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Crocodile Chargrilled, In Thailand Sans Tears!
Roaming the seaside streets of Pattaya is always a gastronomic experience, with freshly cooked foods and artistic cuts of seasonal fruit attracting you with aroma and color. Thus it was that the roadside, instantly created banana pancakes became a post dinner favorite with us. But our story goes into slightly meatier territory. As we come upon an amazing sight of a whole crocodile being grilled over a spit, right there, in front of the popular Central Festival mall.
The first reaction is to rush to photograph, but then the charcoal grilling smells tempt you to tarry a while. As the whiffs of barbecuing float in the air, the gawking turns to gastronomic pull, with spectators turning customers. I ask one of them, digging into a chunk of crocodile about the experience and am told is that “it tastes just like chicken”. The man and woman duo behind the spit invite me to sample, and yes, the way it has been chargrilled with a barbecue sauce does not make it so strange, although the consistency is yes, a bit chewy. On the whole, pretty succulent. But, um a trifle gamey. We went off inside the mall to get our Thai green curry and somtam, and post some shopping, when we emerged on to the street, the earlier croc on the spit had been consumed, and a new one was being set up, as people lined up for their slices. It was the rocking thing to do. Charts are there to guide you about the cuts, and the prices are put up prominently, so a smallish “steak” can cost you Baht 200 − double that in our currency today.
It’s become a fad all over Thailand and Southeast Asia, and you can have it as a satay or croc ribs at a fancy restaurant, or simply buy the cleaned and packed portions in chunks or dried crocodile meat in packets. Benefits of crocodile meat—it is low on fat and high on protein. The rest is all about acquiring a taste for it! Anyway the croc is the flavour of the season, what with the prominent Lacoste branding at the recently concluded French Open tennis.
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