Climate change. The last sentence blames climate change.
On a Fiero related note, I had an iguana named Zeke for years after high school. He would just chill with us. Never bothered anyone, or even tried for an escape. I used to put him on the shelf behind me in my 1984 Fiero. Took that scaley bastage just about everywhere.
Originally posted by Tony Kania: Climate change. The last sentence blames climate change.
Tony, you are showing your age. You do not know the name of the new term ? Someone, some thread, linked an article about how the UN deemed climate refugees non deportable.
The new phrase is ... damn, I am on a different computer. Gone is global warming. It is now "Global Heating".
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Is there a market for iguanas ? Perfect harvest time.
I wonder if they taste more like frog legs or rattlesnake.
Tastes like gator tail to me.
Best analogy that I can think of for gator tail is if you fried fish and chicken in the same pan and the chicken picked up a slight "fishy" taste to it....that's gator, (and iguana)
Best analogy that I can think of for gator tail is if you fried fish and chicken in the same pan and the chicken picked up a slight "fishy" taste to it....that's gator, (and iguana)
To me, gator is chewy, like chicken gizzards, not as tender as frog or snake.
I've tried gator at a few restaurants, and the closest I can describe what's been served is pop a chunk of inner tube in your mouth, take a swig of swamp water with rotting foliage for flavor, and start chewing.
I've tried gator at a few restaurants, and the closest I can describe what's been served is pop a chunk of inner tube in your mouth, take a swig of swamp water with rotting foliage for flavor, and start chewing.
Depends which part of the alligator you prepare and how you prepare it. Most restaurants cook the tail too long and many people don't remove all the little tendons from the tail meat and that does make it pretty chewy.
But, think about alligator the same as you would beef or pork. The meat we usually eat as steaks and roasts are all muscles..the primal muscles used least by the animal are the most tender..like the loin cuts..while the most used parts from the legs, chuck and rump are used a lot and they are less tender, which is why they are usually cooked slower and longer. Alligator tail is all muscle..actually 4 muscles and used a LOT while the aligator is living..same as it's legs, so it's not going to be as tender as chicken. (most chicken you get nowadays is grown off very quickly and it's muscles aren't used much anyway in that short length of time) And, there is very little fat in an alligator, so it is going to dry out easily if you aren't careful. 2 of the tail muscles (1 on each side) are not so tender, while the 2 interior strips are as tender as any tenderloin...you will very rarely find these 2 good pieces sold in a restaurant that caters rto us peon masses. Cut the gator tail into strips 1" thick and about 4-6" long. Season them and put them on a hot grill and grill them no more than 3-4..'maybe' 5 min on each side. If you are going to fry the tail, cut it into 1 1/2" cubes, season, dip in buttermilk (a natural tenderizer), coat with flour/and cornstarch mixture then repeat. Deep fry it just until it floats or about 5 minutes.
Really tho, the best way is to brine it for about 10-12 hrs then roast it slow in the oven, basting with butter frequently.
The rest of the gator needs to be de-boned and slow cooked in a sauce. ..leg meat and jowls, but it's hard to get in a retail environment. The only reason snake meat is more tender is because it's so thin. When I was in Cuba, I ate some snake meat from a very large snake (boa I believe) and it was considerably tougher than the rattlesnake I have eaten. (I didn't cook it..a Jamaican did.)
[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 01-23-2020).]
Climate change. The last sentence blames climate change.
On a Fiero related note, I had an iguana named Zeke for years after high school. He would just chill with us. Never bothered anyone, or even tried for an escape. I used to put him on the shelf behind me in my 1984 Fiero. Took that scaley bastage just about everywhere.
This is what really pisses me off... why does every news / media outlet have to try to make **** up.
quote
This could be a result of milder winters: "We're going through multiple winters that are failing to get as cold as almost every winter did a few decades ago," Weather Underground climate blogger Bob Henson said. "This is happening at the same time that iguana populations are multiplying across South Florida."
What the hell does any of this even mean?
It snowed last year in San Antonio... first time in decades. And before I moved to Texas, I'd lived in SOUTH Florida for over 20 years. Growing zone 9b. We had many, many, many winters that dropped below 32 degrees. Every time this happened, they'd announce a state of emergency.
Lizards are always falling from the trees as a result of a cold snap. As a matter of fact, after 2012 I think it was, we had such a cold winter that I didn't see the iguana population come back until fairly recently. I'd say that even just before this last cold snap, the iguana population is nothing like what it was prior to 2012.
As for the iguanas, I kind of feel bad for them. I don't know why "experts" hate them so much. They are an invasive species, but I don't really see that they cause any kind of significant problems. They eat flowering plants... (they love hibiscus), but they almost exclusively hang out near waterways, so it's not like they destroy everything in sight.
When I lived in Florida in the '50s and '60s, we didn't have iguana or pythons, and I don't think there were near as many alligators. I guess it is a very different place now.
When I lived in Florida in the '50s and '60s, we didn't have iguana or pythons, and I don't think there were near as many alligators. I guess it is a very different place now.
That's the thing with Florida... really... South Florida. In the early 1950s, air conditioning wasn't common in all except the wealthiest of homes. By the early 1960s, window units were becoming affordable, but "central air" didn't even become a thing until the mid 1970s. It wasn't until the mid 1960s that South Florida (where most of the iguanas are) started to really get populated.
That's important for two reasons...
1 - Alligators pretty much stayed in their territory, which was the everglades. There didn't exist this network of canals and channels back then that exists today. Furthermore, the Division of Forestry had broadcast eucalyptus seed all over South Florida in an attempt to dry up the swamp. Over the past 60 years since then, we've pretty much used up every available land that isn't otherwise part of a state or national park. In addition, everyone wants ocean and intercostal access, so there have been 10s of thousands of canals and large connecting drainage systems. This has both reduced the available land for alligators forcing them into populated areas, and provided new means of passage to populated areas (via canals).
2 - The iguanas mostly came here during the population boom. Transient families with pets who leave Florida, rather than take the pet with them, they let them go in the canal.
So, it's man-caused, that's for sure... but these silly articles always want to try to make allegations or insinuations that everything happens because of "climate change."
I've seen a lot of iguanas, but they were different than the green ones in Fla. They are Cuban rock iguanas..they eat prickly pear and other arid land vegetation. In all of Cuba's 45,000 sq miles, there are about 50,000 of them but 3000 of these iguanas are on the US Naval base's 45 square miles at Guantanamo, protected and well cared for. It's the only part of Cuba where their numbers are increasing instead of decreasing. One of the detention camps is named camp iguana. Of course, Guantanamo also has huge numbers of banana rats..they weigh from 6-18 lbs each and don't eat bananas. They're everywhere and we called them banana rats because that's the shape and size of the turds these rats leave all over the place.
[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 01-24-2020).]
If you are going to fry the tail, cut it into 1 1/2" cubes, season, dip in buttermilk (a natural tenderizer), coat with flour/and cornstarch mixture then repeat. Deep fry it just until it floats or about 5 minutes.
YUP
One of the best local places for gator tail near us is in Ozona, FL, (20 min. drive) and they soak their wild caught gator in buttermilk for a day or so before breading and deep frying for nuggets. They also serve fresh tail "tenderloin" Cajun blackened style or grilled.
One of the best local places for gator tail near us is in Ozona, FL, (20 min. drive) and they soak their wild caught gator in buttermilk for a day or so before breading and deep frying for nuggets. They also serve fresh tail "tenderloin" Cajun blackened style or grilled.
The below picture shows the tail of an alligator, looking from the bottom side. The very center is the bones that extend on down from the spine. He has already skinned the whole animal, and is fleshing it out. Everything you see is flesh, but he's removing one of 2 tenderloins on the tail (one on each side of the tail) and he has one in his hand. This is the most prized part of the tail and all the rest of the tail is flesh as well and is what you usually get if you order fried alligator tail. The tenderloin will go for a much higher price than the regular tail meat.
He has it cut loose in the following picture.
It and the other one are the equivalent of the ribeye if it were beef. The rest of the tail is ok, but nothing like the tenderloin. You can watch the whole thing..about 28 minutes I believe.
[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 01-27-2020).]
^^
