Heigh-ho, the derry-o, a-hunting we will go!

I remember all the times my father tried to trick me into eating wild meat. The pale pink, frozen, whole tattoo carcass lying in the sink which he covered with a table cloth and forbade me to look under it. The crying cascadura as he attempted to strip the armour from their little bodies. The stew agouti he brought back from a lime but he told me it was curried beef. The curried deer he prepared but he told me it was curried beef.

Curried deer

But I tasted them all. He grew up eating these exotic meats. His father hunted at night using a home-made, carbide-powered head-lamp that he attached to his head with leather straps (I kid you not, his head), his shotgun in tow (a 20 gauge single barrel shotgun). The lamp not only provided some light in the pitch-black, heavily canopied forest, but it made the eyes of his prey shine bright, exposing its location. It wasn’t for sport. They were poor. It was to survive.

Carbide-powered lamp similar to the one my grandfather used to hunt. He took the reflector part of a car's headlight, shined it to perfection with "silvo" and attached it to the 2 chambers -the lower chamber housed the carbide, the upper chamber housed the water. The entire unit was completely detachable. Credit to the coal miners.

The agouti

There is an authorized list of game species that can be hunted for meat, sport or for sale as pets provided by the GOTT (http://www.biodiversity.gov.tt/home/trinidad-a-tobago-biodiversity/game-species.html). Some of the animals for consumption include agouti, armadillo (tattoo), deer, lappe, wild hog (quenk), alligator, cayman, lizards – matte and iguana. A popular Boxing Day dish usually served curried with paratha or dhalpourie roti, wild meat is highly sought after during hunting season (October 1st to the end of February) with certain animal species costing far more than the now unfashionable poultry depot chicken. Lavish Christmas and New Year’s parties boast of wild meat on the menu.

The lappe

The tattoo

Experts have advised that cooking wild meat is different from cooking domesticated animals. You have to cater for the “gamey" taste of the meat. The meat has to be cut up into much smaller pieces and stronger seasonings must be used. Wild meat can also be tough so cooking smaller pieces and using a natural meat tenderizer like green paw paw (papain enzymes in the green fruit breaks down the protein in the meat) and even coca-cola or pepsi (the acidity of these drinks also helps break down the protein in the meat) will do the trick. Then there's pepper!

The quenk - I imagine so named because of the sound it makes running away from hunters!

The iguana

This animal can get to a magnificent size, enough to stop traffic. Along the route to Santa Cruz one day, I saw 4 young men standing in the middle of the road holding up 3 iguanas in each hand for sale - large enough to be dinosaurs, I swear to you! Traffic extended well into the Croissee. 

Curry iguana - Skin and all....

No, I'm sorry this looks really awful...

The matte

Skinning any animal is part of the preparation but I have seen some not take on this task with the lizards. A big mistake. The skins of some reptiles are tough enough to make shoes for crying out loud!

Pacro water - Pour homme!

Ok so you boil this sea creature while it’s still alive and drinking the broth gives men athletic, if not acrobatic, strength and stamina. Man water! No joke. Trini men do not joke about these things…

Pacro is the local reference to a type of marine mollusc also known as chiton (Placophora) which is abundant in the coastal waters of Trinidad and Tobago. 

Dorsal view of a chiton - clinging to the surface of a rock close to shore

Underside of a chiton

At first I thought my guide was talking about “Paco” which I knew as the men’s cologne “Paco Rabanne” - the manliest perfume in the 80's. He was in fact referring to the purported aphrodisiac, well-known by Tobagonians. How does one look at a chiton and think "Yes, this will be my viagra"?

The animal is also known as “sea cradle” presumably because when you detach it from its rocky support, it curves inward slightly in a protective move I imagine. Apparently, fishermen know about its properties and can fetch a small bucket-full upon special request.

The final product

You boil the animals while they are still alive in water for about 15mins. Strain the broth and retain for use. To the broth, add an alarming amount of chadon beni, big leaf thyme, garlic, hot pepper, lime and salt to taste. You then drink the thin broth basically. I am told that it’s an acquired taste. Hell yeah!

In Store Bay, bottles of the elixir can be bought on the beach.