Snake meat is eaten in several countries of South-East Asia, and it is quite popular in Vietnam, Thailand, southern China and the special administrative region of Hong Kong. With this in mind, the famous US food chain Pizza Hut has brought out a pizza made with snake meat. The new pizza will be available at its Hong Kong outlets until 22 November.

A report by US broadcaster CNN on Wednesday, 8 November, said the pizza was launched under an agreement with Hong Kong's century-old Ser Wong Fun restaurant, which has been selling dishes made with snake meat since 1895.

The new fusion pizza, 9 inches in size, has toppings of snake meat, black mushrooms and dried Chinese ham. Instead of the usual tomato sauce, it is served with abalone sauce (abalone is a kind of shellfish).

The snake pizza went on sale last week. Earlier, in a statement, Pizza Hut Hong Kong said snake meat tastes different from cheese and chicken. The statement also claimed that eating the snake pizza may increase blood circulation.

A man in Hong Kong who tried the pizza said it looks somewhat like a chicken pizza and tastes much like fish and seafood. "I liked it quite a lot as a high-protein food for winter," he said.

There is a saying in Cantonese, the regional language of China, that the best time to eat snake is when the autumn wind begins to blow, because snakes are plump then as they begin their winter hibernation.

Many believe snake meat has various medicinal qualities, and that it is good for the skin and helps keep the body warm. In traditional Chinese medicine, eating snake meat is thought to increase blood circulation.

Citing CNN.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.