What species of snakes are the tastiest?

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I read in an encycopaedia once that all types of snakes can be eaten.

Some of my friends have eaten snake meat before. They told me it tasted like chicken.

Without sounding too unfriendly towards our slithery friends, are there any particular kind of snakes that taste better than turkey or chicken?

This question is not meant to offend snake lovers or snake charmers!
 
Hi golok,

Though I'm certainly no expert of culinary or even snakes for that matter I do know that over here in the SE USA we have rather large eastern diamondback rattlesnake...and are quite tasty. More than a few years back we had to remove two 5.5'ers off the property...they were as wide as my forearm...head was size of the back of my hand. It had been a long time since I had snake before...but the wife wanted to give it a try. Everyone in family loved it. We fried it up in a light batter...like fish. A light colored meat...textured like somewhat between fish and chicken. A bit of a sweet taste all its own. Not tough like the white tail meat of alligator that needs to be tenderized. I don't know what's available in your part of the world but it would be interesting to experiment..good luck..bon apetit.
 
In "Into a Desert Place", the author (Graham MacIntyre if I recall his last name correctly) talks about eating rattlers as a substantial and favored element of his diet. He walked the perimeter of Baja California and has since made other walking journeys down there. If you write to him, you often get back a postcard featuring his favorite rattler recipe.

I have several friends who spent a lot of time in Southeast Asia and ate many varieties of snake. I never heard them remark about one being especially good. Instead, they seemed to emphasize the seasonings in which the snake meat was cooked.
 
Haven't you notice that when people can't tell you what it taste like they always say chicken. sankes don't taste like chicken. Its a lot drier and much much tougher! Its got a nice game taste to it..but not over powering. just like most kind of animals its not exactly always the meat its how you cook it.
 
Any tips for cleaning and dressing a snake, especially when you don't know what kind it is (not that I think there are poisonous snakes in Pittsburgh:p)?
 
Any tips for cleaning and dressing a snake, especially when you don't know what kind it is?

Poisonous or not makes no difference. All the poison is contained in the head of the snake. Chop of the head and you can stop worrying about poison. BTW I know rattlesnakes (and I think all snakes) have a reflex reaction of the head whenever their bodies are touched. If you have ever killed a snake and then seen it strike at a stick you will remember that lesson for the rest of your life... IIRC this only last about 30 minutes but it should be remembered to remove the head prior to picking up the snake. Nothing worse than being bitten by a poisonous dead snake.

I have never eaten a snake, but I was always taught to remove the head and then just skin them. Once that is done remove the meat and have at it.
 
To clean a snake is quite simple. Its much easier than cleaning any other animal out there. But you have to be careful. A snake can kill you hours after its dead! It still has muscle reflexes just like most lizards etc... If you ever seen a chicken still run a bit after its head been cut off you know what i mean. So approach a dead snake slowly and from behind. Sometimes, what you may have thought was a dead snake isn't. The vibration that you make may just be enough to get it to strike. But lets assume the snake is dead. You never want to pick it up if you can help it unless you have a special tool. You can do a couple of things. 1. is just bend down and cut off its head with a big knife in one chop. 2. step on its neck slowly with your shoe applying just enough pressure to keep it in one place than cut off its head. You never want to step on a snake body hard its like stepping on coil its springs out. Make sure you wear thick boots when dealing with snakes. To fielld dress them hang them by their necks from a low branch make one long shallow cut down the middle and you can essentially peel their skin off at this point, or you can use your knife to remove their skin just like any other animal. you can also nail either the tail or the neck to a a flat piece of wood and skin them in the same manner as hanging them froma branch. Once you have skinned the snake. Cut deeper down the middle of the snake to ensure you don't cut into its guts. cut all the way down and remove the guts. Rub it with salt and coffee ground and vinger if you have it on hand to reduce the strong taste. Remove the any all fat you seee thats where some of strongest smells comes from.

Oh by the way do rinse off the coffee, salt, vinger after about 10 minutes.
 
I've eaten rattler. It dose not taist like chicken! It has the
texture of fish and has a tangy taist. As for cleaning and dressing
one, I couldn't tell you. The one I had was cleaned by someone elts.
It was merinated(sp) and grilled. It was real good although I have
nothing to compare it to sense I've only had rattler. If you plan
catching and eating one just MAKE SURE it dosen't bite itself before
it dies. I have seen them do this and it ruins the meat. If you eat
it after it bites itself you may as well just let it bite you. That
way at least one of you will live to talk about it.

Ric
 
Unless you have an open wound in your mouth, I'd be surprised if meat with rattler venom in it would kill you or have the same impact as a fang strike that put the venom into your bloodstream. Nonetheless, it might give you a nasty case of indigestion so the basic advice is probably sound.
 
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