Fried Alligator

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

afterburn25

Assistant Cook
Joined
Dec 8, 2013
Messages
32
Location
Lafayette, LA
fried alligator.jpg


for anyone that hasn't tried this its very good a delicacy around here.
 
I like fried alligator. 'Course in there parts, alligators are a protected species.
We have a few up in Merchant's Millpond, but Lord knows, you best not get caught tryin' to take one outta there!
 
it is not fishy at all granted it has to be done right. if you don't get it in Louisiana it probably wont be good.

As for being a protected species that was years ago they almost went extinct it is no longer protected here. Actually we have over population problems, its funny they lifted some of the restrictions but you have to have a special license now to hunt them. its kinda funny too cause people down here have big problems with them showing up in peoples back yards yet still don't allow us to freely hunt them.
 
I didn't mean to offend you about it tasting like 'fishy chicken" but I ate it in NOLA at a popular restaurant there, and my husband said the same. I'm game for most unusual foods and I must say it was the only thing we ate there that we didn't like. Bring it all on, except alligator!
 
I didn't mean to offend you about it tasting like 'fishy chicken" but I ate it in NOLA at a popular restaurant there, and my husband said the same. I'm game for most unusual foods and I must say it was the only thing we ate there that we didn't like. Bring it all on, except alligator!

no not offended however New Orleans is bad example it has gone down in recent years. I went a couple years ago and was very disappointed wasn't the N.O.L.A that I remember.
I turned my girlfriend on to Gumbo shes from New York and she loves it.
We ordered some in New Orleans and wow it tasted like the dumped a whole canister of salt in it and charged us $15 a bowl for it.

The other main difference is New Orleans is mostly Creole food and I live 2 hours West of New Orleans and here its Cajun.

Now if you want a recipe for Gumbo I can give you one I made myself I have yet to find anyone that can even come close.
 
Back in the day my two coworkers ran crocodile for food business on side. They had the freshest, the yummiest alligator you can get. I used to tr y anything that came my way. Alligator was not on my list of favorite things to eat.


Sent from my iPad using Discuss Cooking
 
i had fried gator tail in disney in florida (of all places) many years ago ('85, '86 maybe). if memory serves, it was in al e. gator's restaurant, lol.

i liked it, beyond the cool factor.

i've ordered it a few times since with varied results, mostly good. and i know good seafood, imho.

you have to like dark meat poultry to start. what i've had was not fishy at all for the most part, but once or maybe twice i noted a kinda high nose sense of fish.

i'm guessing like most water creatures, the longer the time from catch to cook, the more it degrades.

once again, where's pacanus? wasn't he the one who was ordering these swamp treats every so often?
 
Never had alligator but I have had crocodile....once! It was like chewing tasteless rubber - it bounced back! Ended up discreetly removing it from my mouth to the side of my plate and leaving the rest.
 
Last edited:
Never had alligator but I have had crocodile....once! It was like chewing tasteless rubber!

I don't know how Crocodile is never had it but I do know alligator has to be cooked just right there is a very small window of time to cook it perfectly and leave it in slightly too long and it will be chewy like chewing on rubber however if done just right it will fall apart in your mouth
 
I think the quality and freshness of the product has much to do with the taste of the end product. A few weeks ago, we were in Restaurant Depot, browsing the frozen seafood. I came across crawfish tails with the package claiming they were from Breaux Bridge, LA. On the back in small print were the words "Product of China".:rolleyes:

When I order sacks of crawfish, I wait until I can locate river crawfish (wild caught). Might be a little harder on the fingers than pond raised, but IMO, they are so much better.
 
Publix had some fried and hot for samples at the seafood counter. Excellent would be the term to describe it.
Was not fishy at all and was quite tender.
 
Everyone but me seems to say it doesn't taste fishy?

I'm guessing that the oil was over used for frying too much fish and the alligator picked up the fishy taste. Uck..:sick::yuk:

I live a looooooooong way from alligators, so there's no need to try it again.
I'll stick with :chicken: OR fish.
 
Last edited:
Fried alligator is just fine. I had it in southern Florida quite a few times. When I was an over the road trucker I would often get layed over very other weekend. I found this little truck stop way out on the north west side of Miami on the edge of the everglades. There was a Tiki hut bar there. They served fried alligator. I would sit and bs with the air boat captains that gave tours. They would not touch the fried alligator calling it crap. saying thats not real gator. I want a chunk of gator tail to make the way the captains told me it should be made. On the grill!
 
Back
Top Bottom