Storyville

Alligator

The 'gators hide out down in the swamp, and they're nice enough fellas, I guess. They mostly go about their business, and don't bother you none. That is, unless you annoy them. Then they tend to snap your hand off.

Ya wouldn't normally think of the guys as food, but down in the Louisiana swamps the critters the local Cajuns discovered they were tasty as anything else around, as long as you cleaned and tenderized it enough. Don't worry about them being protected, Alligator is commonly raised in farms for skin, and the meat may well be available at your local specialty meat market. Katrina and I located some off of 56th St. here in Indianapolis, pre-cleaned and marinated, and with a little help from our friend Bryan, who made sure it was extra tenderized by beating it with his bare fist into pulp, it was good to go.

The key to making gumbo is not to add too much liquid in the first place. You want your thickening to be done by the okra's soluble fiber. So barely cover the okra with enough liquid to boil it! The resulting gumbo is nothin'to sneer at.

Alligator Gumbo
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour, twenty minutes

Ingredients:

2 lbs alligator meat
1/4 lb andouille sausage (substitute any smoked sausage if you can't find it)
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
3 scallions
1 small white onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 green bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 20 oz can crushed and stewed tomatoes
2 pounds okra
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
2 tbsp cayenne pepper
12 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp filé seasoning (replace with 1 tbsp powdered thyme, if unavailable)

Prep:

Slice up okra, discarding stems.

Chop up the green bell pepper, being careful to discard the seeds and stem. Also chop up the scallions, white onion, parsley, and celery.

Slice up the andouille sausage and alligator meat into 1" chunks.

Cooking:

Put the okra into a pot and cover with water, and bring to a boil. Make sure to add water if it needs it, but add no more than you have to! The more you add the thinner this will be and you want a thick, rich gumbo.

Sauteé your celery, onion, scallion, and green bell pepper in a pan with a stick of butter. When soft, add your tomatoes and sauteé for another ten minutes. Pour into your okra/water mixture, and add the alligator and andouille, and then simmer it gently, being careful not to scorch it, for two hours.

Season with salt and hot sauce, and perhaps some capers.

The Result:

The result was delicious. I must confess alligator's flavor certainly doesn't warrant buying it every day. It tastes good enough, but one could get away with something more available, like chicken, for a cheaper and more readily available gumbo.

But then, this is a gumbo recipe! Play with it! Add some of your own ingredients, and throw out what you don't care for. This dish is all about mixing together what's in season and making a thick, tasty stew of it, so don't hold yourself back!