Esther Dyson‘s amazing food snapshot from the recent VIP “Explorer’s Club” dinner may not answer that question, but it does show you what oven-roasted alligator looks like. Yikes! Or, as Esther might type in her disemvoweled flickr notes, yks! If I’d been there, I would have opted to nosh on the orchids instead. Of course, they’re right next to the hissing cockroach skewers…
Update: Esther is always ahead of her time. “How Do You Properly Cook an Alligator?” is the subject of a front-page story in today’s Wall Street Journal by Jane Zhang. Link (paid subscribers only), and here’s an excerpt:
[A]n email network called Foodsafe […] posts the correspondence of an elite lineup of microbiologists, chefs, restaurateurs, industry consultants and regulators from about 30 countries, including the U.S., Japan, Mexico, New Zealand and even Iraq. With its debates, battles and mini-celebrities, Foodsafe (www.foodsafetyweb.info) puts on display world experts as they grapple with the increasingly complex and strange world of food and disease.
A couple of years ago, a Washington state restaurant inspector wanted to know how to cook alligator. Long enough so a meat thermometer registers 165 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 seconds, “same as for fowl to which alligator is most closely related,” replied a regulator from Florida. What about eating leftover pizza? Beware mozzarella cheese, which can be a hotbed for potentially dangerous bacteria, said O. Peter Snyder Jr., a St. Paul, Minn., food-safety consultant. And, of course, there’s the avian flu. If it leaps from fowl to humans, duck hunters are likely to be the first U.S. victims, Dr. Snyder wrote.
In debates that last for days, months and, occasionally, years, there’s talk about bugs, toilets, spoilage and pathogens. Sometimes discussions turn ugly, with clashes among scientists, regulators and corporate health managers.
Update:
George Dyson (who happens to be Esther’s brother) offers a vegan alternative:
Link.