Smoked Alligator at the Everglades Seafood Festival, Everglades City, Florida

On our first full day in Marco Island, we went to the Everglades Seafood Festival in Everglades City with Doug and Emily, and I’m very glad that we did. Everglades City is about 30 miles from Marco Island, and it’s the gateway to the Everglades National Park, which we usually visit when we’re staying in Marco. The Festival began over 50 years ago, and has a full complement of foods, crafts, and music, although we missed the Marshall Tucker Band, and all the other bands, actually. The festival is sponsored by the Florida Stone Crabbers Association headquartered in the fishing village of Goodland. Admission is only $5. Parking is a separate fee unless you park on the median of the road leading into town.

We got an early start and arrived before the big crowds. We wandered toward the central area, and there I saw it.

Who could resist? I checked, and they cook with wood.

They also have propane for the rice pilaf and the grilled vegetables. I walked around front and saw the skinned and smoked alligator on display,

checked the menu,

and ordered a Smoked Gator Dinner.

I’d had alligator a number of times before, most recently at the delightful Cocomo’s Grill in Marco Island. Along with the regular menu, Cocomo’s has a “you catch it, we’ll cook it” option. We’d ordered our usual grouper when a couple of women came around with large cafeteria trays mounded with chunks of fried alligator. Their husbands, one of the husbands, anyway, had shot an alligator and brought it in to Cocomo’s to be cooked. Cocomo’s rose to the occasion, and did a grand job with it.

And, no, alligator does not taste like chicken. It has a meatier taste and a firmer texture, much like very lean pork, with a touch of that freshwater taste you get with frogs, bass, etc. Until the festival, I’d only had alligator fried, and I was eager to see what it was like smoked. I immediately dug in.

It was good. It still was on the chewy side, of course, but it had a good smoke flavor, and no “off” flavors at all. Nancy and Emily had “no, thank you” portions which they ate without making faces, and Doug ate a fair amount. Indeed, the whole dinner was good. I have to give full credit to Justin Sattler and his team. The grilled onions and peppers were tasty, and the rice was absolutely delicious. It was a huge serving of rice, I’d say five cups. I ate more of the rice than I meant to — you want to pace yourself at a fair or you won’t have room for the stone crab or the shrimp or the almond crusted grouper. Doug ate the rest.

You never know when you’ll wind up with an alligator. Encounters tend to be unexpected. I’m afraid I can’t point you to a “you catch it, we’ll smoke it” place off the top of my head. The best I can do is point you Alligators, Inc. for the alligator, and to The Smoke Sheet #189 How to Smoke an Alligator, a guest post by Robyn Lindars of GrillGirl.com. I boldly suggest you use an offset with logs rather than a pellet smoker. If you get a chance to try some, though, grab for it.

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