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Snake in South American Style
Skin, dress and cut into portions as you would an eel. Marinate 3 hours in 1/2 lemon and 1/2 orange juice, with whole peppers crushed, and a dash of nutmeg. Drain, wipe dry, salt well, dip in beaten egg and fine crumbs and fry in butter or deep fat.
All cold-blooded reptiles and wriggling varmints, including lizards, respond to this succulent treatment. And of all the snakes those that don't lay eggs, the viviparous ones, are best to eat and it doesn't matter an angleworm whether they're vipers, moccasins or copperheads, since snakes are invariably beheaded before cooking and the poison sacs go off with the head. Rattlesnakes, in fact, are the kind preferred for Texas cowboy barbecues and the canned snake snacks shipped from Florida to the New York night clubs, where they sell at fancy caviar prices and are in great and growing demand. Indians have always doted on roast serpents and maybe you'd better go for them instead of being afraid they'll go for you. Just grab the next one that comes rattling around, by the tail and crack it like a whip snake, remove head, dress it like an eel, and either roast in its skin, or skin and fry it, broil over charcoal, or smoke it whole over a hickory fire as the Seminoles still do down in their Florida bayous.
Spleen: Beef spleen is highly prized in Europe. Parisians can't get along without it and the Germans, who call it Milz make a pocket in the pulpy mass, and stuff it with hard bread softened in meat stock or water. We sometimes call it milt and use it in this famous western dish as given by Lou Bell Harris in her Texas chapter in America Cooks:
This entry reads as bravado more than instruction, and its central safety claim is wrong. The points below explain why the procedure as printed cannot be followed.
- The severed head is still dangerousThe text asserts that "the poison sacs go off with the head," as though decapitation ends the risk. Envenomation from the severed heads of pit vipers is documented: the bite reflex can persist for some time after death, and the venom apparatus remains loaded. Bites are known to occur when people handle a snake they believe to be dead.
- Catching the animal by handGrabbing a rattlesnake, cottonmouth or copperhead by the tail and cracking it like a whip is the single most reliable way to be bitten by one. No part of this instruction should be attempted, and venomous snakebite is a medical emergency requiring antivenom, not first aid.
- Species protectionSeveral rattlesnake species are now protected or restricted in parts of their range, and collection, killing and sale are regulated at state level in the United States. What was casual sport in the 1930s is in some places a wildlife offence today.
- SalmonellaReptiles are a recognised reservoir of Salmonella, carried in the gut and readily transferred to the meat during skinning and dressing. The bacteria are not confined to the surface, and shallow frying of crumbed portions gives no assurance the interior has reached a safe temperature.
- The lizards and "wriggling varmints"The invitation to extend the method to any cold-blooded animal at hand ignores that some are venomous, some are protected, and several amphibians carry skin toxins that cooking does not reliably destroy. Identification matters, and the recipe offers none.
- If you want to cook snakeRattlesnake meat is sold commercially in some parts of the United States. Use a current recipe with stated internal temperatures and buy from a licensed supplier rather than working from this page.