lunch was at 4 pm and we were starving. after, I dropped into
a post-prandial coma, barely making it from the hammock to my
bed, lulled to sleep by my full belly and the rain on the tin
roof... anne thankfully woke me up in time for our evening
activity - some traditional cooking! I volunteered to help
with the first part and was brought up with julie and liz to
prepare the chicken. just a slab of meat that I can guarantee
was running around earlier that day, a little salt, and a
leaf they call 'stone leaf' which is fire resistant and
sounds like plastic when you bend it then snap it straight.
we wrapped the chicken up in the traditional way and tied the
end tight. Robert put these in the small fire burning under
the shelter where we eat all of our meals - it was still
pouring rain.
next a surprise - rachel offered to open the leaf that
contained something "kind of like chocolate" according to
Robert, when I told him that would be my favorite surprise.
everyone gave Rachel space as she unfolded the leaf because
given what we've seen here we were assuming it was going to
be a tarantula or worse (tho at the moment I couldn't tell
you what would be worse than a tarantula)... but rather than
something leaping out at us, when she splayed open the
massive leaf, all we saw was wiggly, slimy, fat... grubs!!
weevel larvae. I am talking exactly like the grubs that
tamone and pumba munch on in the lion king. they are like two
inches long and half as fat and paristalsing just like bowel,
their bodies rippling them forward as they make their slow
escape off of the leaf - no luck. Robert picks one up to
demonstrate... "you have to grab it behind the head at the
'neck' so it can't turn around and bite you". bite me?!! sure
enough these guys have big pincher jaws!! Robert says "to eat
them, you have to bite them first". eat them how?! alive?!!
what do you mean bite them first...? robert takes the porky
little guy, sticks the dark head far back between his molars
and bites down - we all hear the crunch of the hard
exoskeleton of the head between robert's teeth and the
squirming pale body goes sort of limp... sort of... it is
like the chicken with the head cut off scenario, the grub
still has a little squirm left in him. Robert sticks the
whole thing in his mouth as shocked and dismayed sounds of
disgust erupt from those of us watching. this is a delicacy
here, a special treat, and Robert is not training for fear
factor, he likes it!! he'd eat the whole pile if he didn't
have to share with us.
"it is like oysters" I hear him say. no it is not, I think to
myself, wishing oysters really were tonight's treat and
missing the east coast oysters pete and I had in mystic...
who wants to try one alive? three of the girls in the group
were intrigued and daring enough to give it a go... I was not
among them, my stomach is still turning just writing this.
they selected their victims, picked them up as instructed and
in a moment of courage, clamped down on the head like they
had been shown. they all stood there for a moment with the
'what have I gotten myself into' look on their faces, and
then, with even more bravery, put the whole slimy gooey thing
in their mouths and attempted to chew. now this part was more
funny than gross because there was a lot of hopping and arm
flapping and squealing to assist the chewing process, and if
you saw the pus-oid (resembling pus) white cream that came
out of these guys, you would jump and arm flap too... one of
the girls had spontaneous chocking fits 4 times between chews
and we were certain she was gonna spew - but with the help of
their chaser (a salt covered lemon, of all things), she got
it down. even with pressure from the group, no one else, not
even the boys, would dare eat one alive. so we moved onto the
cooked option. I helped skewer the grubs, because clearly I
was not brave enough to eat them. one skewer through the
neck, the other through the tail, you just need to crush
their heads first so they stop squirming and the skewering is
easier. a little salt and lemon, and we set them over the
fire, assured that once cooked they would taste just like
bacon :)
in the meantime our chicken was done and I was endlessly
impressed by my meat cooking abilities given that I've been a
vegetarian for the 12 years antes de recently. that was the
best chicken I have ever had; get me some stone leaf back in
the states and I will cook you some chicken!! our final food
was heart of palm, which robert had gotten for us and cut
down to the leaf, which doesn't look like a leaf at, but
tastes delicious - very tender and a flavor I cannot compare
to anything I have eaten before.
at this point the grubs were ready and most of us were
mentally prepared to give them a try... I thought about
passing. in the skewering process we had left a puddle of
black goo on the table that was anything but appetizing.
ultimately I gave in and munched a grub in true lion king
fashion... and.... and... oh wow that really does taste like
bacon!!! who wouldve thought!!?
now the thing about the grubs is that getting them isn't
easy. not only is there a grub season, but there is a
designated grub guy. you want grubs, you call grub guy, who
supposedly keeps track of the fallen or downed palm trees,
which is where the weevil lays her eggs. the grubs gotta grow
for about 3 months to get to the size they were this eve.
sounds like a lot of work to eat larvae. what is less work,
is this thing everyone does here that is apparently an
ecuadorian deal. I think I've mentioned we have soup with
almost every meal, even in the hot and humid rainforest. well
sometimes with the sopa they have popcorn to put in it, and
it is so delish!! how did I not think of this before?! def
bringing that back to the u.s. :)
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