A Beginner's Guide To Eating Exotic Animals

It's good being on top of the food chain. As humans, we're lucky enough to be able to eat literally anything we want provided we have access to it. If it's edible, we can eat it. The only thing stopping us is our own brain, telling us not to eat that glob of Elmer's glue when we're little and not to eat that questionable sandwich from the back of the refrigerator when we're in college. Growing up, most of us only eat a few different types of animals: beef, pork, and chicken, say, and maybe lamb on occasion. But there's a whole world of animals out there, literally, and as humans we're allowed to eat them all if we really want to (except for the endangered ones). So we've assembled a list of ten exotic creatures, along with everything you need to know if you should decide to eat them.

A Beginner's Guide to Eating Exotic Animals (Slideshow)

Now, we're not saying that you should replace pork with lion, by any means. But in certain parts of the world it's a delicacy, and people seem to love it. Same with iguanas.

It's a brave new world out there, one where people are realizing that, to paraphrase Andrew Zimmern, if it looks good, they should eat it. Spurred on in part by his Travel Channel show, Bizarre Foods, there's a new generation of super-adventurous eaters out there who are willing to try just about anything. And while it's obviously illegal to eat endangered animals, if you look hard enough (or actually if you just go to this website), you'll be able to order meat from some of the world's most exotic animals, directly to your door.

Some exotic meats are tough and gamy, others light and flaky. Some you can treat like beef, others require either a quick sear or a long braising. But at the end of the day, they're all edible. So click here to learn about 10 exotic creatures, and how to eat them.