Are You Wild Enough?--is the motto of Jungle George's Amusements Inc. When, founder and owner, George Sandefur asks the question he is referring to the food he serves at State Fairs around the United States like chocolate covered scorpions and maggot melts.
I recently met Sandefur at the South Florida Fair in West Palm Beach. I bought a maggot melt for $7 and a box of barbecue flavored larvae for $4. The larvae tasted similar to toasted sesame seeds and the melt tasted more like cheese than toasted maggots.
This year's special meat is camel. I got a burger for $8. It was slightly musky and drier than expected. "Camel is a lean meat and so tends to be a bit dry," said Sandefur. He added, "Yak burgers are good for people who don't want too exotic an experience. It is a sweet meat and the closet to beef."
Along with the exotic bug ingredients Jungle George Amusements Inc also serves kangaroo, venison, gator, mountain oysters, frog's legs, beef, and chicken. Last year he served python. But this year the import price was over three times higher so he had to take it off the menu. "Python for human consumption has to be imported from out of country," Sandefur said, adding he buys his meat from a farm in Vietnam.
Sandefur has been in the catering business for 40 years and just in the past four years started serving exotic ingredients. "I got a dare four to five years ago to do something unusual," he said with a smile that suddenly broadened when the face of a passerby scrunched up in disgust after they read what was on the menu.
"That's the reaction I want," Sandefur called out to the passerby. Then he turned to me and said, "Those people are usually the ones that land up eating my food."
To find out more about Jungle George Amusements Inc you can go to their website at http://www.junglegeorgeamusements.com/
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| Maggot melt made with beetle larvae and cheese at Jungle George's booth in South Florida State Fair, West Palm Beach, Fla. |
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| Camel burger at Jungle George's booth in South Florida Fair, West Palm Beach, Fla. |
Along with the exotic bug ingredients Jungle George Amusements Inc also serves kangaroo, venison, gator, mountain oysters, frog's legs, beef, and chicken. Last year he served python. But this year the import price was over three times higher so he had to take it off the menu. "Python for human consumption has to be imported from out of country," Sandefur said, adding he buys his meat from a farm in Vietnam.
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| George Sandefur and Darin Lusenhop of Jungle George's Amusements Inc at South Florida Fair, West Palm Beach, Fla. |
"That's the reaction I want," Sandefur called out to the passerby. Then he turned to me and said, "Those people are usually the ones that land up eating my food."
To find out more about Jungle George Amusements Inc you can go to their website at http://www.junglegeorgeamusements.com/
Very brave of you to eat that "Maggot Melt"...the processed cheese and white bread just may have been the worst parts!
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