Every once in a while, we get a hankering for alligator. Once on the verge of extinction, American gator has come back from the brink. You might as well eat it. Grin. Thank goodness, gator comes from an adjoining state to Arkansas–Louisiana–so it’s sort of local. Arkansas actually has gator too, but Arkansas gator doesn’t show up in markets; it’s just not that widespread here, and it’s usually an accident when it ends up as far north as even the edge of the Ozarks.
Some people ask me what gator tastes like. I would say, “It tastes like chicken,” but that’s just not true. I think gator tastes like frog legs, but with a lot chewier texture. No, frog legs don’t taste like chicken either. They taste like an incredibly mild fish with a texture that’s like the softest, moistest chicken you ever had. Both frog legs and gator are family-friendly food; their flavor is mild, somehow familiar, and they can be prepared like your kids’ chicken nuggets, only much tastier. I can also easily imagine a table of kids who would be delighted to nosh on an animal that’s so much like a dinosaur, such a big predator.
When we buy gator, we usually treat it like the Louisiana product that it is in this neck of the woods. We’ll marinate it in a mixture of buttermilk and Tabasco to tenderize it. Then we shake off the excess moisture, dip it in seasoned flour, and pan fry it.
Mmmmm: husband at work in the kitchen. He looks delicious when he cooks!
The gator looks pretty good too!
Turn, baby, turn!
Oh, Mr. Gator, are you ready for your close up?
We like gator with cole slaw.
Try it too with remoulade, a French-Cajun sauce that’s a fancier, tastier version of tartar sauce. Gator is pretty tasty in etoufee or gumbo too, but if you overcook gator it will go from a pleasant al dente to rubbery. You could also do smaller gator chunks, fried as above, as appetizers for a party.
Do you have questions about cooking gator? Do you have a gator recipe you’d like to share or advice about its preparation? Jump in!
By the way, alligator attacks on full-grown humans are rare, but you should always supervise children and pets near where gators could be hanging out. And never, ever, ever feed an alligator. You’ll make it associate humans with dinner, and none of us want gators thinking that way!
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Where can I buy alligator?
We buy our alligator at a seafood stand (tiny shop) in a little Arkansas town. The stand also gets Gulf oysters and shrimp plus bayou crawfish. I suspect that gator is pretty easy to find at these stands along the Gulf coast. Other than that, I’m not sure where you’d find it. I’ll bet, though, that wherever you live you’ve got some regional or local specialty.
It looks like online sources will ship you gator (but then it’s not local) and a few specialty grocery stores will order it for you. Tell me where you live, and I’ll see if I can let my fingers do the walking. I’m curious now about how far north you can get gator.
I live in Oregon.
Do you have a Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods? or specialty butcher? One of those might be willing to order it for you. You can also find some express-mail order places online, but I could not speak for their quality. Hey, you’ve got great seafood in Oregon, just not gator!
Beautiful food.
Ah, because it’s been gently fried?
being relatively close to Louisiana, we get gator quite often. In fact, there is a new restaurant in our little town called Gator Tales, with lots of gator dishes on the menu(mostly fried). They recently moved from their old location which was about 50 miles away overlooking a large lake full of the creatures. They used to offer boat rides on the lake while you waited for you food to get cooked. I always joked that we were going to go pick out the gator for our meal!
There’s just something sweet about eating at a fish camp. I did it more often when I lived in Florida and kind of miss the smell of the water and the gator in the pan.
What an interesting post. I have never heard of cooking or eating gator before. I also have not seen it on a menu. My mind is just racing, trying to figure out how gator is caught (hunted ?). I don’t think I really want to know though. Well, thanks for introducing me to a new food – your photos are lovely. I may try gator if the opportunity comes up.
Linda, it is tasty, but if you don’t prepare it gently, it can be very tough. Some gator is farm raised, but it’s not like raising a cow or a chicken.
We do have good seafood. I just had freshly caught trout for breakfast.
Oh, that sounds wonderful!