Eat you later, alligator!
5/25/2004 7:31:48 PM by Linda Bladholm
Forget pork. Florida has its own "other white meat," low enough in calories and saturated fat for a SoBe model and mean enough in protein for a buff body builder. It's alligator, the snaggle-toothed behemoth of swampy Southern lowlands.
The gamy taste of wild alligator is a hard sell to all but old-timers, but farm-raised gator with its pale, chicken-like flesh is hard to resist. Despite the critter's diet of ground chicken and grain-based gator feed, the meat tastes like a cross between mahi-mahi and catfish with a sweet hint of clam. Some of the best gator meat around -and the only U.S. gator meat available farmdirect to retail customers -- comes from Gatorama, a place about two hours northwest of Miami that's steeped in Old Florida charm.
The old-fashioned roadside attraction, a must-stop along Highway 27 near Palmdale before I-75 and the Florida Turnpike were built, is reinventing itself as a must-have gator meat source. Folks still come to see the mammoth alligators, crocodiles, cooters (soft-shell turtles) and other fauna displayed on 15 acres dotted with palms and live oaks dripping Spanish moss, but those in the know come for a gator fix at the snack bar. Many also stop in to purchase frozen gator meat. Built in 1957, Gatorama was pretty run down by the time Patty Register's dad bought it in 1986. Patty and her husband, Allen, helped him build an alligator farm in 1987 when it became legal to raise the reptiles for meat and hides, and today they run the place. The farm is well-regulated, with over a dozen permits assuring the quality of the meat they ship to restaurants and home cooks around the country. Gatorama visitors can take a close-up look at the creature named for the Spanish el lagarto, "the lizard," then snack on fried tail bites and gator riblets brushed with tangy hot sauce. Raising alligators begins by obtaining eggs, either from the collection overseen by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, which surveys public wetlands for alligator nests, or from private land owners. (Being able to sell alligator eggs, which fetch about $10 each, is an incentive for owners to preserve wetlands.)
Alligators breed in April and lay eggs in late June along the banks of rivers and lakes. The eggs take 60 to 70 days to hatch, with the sex of the babies determined by the temperature of the nest. Gatorama incubates its eggs at 88 degrees to produce mainly females, which are less aggressive and grow faster. (Higher temps produce males.) The eight- to nine-inch hatchlings are put in a grow-out house, where 90-degree temperatures keep the cold-blooded reptiles' metabolism high, assuring that they eat every day. This is accomplished by what Allen Register calls his "redneck solar heaters," two large water tanks where water is heated by the sun and then pumped through tubes into tanks where the alligators live for two years.
Dozens of sleek, prehistoric creatures resembling huge salamanders with gleaming yellow eyes hover on the bottom of the tanks, occasionally surfacing for a toothy yawn before submerging again. The tanks are cleaned daily and flushed with a diluted bleach solution to keep the gators' valuable skin bacteria-free. (Each hide is worth $125, and supplying tanners is big part of the farm's business.)
Each year the farm produces about 1,000 gators, which are periodically harvested, skinned, boned and cut up by a professional skinner. Demand outstrips the Registers' ability to supply meat, one reason they rarely indulge unless they have company. Harvested when about five-feet long, an average gator yields seven pounds of meat, with six of it coming from the tail. The rest is from the back, ribs and tenderloin. The tail and tenderloin are considered the tastiest parts. The tail bits are tender and the ribs chewy but succulent enough to make a diner want to gnaw off every scrap.
Afour-ounce portion of farm-raised gator meat has about 145 calories and is 97 percent fat-free, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture. The same amount of lean beef has about 200 calories, 23 percent of them from fat. Four ounces of skinless chicken breast has about 170 calories, 21 percent from fat. Gator meat can be fried, made into fritters, jerked, blackened Cajun-style, tossed with pasta, poached, stewed, baked, steamed, roasted, sauteed or grilled. It can also be added to salads, pilafs, paellas, chowders and chili or ground for burgers and meatballs.
Gatorama's meat is vacuum-packed, frozen and shipped overnight via Federal Express, with a minimum order of five pounds required. Before cooking, it should be defrosted in the coldest part of the refrigerator to keep it firm and moist. (Thawing at room temperature makes it mushy.) It should be cooked through so that the juices run clear and there's no hint of pinkness when you cut into it. Home delivery is convenient, but a drive up the road to Palmdale will save you shipping costs and treat you to a trip back in time.
MAIN DISH GATOR BITES Serve with your favorite hot sauce, coleslaw and corn bread.
- 2 pounds farm-raised gator meat
- Vegetable oil for deep-frying
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
Cut the meat into 2-inch cubes. Heat about 11/2 cups oil in a heavy, 3-quart saucepan to 375 degrees on a deep-frying thermometer. Combine flour, cornmeal, salt, pepper and paprika in a plastic bag. Add gator meat and shake to coat in the flour mixture. Deepfry in batches for 3 to 5 minutes, until golden and cooked through. Drain on paper towels. Serve hot. Makes 4 to 6 servings. Per serving: 208 calories (11 percent from fat), 2.5 g fat (0.5 g saturated, 0.1 g monounsaturated), 55 mg cholesterol, 26.6 g protein, 20.6 g carbohydrates, 1.4 g fiber, 440 mg sodium. Source: Patty Register.
Linda Bladholm writes about food and dining. She can be contacted at food@herald.com.