The SAS survival trainer and all round legend Lofty Wiseman said 'where there's a snake there's a steak'.
Here in Blighty our best known native snake is an virtually an endangered species so I'm waiting until I'm stateside before i find out if the herpetofauna is succulent or chewy.
I'm hoping my wild food hero will post a comment and let us know.
In the meantime Nor Cal Cazadora has an uncle, the uncle has a hilarious turn of phrase, the turn of phrase has an outlet, the outlet is a blog, the blog has stories about snakes
"Torremolinos, Spain, 1975. I met a great white hunter at a party. He complained that by the mid-70s the great white hunting business wasn’t what it used to be. Thanks to unfriendly poachers, vigilant rangers and inflation, there just weren’t that many safaris any more. Things had come to such an ugly pass, he continued, that he was available for almost any reasonably legal employment. Consequently, when a British movie company came to his part of Africa on location, he signed on with them as an assistant animal handler."
And thereby hangs a tale........
All the best
SBW.
picture credit ( i've only seen one a couple of times and never this near to my house) © Lee Brady
I've made this sort of comment on several other blogs and forums, so I imagine my aversion to snakes is becoming quite well know.
ReplyDeleteI don't like snakes. Never have liked them, never will like them.
Although some snake stories are good.
Let me start by saying I don't actually hunt rattlesnakes (or any other kind, for that matter), but I do indeed know what to do with one should it come across my chopping block. Put simply, chunk it, dip it in beer batter and eat like fish and chips - preferably with malt vinegar.
ReplyDeleteSnakes are chewy, with a texture and taste not too far removed from sturgeon. Think frogs legs and you have the idea. Too weird? Then eat a piece of chicken and a piece of halibut in short succession and you'll get it...
My first encounter with an adder was walking in the Scottish Highlands with my dad, must be more than 30 years ago now, when they were more common and considered a threat to dogs & livestock.
ReplyDeleteHe decided the skin would look good on his wall, so he held it down with a stick, and pushed the blade of his penknife through its head, then wrapped it up in his handkerchief and popped it in his shorts pocket.
We walked for another couple of hours, and I'd forgotten all about it. We got back and he reaches in his pocket: 'Look what we found', tipping it on the ground.
That snake was still very much alive - it reared up, flicked its tongue, and set off at quite a speed. Lucky it never bit him as we walked - we were a long way from help.
My dad ("Fritz" in the AnimalStories blog) loved eating rattlesnake, but Mom would't cook it for him so I had to eat it Dad's way - sauteed in a little butter and that's it, probably not even any salt (blaspheme!). It wasn't very good.
ReplyDeleteI bet Dad would've loved the beer batter rattler, though. Maybe we can head up to the hills this spring and get some baby rattlers...
Thank you for the kind words, SBW. If you ever do get a chance to eat a snake, try to get one in the fall, one that's been eating well. Skinny ones right out of winter hibernation are hardly worth the effort. I've always wondered what they would taste like smoked over hickory or apple chips and consumed with beer. I imagine I would like it. I'll eat almost anything I can lift.
ReplyDeletea cross between sturgeon,grenouilles,chicken and halibut?I think not..to me the serpent tastes like serpent,alligator is the has the closest texture and fortitude.This has to be made palatable and digestible following a committed hammering and a 24 hour citrus marinade...flash cooking the results over a three stone fire..serpent,in my limited experience,will survive this treatment and provide the diner with a memorable gastronomic experience,ken's sage words regarding late summer,well fed serpents should be taken into full account whilst preparing for any "snakehunt"
ReplyDeletecheers swb for the message swb
ReplyDeletefrom drew
drewdunnrespect.blogspot.com
http://bodocktimes.blogspot.com/2006/10/hogses-and-deerses-and-snakes-oh-my.html
ReplyDeletewe cooked the big rattler and it was not bad. I don't think it was cooked enough because the cook got drunk. Anyway it still wasn't bad.
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ReplyDeleteMan, that picture gave me the creeps when it loaded! You should have put a disclaimer on it! LOL
ReplyDeleteWell, I couldn't tell you how rattlesnake tastes...it has its own distinct flavor...I can tell you that it doesn't taste like chicken though!
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