An old Army buddy is sending me some alligator meat and I was wondering what would be the best way to do it justice, Jambalaya, gumbo etc any favorite ways to make it PM if you want...Just another Yankee

I had some several years ago. Battered and fried. Was very good!

would like to try it some day,

Battered and fried. It'll preserve some of the unique flavor.

Jambalaya will cover the flavor. Could use any type meat and not tell the difference with all the spices.

I was gonna cook some alligator meat the other day,,,but all I could find was a Crock-pot.

Breaded and fried.Very good.Reminds me a bit of scallops and I like those.

X 2

… young gator or old fat gator? … tail meat?

… if young and tail meat you can’t beat battered and fried .. if old trim as much fat as you can and go with some of the things you mentioned … gator fat is bad as big blue cat belly

I had some at Summerfest years ago.

I agree with fried.

The best i have made was tail meat marinated in teriyaki and grilled on homemade charcoal.

That'll work!

Holy crap..., a usefully post.

^^^… I’ve killed upwards of 400 alligators in self defense

What Savell said. I like mine fried with cornmeal instead of flour or breading.

As someone who commerically hunts alligators and cooks a lot of it here is my take on alligator meat...

Tail meat is the lowest grade of meat on a cocodrie, especially on one over 7 foot. It is where they store their fat and normally is chewy. Best is to sous vide or parboil it. The fat will render off of it and or you can see it as it will show up better.

Jaw meat and legs meat is pretty good as you don't have to deal with the fat and when cooked properly is pretty amazing.

The two loins that come from the bottom of the base of the tail is the best.

Cooking I would not make a jambalaya or gumbo as the flavor really doesn't work with alligator, it gets lost and 99% of the people out there can't make a dark enough roux that is needed with the white meat. Fried is good, especially if you sous vide tail meat before frying as it will be fat free and tender, but to me is a really boring way of eating it. Where the flavor of the meat shines is in a sauce piquante or courtbouillon.

TrappuerGunny... Had to google that but sounds awesome, is it Spicy? (I'm kind of a woose with Hot stuff) Thanks Mark

If you make it yourself, you can make it how you want it. Most Cajun/Creole food is spicy, yes but not hot. Big difference. If you eat anytype of Cajun food and its burn your mouth hot, I would bet it wasn't prepared by a real Cajun.