Rainforest Recipe

Passport & Plate - Piranha Al Fresco

Guyana | Friday, March 6, 2015 | 5 photos

Ingredients
• 2 Piranha (substitute: 2 cod)
• 1 Onion
• 2 Cloves Garlic
• 3 Cups Rice
• 2 Cups Peas
• 400ml Coconut Milk
• 1 Lime
• 1 Tablespoon Hot Chilli Sauce
• Salt (to taste)
• Pepper (to taste)

 

How to prepare this recipe
This recipe is designed to be cook on an open fire.

How to cook:
1. De-scale, gut and wash the fish.
2. Pour enough water to cover the fish into a pot. Add ½ tablespoon of salt, 1 tablespoon of chilli sauce and squeeze one lime into water.
3. Place fish in boiling water and simmer gently for approximately 25 minutes.

Accompany: Cook-Up Rice
1. Bring water to a boil (5 cups). Add peas. Cook until soft.
2. Add finely chopped onion, garlic, rice and coconut milk.
3. Bring to a boil then reduce heat. Cover pot and steam for 30 minutes, stirring gently.

Serve:
With a bottle of hot chilli sauce under the stars.

 

The story behind this recipe
The Amazon comes alive at night. The red glare of Caiman eyes emerge from the river, scanning the shore for prey. Monkeys swing through canopies above, pausing briefly to screech into the abyss. Jaguars creep softly through the undergrowth, shadowing their next meal. Aaron, however, stands over an open fire, oblivious to the rainforest around him, adding chilli sauce to a pot.
My friend Rustom had been trying to film a documentary about the Wai-Wais for years but the secluded Amazonian tribe, occupying one of the least densely populated areas on the planet, had yet to grant him access to their community. "It's a great honour to be invited to experience their way of life" he had told me as he regaled me with tales of their customs. So, when I caught wind of a canoe travelling into the heart of the Wai-Wai territory, I knew I had to be on it.
Huddling into the hand-crafted wooden canoe, I greeted the eleven year old Wai-Wai boy next to me, Aaron, and he shyly turned away. As we set off into the Amazon Basin, I leaned back soaking in the tropical sun and dipped my hand in the cool river. Aaron yanked my hand away, baring his teeth, gesturing that piranha would bite my finger. I decided to keep my arms firmly inside the boat. Meandering along, Aaron spotted exotic Macaws which my eager eyes had missed and picked berries from low-hanging trees, sharing edible ones between us and casting the rest in the river. Each time we stopped to fish, he reeled in piranha one after the other, feeding us for days. Finally, as I was about to give up yet again, I felt a tug on my line and drew up my first piranha from the river.
Sitting on the dark rainforest floor, I bit into the fish we had caught that day and was hit by the hot pepper which Aaron had added. He laughed heartily across the camp fire at me. I smiled back at him. Although we were still one day from Wai-Wai territory, sitting by the fire eating piranha, I couldn't help but feel I'd had a taste of their culture already.