[With the usual apologist for the lack of accents and italics.]
Jesuit Jaime Bravo set out from Loreto with eight soldiers and some Mission Indians in January of 1706, stopping off at San Juan Bautista for a brief
visit with Juan de Ugarte, who had established this mission at Ligui.
Bravo and three soldiers then went on ahead, and had scouted a route along the beach for a day or so, when an Indian came running to tell them that
some soldiers who were following with the expedition's provisions were dead.
This second group had come upon the remains of a fire where Indians had earlier cooked a batch of fish--including some pufferfish, whose livers they
had left atop some shells. Spotting the livers, one of the soldiers prepared to cook them, shouting to the others that food was at hand.
An Indian who noticed this warned, "Don't eat that. It will kill you!"
The soldier retorted, "Quiet, Indian! The Spaniard never dies."
He did just that, however, within half an hour of eating the livers, and was soon followed to the Great Presidio in the Sky by a second soldier, who
had eaten only a few. A third had tasted some of the livers briefly but spat them out, and was unconscious until the next day.
Accounts say that a fourth soldier, who had held some livers in his hands without eating them, was sick for many days. (This victim may have been
added in subsequent retellings, for the Indians who had set aside the livers were not sickened, nor do does handling them sicken people today.)
By the 1730s, when Padre Miguel del Barco arrived on the peninsula, it had become "common knowledge" that pufferfish flesh was itself poisonous. When
these fish got tangled in nets, fishermen tossed them on the beach, where Barco says lieel boys played with them.
The sharp, fused teeth of puffers can bite through coral as well as crown-of-thorns starfish, and they crunch down ferociously when leased with a
stick. When poked, stranded pufferfish inflate by gulping air, and the boys threw rocks at them until they popped.
Worldwide, there are over a hundred varieties of pufferfish, and all have variable amounts of a poisonous substsance--tetrodotoxin--in different parts
of their bodies. When predators approach, they quickly inflate themselves by taking great gulps of water. This expands them to a much larger size, and
apparently makes them look unappetizing to most other fish.
In Japan, puffers are a pricey gourmet delicacy--fugu--which is served only at specialty restaurants employing licensed chefs trained in its
preparation. Puffers from the far side of the Pacific are said to contain a much higher concentration of toxin than those of peninsula waters.
Although pufferfish "fillets" were sold at public markets in Mazatlan and other mainland ports, they weren't considered edible in La Paz a few
generations ago. This has changed--perhaps because so many people from "the Other Side" have moved to the peninsula--but even today pufferfish are not
widely available.
Two kinds are fairly common in waters off Baja California. Botetes have a rather rough but slimy texture when inflated, and are remarkably strong for
their size. They have a fidgety, nervous swimming style, bite aggressively on bait, and resist being reeled in so forcefully that something much
larger seems to have swallowed it.
And they can bite through sturdy nylon line. In the days before their edibility was recognized, a botete was about the last thing La Paz fishermen
wanted to find on their hooks.
Tamborillos [or tamboriles] lollygag slowly along through the water as if stoned, turning into an intimidating globe covered with stiff spines when
thy inflate. These fish are snagged with a robaro consisting of three hooks, and are amazingly durable.
When a tamborillo's body is tossed back into the sea after being skinned, the flayed, finless fish sometimes manages to swim off--a sorry sight,
according to my son Steve (my source of info on puffer behavior).
Tamborillos skins are used in making lamps. A bar across from the La Paz maledon called El Aquario, popular in the late '60s, had a whole wall
decorated with tamborillos glowing softly with different colored lights (giving a false impression, because these fish and botetes don't swim in
schools, but it's unlikely that any fishermen ever complained).
La Paz street vendors sometimes sell tamborillo skins that have been gutted and dried in their inflated state, ready to be outfitted as a lamp. The
going rate seems to be around 250 pesos for a big one (which is likely to temporarily be a bit fragrant, since the drying period is usually short).
Jesuit accounts of the pufferfish incident raise some questions. Why had the Indians left the livers on shells? If they were planning some use for
them, what was it?Paulina - 6-15-2008 at 06:19 PM
I have two Tamborillo lamps at home. They are very ugly, that's probably why I had to have them.
Regarding the pufferfish incident, maybe the Indians left the livers on the shells on purpose because they knew who was following behind them?
Interesting reading, thank you.
P<*)))><
Fascinating History
Gypsy Jan - 6-15-2008 at 07:40 PM
Years ago, our favorite sushi chef invited us to a fugu dinner.
By gosh, we suddenly had a family emergency and missed the special meal.
The next day, he served us a dish, with a gleam in his eye.
My lips numbed up and I asked what it was.
He replied, "Baby frugu."
I spent the night awake, sweating.Iflyfish - 6-16-2008 at 09:19 AM
Puffer fish are used in the creation of Zombies in Haiti.
There is an excellent book on the subject by an Ethnobiologist entitled The Surpent and the Rainbow. This book was make into a horrible slasher movie
that missed the entire point. Makes fascinating reading.
The author states that people who have committed grievious offenses are turned into Zombies by being given Puffer Fish in an amount that immobilizes
them and reduces metabolism to next to nothing. They are then burried and exhumed the day after burial. They are then shunned by locals who treat them
as though they are not there. The neurological damage from the toxins and the shunning produce a sort of walking stupor in the victim.
Fascinating reading.
Iflyfish
Graham catches a puffer!
David K - 6-16-2008 at 09:25 AM
Thankfully, after M took this photo she stopped Graham from eating it!!!BMG - 6-16-2008 at 09:27 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by Iflyfish
The neurological damage from the toxins and the shunning produce a sort of walking stupor in the victim.
I think I know a few. Didn't realize they were from Haiti. I always thought they just grew up in the 60's.
Great story on the Puffer fish. My 'Fishes of the Pacific' lists the food value of the Puffer as "Excellent. Unfortunately, however, improper cleaning
can lead to serious, even fatal poisoning." I've never had the inclination to try it.marv sherrill - 6-16-2008 at 04:39 PM
ancient japanese proverb:
"Those who eat fugu are stupid
those who do not eat fugu are also stupid"
