Something about eating alligator meat comes off real disturbing for me. They say it tastes more
like pork than chicken and I’ve got no problem with pork, but it’s gator folks. I’m no
vegetarian, so I love a nice well-done cut of steak and my lemon marinated baked chicken breast for dinner,
but what do you do with alligator? How do you cook it? According to this piece from
Sunday’s Miami Herald there is a high
demand for alligator meat at Gatorama, a roadside attraction in Florida where the animals can be seen and the meat
can be purchased. The owners aren’t as into selling the meat as much as they’d like the place to be a big boom
tourist destination, but making money seems to be a bit harder that way. Most of it is sold over the counter, but
overnight mail orders are excepted too.
As a day-trip there is much to keep one’s eyes peeled on. There are nearly 4,000 alligators and crocodiles at
Gatorama which are kept apart as the crocs are a little more feisty. With the crocs being an aggressive and
protected species, their meat is not for sale. Everyone can get the chance to hold a tiny gator and croc while learning
the differences between the two little reptiles. That part sounds like something I can handle, but the sound of
eating the critters still gives me scales of my own.
Details can be found at the Gatorama web site.