Overhead, a dark shadow passed—a hungry pteryform soaring toward the Thames, ready to fish out a kraken or two for breakfast, their preference for the cephalopods the only reason the city council did not launch an armed force to terminate their presence in the city. 

~ Colleen Stewart, view from a London rooftop

The nocturnal flight pattern of the pteryform is tolerated for creature’s predation upon the kraken that infest the Thames. But, what with dirigible transport, they can’t be allowed to overrun the skies. Quietly, in the dark, the occasional hunter will stalk these great beasts, dropping them from beneath the stars.

What then?

A gastronomic delicacy sold on the black market.

So what does a pteryform taste like?

Not like chicken, not exactly. Both pteryformes and birds (which are effectively living dinosaurs, albeit much modified) share a common ancestor, the ornithodirans. Regardless of the vast amount of evolutionary time separating the two species, neither is mammalian and, therefore, can’t be expected to taste anything like beef.

What makes beef different from chicken, you ask?

Many birds possess a larger proportion of “white” meat (fast-twitch, glycolytic muscle fibers allowing for quick bursts of activity) compared to slower, more “beefy” mammals with their “red” meat (slow-twitch, oxidative muscle fibers).*

But, if we look at a dinosaur cladogram, we see the pterosaurs** (including pterodactyls, presumed to be the closest relative of a pteryform) are much removed from birds. Pteryformes, therefore, arguably share a closer relationship with extant alligators than they do a chicken.

How, then, might this affect taste?

Alligators are more “white” meat. The tail meat is the whitest and the preferred cut. This portion will taste the most like chicken (reports also suggest a “veal” flavor). Rib and leg meat will be darker and have a stronger flavor (reports indicate leg meat tastes more like frog or even pork).

Though also lean (low in cholesterol), fat distribution in an alligator is different from birds (and most definitely from mammals). They’re a bit more oily, greasy. (Though a good source of healthy, omega-3 fatty acids.)

Finally, a creature’s diet will influence its taste. While the poultry of London lives upon grains (corn, wheat, oats and barley). Pteryformes feast upon kraken, creatures of the sea, of the brackish Thames. Likewise, alligators mostly eat fish and other water creatures, much like our London pteryformes.

So if you can’t find any pteryform meat, not even on the black cryptid market, how do you recreate the experience?

Alligator meat is your best bet.

*Note fast/slow fiber ratios will vary from species to species and even within an animal’s own muscles (dark/light meat).

**(ptero- ptery-, Greek root for “wing”)

About Anne

Though USA TODAY bestselling author Anne Renwick holds a Ph.D. in biology and greatly enjoyed tormenting the overburdened undergraduates who were her students, fiction has always been her first love. Today, she writes steampunk romance, placing a new kind of biotech in the hands of mad scientists, proper young ladies and determined villains.

Anne brings an unusual perspective to steampunk. A number of years spent locked inside the bowels of a biological research facility left her permanently altered. In her steampunk world, the Victorian fascination with all things anatomical led to a number of alarming biotechnological advances. Ones that the enemies of Britain would dearly love to possess.

To chat with Anne, stop by on Facebook or join the Department of Cryptobiology Facebook group. You can also join her newsletter list to have cover reveals, sneak peaks, sales and giveaways delivered straight to your inbox.