hot coals and heavy iron kettles, so we can probably cook about anything in the outback fire pit.

Some reptiles reportedly cooked in Australia include the Rock Python, Carpet Snake, a large Goanna type, and some from a group called "dragons" (family Amagidae). .

Certain Asian specialty dishes require the reptile or fish portions to be fresh and still moving. The dish in the video below was the object of a Speed Cooking Contest in China. Snake portions and fish portions are indeed still slightly moving as the dish sits immeditaely after assembly.

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