(The Buccaneer, c. 1905, painted by Howard Pyle (1853-1911), [Public
Domain] via Creative Commons)
Most people know that
buccaneers were a type of pirate. Fewer know that they were a specific group of pirates that mainly harassed Spanish ships
and coastal cities in the Caribbean. Finally, only those few people addicted to history
and random facts would delve deep enough to discover that the buccaneers were named
after cooking utensils used to prepare their favorite food—barbecued, or smoked, meats.
After the Caribbean
buccaneers finished a raid on an unfortunate harbor-town, or stole the
goods of a merchant vessel, the crews of the pirate ships would find a secluded
beach on an island and hunt for food. The most available game for hunting on most
Caribbean islands were native amphibious creatures. Fortunately for the buccaneers, they actually had a fondness for turtle. When the crew captured the unlucky turtle of
the day (or night), along with anything else they could trap and hunt, they would bring out their
boucans (wooden spits) and roast their catch. They would also gather turtle
eggs to later be fried in animal fat. Nevertheless, their favorite food, and the meal they were best
known for, was the smoked or barbecued meat they prepared with their wooden boucans—hence the name,
buccaneers.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Source:
- Outlaws of the Atlantic: Sailors, Pirates and Motley Crews in the Age of Sail, by Marcus Rediker. Boston: Beacon Press, 2014.
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