Bush meat: a photo essay

Bushmeat: Meat cooked and eaten in Africa that comes from a variety of wild animals, hunted in local forests. 

Bush meat can be from wild pigs, bush rats, monkeys, wild antelope... basically anything that lives in the bush which is not human (I hope) is a good candidate to be hunted, butchered, smoked and cooked in a stew. It sounds gross, it's actually pretty yummy.

*note about wildlife: In many places, great apes and endangered monkeys are hunted as bush meat. This is not the case in Western Equatoria. Probably because these animals don't exist here. (maybe because they've all already been eaten...) There are several environmental groups dedicated to fighting the killing and consumption of these animals. Though I believe in bio-diversity and do not want any animals to be hunted into extinction, I have to question the sanity and humanity of a group that raises millions of dollars a year trying to eliminate a food source from the diet of refugees.

*note about health: There is also a theory that HIV, the virus which causes AIDS, entered the human population because of eating monkeys infected with a similar virus, Simian Immuno-deficiency Syndrome. I studiously avoid eating monkey meat in case there is another nasty virus out there waiting to make the inter-species jump. Any other unhealthy side affects from eating bush meat are minimal and the same as eating anything in S. Sudan. Because the meat is smoked first, its unlikely to make one sick.

I have no idea what this animal used to be... a pterodactyl perhaps?

I think that this may have been a small antelope.

Before the main meals of the day, people in S. Sudan "take tea". This tea is 5-6 teaspoons of powdered milk and 4-5 tablespoons of sugar upon which hot water is strained through tea leaves. Its delicious and has enough calories and sugar to keep you going until lunchtime.

The local restaurant kitchen in Ezo. Bush meat stew, made with palm oil and ground nuts is boiling in that pot. Just behind is a big juicy pile of raw goat.

This woman is not knitting. Those are intestines. I have no idea what they are used for. I didn't recognize them in anything I ate, but I'm sure that they made an appearance.

Leg of bush meat anyone? By the way, just next to it is a can of vitamin fortified oil which the US distributes to refugees every month. In the background you can see "greens" in the green plastic bins. They get boiled and sometimes mixed with a sauce made of ground nuts and palm oil.

The kitchen at the place where we ate while in Ezo.

And for those of my friends who are more adventurous... here is a recipe that is very similiar to what I eat in Ezo.

Wild Boar in Groundnut Sauce

In Africa, the term bushmeat is applied to any game caught in the wild. Wild boar (or wild pig) is a popular bushmeat in Africa (except among Muslims). If you don't have any wild boar on hand, substitute any other game or pork.
What you need

• two or three pounds of wild boar or pork (any part); cut into bite-sized or serving-sized pieces
• salt (to taste)
• black pepper (to taste)
• a few onions, chopped
• a few tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• one cup peanut butter (natural or homemade), or similar amount of fresh or roasted peanuts
• oil for frying

What you do

• If using peanuts instead of peanut butter:
  Roast the peanuts in a baking pan in a hot oven, or on the stove in a large skillet, turning often. Remove the skins from the peanuts and mash them with a mortar and pestle, mince them with a knife, crush them with a rolling pin, or use a chop them fine in a food-processor.
• Heat a few spoonfulls of oil in a large pot. Add the meat and fry it until it is browned but not done. Reduce heat. Add water, salt, and pepper and simmer for about half an hour.
• Add the tomatoes and onions and contine to simmer until the meat is done and becoming tender.
• Remove some of the liquid and mix it with the peanut butter to make a smooth sauce. Add this to the meat-tomato-onion mixture.
• Continue to simmer on a very low heat until the meat is very tender.

**note: I wrote this blog post several weeks ago... a few weeks after I wrote it, I was the victor in an epic battle with a tapeworm and a parasite. It is possible that the bush meat consumption and the tapeworm were related events.