My local supermarket has started carrying some slightly exotic items in the meats department. Including, yeah, crocodile.
I’ve never tried it before, and at these prices ($19 for 200g) I don’t expect I’ll be in a hurry to try it again … but still, crocodile. Whoo. I figured I can afford that much once.
So – what’s the best way to do justice to it? Anyone got any tips?
My dad occasionally gets alligator. If it’s steaks, he’ll grill them. If it’s smaller chunks, he’ll bread them and fry them to make gator nuggets. They taste a bit like chicken nuggets, but more fun because you get to say you’re eating gator nuggets. Both of them taste good.
Put it on a stick. Everything tastes better on a stick!
The first time I had alligator it was on a stick. But the better way is how MissMossie’s dad does it: bread the chunks and fry them. I liked to get them at Café Tu Tu Tango in Orange, CA. They served it with a sweet sauce and pick-a-pepa sauce.
Aha. I particularly liked the comment: The slaughtering and processing of crocodile meat is done humanely and hygienically with little to no waist. Who’s have guessed that how fat you are could be so important when killing crocs?
If croc is like alligator then treating it like chicken is a good idea. Alligator has a very poultry texture to it but the meat tastes distinctive enough that I wouldn’t want to overwhelm it with other flavors. Very low fat content so you’ll want to take that into account when you cook.
Which may not really help with crocodile since for all I know it may be like the difference between steak and bison.
I’ve had crocodile pizza in New Zealand, about ten years ago.
Anyway, the best way to cook crocodile is to put it into a huge pot of boiling water while it’s still alive, the chemicals released by its body as it dies tenderises the meat. You can then slice it up and BBQ it lightly to give it colour. At least that’s the theory, no one has yet survived past the alive-into-the-pot stage.
“Cut my own throat Dibbler” recommends NOt cooking with crocodile, as it tates too much like pork, and will cause your clients to expect sausages that actually contain pork in the future…