Crocodile in Cuisines

(Estrella Z. Gallardo, PSciJourn MegaManila)
http://tuklasinnatin.com/2013/crocodile-in-cuisines/

People fear crocodiles wherever they are, in freshwater or saltwater or anywhere they are apt to be found. Because they do not only attack animals but also people.

But things have changed not because of climate change, but rather with the complexities of what people want, pushed by what market has to offer, that influence the desire for a taste of something new to the tongue, new to the stomach and the opportunity to savor something exotic from the wilderness, so to speak, of tasting something alien to one’s taste buds.

Crocodile meat is available in some supermarkets as fresh dundee meat and dundee tender loin and in some cuisines as dundee herbal soup, dundee sisig, dundee lechon, dundee sausage, dundee tapa, and dundee tocino.

The human being devouring animal is now the one being devoured by men decently in restaurants. What can you say dundee of the saltwater? Yes, only dundee of the saltwater in captivity are the ones grown in farms for 5 to 6 years old, measuring 6-7 ft. long and weighing 50-60 kilos., (good enough to be slaughtered) and then butchered and sold as fresh dundee meat or processed dundee meat, the Coral Agri-Venture Farm, Inc. (CAVFI) produced.

Almost all parts of the crocodile have commercial value, the skin is exported to Japan and China, (for bag, shoes, belts and other leather products), the skull is for ornament, so with the teeth (for necklace pendant, earrings, bracelets and others), and the ribs and other parts of the bone (for whatever purpose they may served).

This estuarine or saltwater crocodile, the Indo Pacific Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) is one of the most common species of crocodile in the world. It is widely distributed in almost all recognizable estuarine and freshwater habitats in the Indo-pacific region from southwestern India to Northern Australia, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines.

CAVFI has 40,000 crocodiles in its 6 farms located in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. It was established in 1990 and started as a backyard hobby that slowly turned into a full-pledged poultry farm, piggery farm and crocodile farm.

In 2006, CAVFI hired foreign consultants to help build on internationally-accepted slaughtering facility which passed the NMIS (National Meat Inspection Services) confirmation in 2008.

CAVFI is the largest commercial crocodile farm in the Philippines and a proud member of the Crocodylus Porosus Philippines, Inc., Committee to uplift conservation through sustainable farming in the Philippines.

This brings the latest innovations on husbandry practices crocodile abattoir, introduction of hygienic meat products that earned CAVFI to be the first Triple A (AAA) GMP and HACCP certified crocodile farm in the Philippines.

Mr. William Belo is the president of CAVFI. For more information, please contact infoccoralfarms.com.ph, www.coralfarms.com.ph, and (02) 634-83-87.

Crocodylus Porosus Philippines, Inc. is a non-stock, non-profit, and a partner non-government organization of crocodile farmers that promotes conservation through sustainable use of commercially valuable species.

It is committed to management of commercially farmed crocodylus porosus, and in research and preservation of crocodile species in the Philippines.

Its mission is to develop and implement management programs to re-establish viable wild population of crocodylus mindorensis and crocodylus porosus in the Philippines.

Crocodylus mindorensis, a fresh water crocodile, that is considered as one of the most endangered species of crocodile in the world is endemic to the Philippines and is a part of our national heritage. It is found in fresh water, marshes, small lakes, rivers, ponds and creeks.

The presentation of CAVFI was made through the National Academy of Science and Technology of the Department of Science and Technology (NAST-DOST) during the second day of its Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM), July 11, 2013 at the Manila Hotel.