New Fed Guidance: Seafood Safety Following the Gulf Oil Spill

[Henry Hawk]

Gator is pretty tasty, you can buy it canned from Cabelas if you really want to try it. I've had it steamed, I've had it breaded and fried, I've had it boiled. Tastes like chicken! 

I have had some deep fried gator, and it really does taste similar to chicken....it was not bad at all....but then again, I like about anything if it is battered and deep fried.

[Sandy Eggo]

Good question, 'cause there's a huge difference. I always think they mean white meat, but that's probably b/c that's what I prefer.

[Palehorse]

Question.  Everybody always says this or that meat tastes like chicken but they never say whether it tastes like the breast or the legs of the chicken.  Why?

It has the consistency of lobster, but tastes like the white meat on a chicken. . .

[followsthewolf]

Mostly 'gator tastes like the last thing it ate.

[Bo D]

Mostly 'gator tastes like the last thing it ate.

Yum! I love Chinese food. I hear gators eat a lot of dogs.

[Henry Hawk]

You know now that you mentioned it, the last one I tried DID have a License plate taste to it...

[Lester Sasquatch]

Some folks say that turtles have seven different kinds of meat but I don't think so. Turtle meat is very tender if cooked right and, if you are a carnivore like me, you will like it. Most of us in the Martin County clan like it pan fried except for the neck, that part is good to make soup from. The biggest thing about turtle is preparing the critter, once you figure out how to get em out of that shell the battle is over. Elmer Gentry is a river rat on the White River an I seen him clean a turtle once in about 2 minutes. Once Elmer brought in a catfish so big he cut a couple of fillets off of its cheeks. He says that is the best part of a big catfish. I like the channel and flatheads but don't really care for the blues, they have a mud taste that you cannot cover up even with a heavy dose of spices.

On alligator I like the tail cut up in small chunks, dipped in a good corn meal based batter, then fried in hot peanut oil. A little trick I learned this summer was to take bluegill fillets with the skin on, slice them into small strips, and dump them in a pot of boiling water for just under a minute. When these strips hit the hot water they curl up like popcorn shrimp and, with a tad of cocktail sauce, taste a little bit like them too.

[Bo D]

I like the channel and flatheads but don't really care for the blues, they have a mud taste that you cannot cover up even with a heavy dose of spices.

Here's a trick we used to use to get rid of the mud taste. Take the fish home alive and put in in a big tub of clean water. Change the water a couple times a day for a few days before you kill it and cook it.

Works for carp, too.

[Lester Sasquatch]

Here's a trick we used to use to get rid of the mud taste. Take the fish home alive and put in in a big tub of clean water. Change the water a couple times a day for a few days before you kill it and cook it.

Works for carp, too.

Thanks for the tip, I will have to try that one.

[Palehorse]

Soaking the fillets in a brine solution for a few hours helps too.

[Henry Hawk]

Soaking the fillets in a brine solution for a few hours helps too.

My mom always did that after we fished OR hunted...

Never thought about why, but she did.

[me]

I had some friends who got the brilliant idea to just cut the heads off blue gill and wrap them in foil, not scaled first, and freeze them.  They would then use them to grill over charcoal and when you unwrapped them the skin would come off and there would be the meat.....Unfortunately they were nasty tasting.....They loved them but I thought they were gross and so did my ex who loves blue gill. 

[The Troll]

I had some friends who got the brilliant idea to just cut the heads off blue gill and wrap them in foil, not scaled first, and freeze them.  They would then use them to grill over charcoal and when you unwrapped them the skin would come off and there would be the meat.....Unfortunately they were nasty tasting.....They loved them but I thought they were gross and so did my ex who loves blue gill.

Mayby your taste buds were off that day.  But most people say and I agree that blue gill is one of the best tasting fresh water fish.

[Palehorse]

Mayby your taste buds were off that day.  But most people say and I agree that blue gill is one of the best tasting fresh water fish.

Dad always said that too, and he ate every single one he caught. I like them, but would not go so far as to call them the best tasting freshwater fish; for me that title is a very close three way race between walleye, perch, and salmon! 

[me]

Mayby your taste buds were off that day.  But most people say and I agree that blue gill is one of the best tasting fresh water fish.

I think maybe it was the way they did them because I've eaten blue gill before and they didn't taste real strong like these did which is why my ex didn't like them either.  But something about leaving the skin on and throwing butter on them wrapping them and freezing them that way just, IMO anyway, work out in favor of the flavor.