CNN reports on an Arizona butcher shop that serves lion meat. It also serves bear, ostrich, camel – even snapping turtle.
Apparently it is legal to eat African lion in the USA. It isn’t endangered, though an international organization has called the king of the jungle “threatened.”
Threatened by hungry diners in Arizona, apparently.
This evokes the same revulsion I felt when I read about the whale meat served at a Santa Monica restaurant in March.
I don’t care if others eat lion (or snapping turtle or whatever) but I don’t think I would. So I’m curious what is the most exotic food you’ve ever eaten? And would you try lion?
Cara,
I have eaten snake, allagator and rabbit. I think if your hungry enough you’ll eat anything.
Wow. Okay, did the alligator and snake taste alike?
I remember when I was very young, I saw someone bbqing a squirrel. That still grosses me out today – all these many years hence!
I once ate rhubarb in a pie. That was pretty damn exotic.
Cara,
I forgot I did have sqirrel and the snake and the allagator did taste like chicken
I’ve lived a charmed life when it comes to exotic foods – I’ve had snake (didn’t like), alligator (it was ok) and rhubarb in a pie (love it – especially strawberry rhubarb pie — mmm, good). I’ve also had squirrel and rabbit. Didn’t care much for the squirrel, but the rabbit was ok. Ostrich is fine too, but not as good as rabbit. Venison, elk, bison are all good, but bear is too greasy for my tastes. Turtle soup is good, but I’ve never had it any other way. Octopus is ok, but I prefer squid. I’m game for about anything, except mushrooms. I absolutely cannot eat mushrooms. They make me gag. Even watching someone bite into a big mushroom will often trigger a gag reflex. Interestingly, large gobs of butter will have the same effect on me. Damn, now I’m hungry.
Cara,
I lived in Hawaii most of my life. Raw fish, squid whatever critters were avaiable not to mention the fresh fruit in great abundance.
Heh, Mike, I was going to ask if you are from Louisiana
I am, so I’ve tried my fair share of odd animal. I, too, have had alligator, snake and squirrel. I don’t think rhubarb is exotic (it being a Southern staple and all, but I get the feeling that Sean was being factitious). Had Ostrich when I lived in Arizona. Had some meat that I was afraid to ask where it came from when I was in Afghanistan (goat was good, mystery meat was not).
Sure, I’d try lion. About the only kind of food I don’t really like is fish and seafood.
There’s a Southern supermarket chain called “Food Lion.” Beats being called “lion food,” don’t it?
Oddest thing I ever ate was ostrich, in a burger at a cookout. Fairly good, as I recall. But if you’ve ever watched Foot Network, you’ll get odd stuff all day long. On Chefs v. City, Aron and Chris had to eat live octupus tentacles (still squirming), and that was just too much for me – like a Klingon delicacy come to life.
And then there’s all the stuff Ted Allen puts in those baskets on Chopped. I don’t know what’s crazier, the items or that one of the chefs instantly says, “Oh, this is perfect! I know exactly what to do!” Riiiiiight.
Chefs, for the dessert round, you have – gravel; old shoelaces; motor oil; and laminate cardboard. Thirty minutes!
The second I saw cardboard, I said – torte! I’ll candy the shoelaces and reduce the oil with some cognac and honey…
Riiiiiiight.
Exactly ‘Fly. Some of the things they come up with on the challenge shows blows the mind.
Next Food Network Star:
Your next challenge is to teach yourself alchemy and convert this pile of hay and cow droppings into duck coco van.
You have 45 minutes.
Heheheheh. If the Food Network contestants watch enough of Good Eats, I’m sure they’ll see a show about the science behind that.
Hehehe “Foot Network”
You Americans have a cable station for every fetish don’t you…?
So there’s this place near us called Lion Coffee. Uhm, until now, I just thought that was their logo. I blame you, Cara.
Yeah, it has lion juice in it. Totally.
I don’t think any predator or carnivore makes for good meat. About the only ones I can think of is some fish….
For exotic foods, I like snails. Are quail, dove or deer considered exotic? Nothing is more fun than hunting, cleaning, cooking and then eating your prey. It makes you feel like you could survive an apocalypse. (Especially if you make your own shotgun shells)
I think alligator and buffalo are about as exotic as i’ve had. alligator is about like chicken but chewier, and buffalo burgers are pretty similar to normal burgers.
on the non-exotic side, venison is excellent, if you’ve never had it (i don’t know if it’s big among city folk or not). also, if you find a restaurant that says they serve dolphin (and they’re not in japan), they just serve dolphin fish, which is way different and also called mahi mahi – though it is fantastic.
@cara: “Lion juice” sounds delicious.
@cullen: Yes, I was being factitious. I actually liked the rhubarb. It wasn’t as bad as the name.
I have eaten pigeon and frog while in China. And let me tell you they eat anything there. The restaurants would have crocodile, snake, some kind of giant millipede, even elephant trunk in one of them.
Unfortunately, my tour group was not very adventurous so I never got anything more exotic than pigeon.
Oh my god. I just threw up in my mouth a little. Elephant trunk? FROG?
Pigeon! You can’t eat pigeons, they’re too cute!
What did it taste like?
A little disappointing, sorta like greasy chicken. I expected a more gamey taste.
The frog was nice though.
If lions, and tigers, and bears, OH MY, were raised for meat, they wouldn’t be threatened for long. You don’t see Chickens, Cattle, Sheep, or Swine on any Threatened list, do you?
Bison is delicious; it was made for BBQ sauce.
Venison is very nice.
Axis is also delicious. It’s very lean, though, so it needs care while cooking.
I love fried alligator, but don’t care for it baked.
Shark was OK.
Octopus I’ve only had on sushi and it’s fine if a bit rubbery.
Elk is my new favorite meat now that I’ve finally tried it.
Next on the list is moose or caribou, both of which I’ve heard good things about.
Do I count as exotic yet?
Whoa, yes. All those sound extremely exotic. Where are you eating these things? A restaurant or home? Did somebody catch an alligator and fry him up?
I think I’d have trouble with alligator because its a dinosaur. It just seems to be not the correct time dimension for me.
Ha, I forgot I ate some alligator tail when I lived in Florida. The way the restaurant prepared, breaded and fried, it tasted sorta like a pork chop. So that’s it for me, unless duck counts and I just bought some rabbit to cook up later.
Squirrell, venison, wild boar, alligator, bison, various sea creatures – I’ve had them. I’d love to be able to get alligator that’s not breaded & fried.
I’d be up for trying lion – no idea what it would taste like.
Wow, you’re adventurous. I remember when I was very young – six, seven years old – someone in our neighborhood butchered and cooked a squirrel on their bbq.
My mother was angry that they’d do that with kids in the neighborhood.
I cried. I was disturbed by it back then, and occasionally I think of it now and it bothers me.
I dunno why. I eat cow. I just feel weird about the exotic stuff – and squirrel and pigeon creep me out more than most other things.
Threatened or endangered, that’s a feature of evolution. they should be allowed to evolve and become better or go extinct.
Whoa…. I don’t want lions EVOLVING too much, ok? Soon it’s flying lions with laser eyes and opposable thumbs, dive-bombing people in supermarket lines, opening their closets and getting hair all over the dress pants, and you can’t relax at home without some bossy ol’ lion coming along and rummaging in your fridge for the good beer, hogging the remote, and eating your dog.
Let’s keep dangerous animals nice and DUMB.