Re: Details of Clark Ashton Smith's life.
Posted by:
calonlan (IP Logged)
Date: 30 September, 2009 10:50AM
re the cooking of Rattlesnake -
snakes from dry or desert areas tend to be tastier than those in damper climes, due, no doubt, to a diet richer in protein, and lacking in the denizens of muddy areas.
Also, they are far better if fileted as mentioned before.
I am starting a minor revolution here in South Texas since they generally cut them by length, leaving in the alimentary canal, and, for my taste, fouling the flavor.
We have two major events here, Rattlesnake Races, and an annual Rattlesnake Roundup - the latter originated in the desert country to make it a little safer, now, of course, it is continued because it is (a)fun,(b) gathering venom for antitoxins, and (c) for the hides for boots, belts et al (indeed, the queen of the event wears a snake mini-skirt). However many they catch they do not seem to have much affect on the overall population. It is, of course, much faster to chop them up lengthwise if you are running a food booth at a fair, nevertheless, if the snake is thick enough to have a fair amount of meat, slice the meat off the bone. One year at the end of summer camp season, my wife cut the meat of a Sierra Rattler into "fish stick" lengths, breaded it and fried it, thus fooling a number of camp cousellors into thinking it was fish and giving it a try - most loved it until the truth was revealed, thus exposing the prejudice that affects taste. After all, anyone who has lived with chickens about the yard, and will still eat one after seeing what they will eat (including each other) should have no trouble eating Rattler - it is a far cleaner creature than the chicken - at any rate, when rations are low, as they usually were at the Smith home, snake is a good alternative, and much better than spam.