Reptiles and Amphibians

[weinoo]

Okay, I get it...there are people who like frog's legs and people who like gator and people who like snake. But I've tried them and just don't like 'em. As far as other amphibians and reptiles, I've never tried any.

Do you eat reptiles and/or amphibians? And pray tell, which ones and how are they prepared?

[dcarch]

"---But I've tried them and just don't like 'em. --"

I take it you don't like chicken either.

dcarch

[Paul Bacino]

Had turtle...but many yrs ago

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[Mjx]

I had frog's legs once, and they were fine, although I don't think I'd make myself nuts getting my hands on them again. I'm guessing that (as with anything) it's mostly about quality and form of preparation. I'm sure there are frogs-leg dishes (and other amphibian- and reptile-meat dishes) that are the stuff of heavenly dreams.

[Darienne]

I ate a rattlesnake that I caught. Probably wouldn't do it again...either the catching or the eating.

[gfweb]

I've had frog's legs, snapper soup (an old-time standard around Philly, but its more about the soup than the turtle meat), rattlesnake (not worth the effort for little pieces of chicken-y meat), and alligator (tough, stringy).

Alligator screams for a sous vide prep that would make it tender.

[Tri2Cook]

I've tried frog legs, alligator and rattlesnake. It's not so much that I disliked any of them, it's more a matter of there wasn't anything particularly exciting about any of them that makes me want to track them down to have again. If I went to dinner and any of them were being served, I'd eat without hesitation but I would never make a long trip or spend a lot of money for them.

Frog Legs: just for fun, I once made the Haeberlin Mousseline de Grenouilles and it was much more interesting than the fried frog legs I've had but it still wasn't mindblowing or anything like that.

Alligator: I've had it battered and fried, in a stew and used to make sausage. I found that it went completely unnoticed in the sausage. Tasty little bites battered and fried but nothing about it that made it destination worthy. My favorite taste of it was in the stew but that was largely because if the stew itself. The gator in it could have been another meat and it would still have been just as good.

Rattlesnake: I once spent a few days with friends in the desert riding dirt bikes when I was a teen. One of the adults killed a rattlesnake that showed up in our camp area, skinned it out and cooked it over an open fire. I remember it as being bit non-descript in flavor and very bony but there was nothing offensive about it either. Kinda fun in the setting but not something I'd go out of my way to get again.

[Jaymes]

A Louisiana-style restaurant that we frequent here in Houston sells fried 'gator po boys. They seem to be pretty popular. To me, they're just okay. I like shrimp and oyster and mudbugs better.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

I've eaten quite a bit of reptile and amphibian, quite a bit of it I now realize simply out of adventurousness. However, there are some things I absolutely lurve.

Frog's Legs: slow-baked in dry-white-wine wild-mushroom cream sauce with plenty of garlic, and served over wild rice. Perfection.

Equis: this is a pit-viper known to English speakers as Fer-de-Lance, which is common in Ecuador's drier forests; consequently, I tend to eat it when hiking. It's safer to behead these nasties than it is to leave them on or near the trail (they're not sweet-tempered), so the thing to do is to (quickly) whack off the head, then clean the snake and hang it by the tail to drain. Once it's stopped dripping it can be packed into your gather-basket in a wrapping of palm fronds until you make camp. The snake is coiled, skin-on, and encased in river mud, then laid over the coals of the campfire. It's ready when the clay breaks open to let the steam out, and the clay will also skin the beast for you. The meat is flaky like freshwater whitefish, tender, and has a flavour similar to pheasant - the only thing really needed is a couple of drops of hot sauce.

Thinking about it, all of the best snakes I've eaten have been vipers of one sort or another cooked this way; I'd expect that it would do good things for rattlesnake and copperhead, although I've only ever had South American species.

Anaconda: I've had this cut into salmon-style steaks and grilled over charcoal (not bad), and en Maito, which is steamed wrapped in Canna leaves with yuca and taro root, shredded palm hearts, and garlic. The Maito was awesome.

Turtles: I was once served a soup of 2" diameter soft-shell snapping turtles in sancocho broth. It wasn't bad, but I wouldn't eat it again if I saw it on a menu - I finished the bowl more out of politeness than anything. Sancocho without turtles, on the other hand, I'll eat anytime.

[annabelle]

Not that I'm aware of.

My mother has told me about gigging bullfrogs when she was a girl and I am reminded of that every summer when they start in "serenading" us. I think they are kind of cool, in a Hypno-toad way, so I'll leave them unmolested and off the table.

Alligator? I'd rather have shoes made from their hides.

[runwestierun]

I really like frog's legs. We would hunt them as children at dusk, bonk them on the head with a cudgel. I am allergic to shellfish so I've filled this void with reptiles and amphibians. I've never had snake but I've eaten lots of gator (sausage, pate, jambalaya) and turtle (soup and stew). I've eaten gator only in restaurants and all the turtle I've eaten has been prepared by my grandmother. I flour the frog's legs (no egg) and pan fry them in butter, nothing fancy. But I think they are delicious.

Thenks for the post, now I have to go try some snake!

[liuzhou]

I regularly eat frogs - about once every week or two. Here in China, we don't just eat the legs, but also the body, although the legs are the meatiest and tastiest. They are sold live in the markets and supermarkets and are usually stir fried. Frog congee is also a local favourite.

Snake, I love. Most snake sold in China and Hong Kong comes from this province. We eat it in soup and also stir fried smoked snake is delicious. There are excellent snake restaurants where they serve the meat every which way. It can be very pricey, though, depending on exactly which type of snake. Many venomous snakes are used but the most popular (and expensive) is the non-venomous common rat snake.

Turtle is very popular in my part of China, but, although I will eat it if it turns up, it does little for me. It usually turns up in soup.

Alligator kebabs are sold in the local night market. Not bad, at all.