Barracuda on the BBQ

[alansmith]

[QUOTE=Jim Cate;2635577]FWIW: A long time ago (mid 80s) when Ann and I


Jim, so well written. Nothing trumps experience. The relating of your experiences with the locals pretty much debunks it for me. Stay sway from certain fish unless u r willing to pay the price.

So well done.. much appreciated. Alan

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

FWIW: A long time ago (mid 80s) when Ann and I were studyin' up about going cruising, we did some ciguaterra research. At that time, folk wisdom suggested the "ask the locals, they know..." method. Sounded good to us. However, some further reading revealed that at that time if one excluded infant mortality and old age, ciguatoxic poisoning was the next most common cause of death in the Tuamotus. Hmmm...

Then we got there (Tuamotus). One day in Raroia I caught a couple of smallish spotted Groupers. Was a bit leary of them, so we walked towards the village carrying one of them for ID. First villager we asked said "oh yes, very good to eat". Ahaa, good news!
Walked onward and met the village gendarme whom we knew somewhat. When he saw the fish he said "you're not gonna eat that, are you? Full of "le gratte*", they are!"



Much later, a couple of years ago in New Caledonia's northern lagoon in the Belep group we caught a small Spanish mackerel (locally called Tazar). We'd been told that these smaller fish were quite young and were safe to eat. None the less, we cut it into steaks and carried some of it into the village, where we encountered several Kanak women. Showed them the fish, asked if they would like to have it, and they happily accepted the gift and we felt justified in having some ourselves. That was our third case of Ciguaterra... hopefully our last!

So there you are... ask a local, they know!

Jim

*local French term for Ciguaterra, means 'the itch', one of the symptoms of Ciguaterra.

I'd never heard of fatalities from ciguatera so I Googled it. Aparrently mortality rate is up to 12%, but varies a lot by area.

https://www.whoi.edu/science/B/redti...poisoning.html

[caradow]

BTW You guys may want to add Lionfish to your list of potential Ciguatera carriers. They are also great to eat so just follow the same demographics of where you would for Barracuda and with a little luck you will be fine. I have eaten a lot of them in the Exumas however have avoided them "thus far" in the Caribbean. Also I have had conversations with NOAA PhD types who are actually doing research on Ciguatera and according to them there is absolutely NO WAY for us to test for Ciguatera. All the methods spoken of in this thread is old wives tales and nothing more. As of now it cost the government $500 US to test for one case of Ciguatera so new methodology is needed and they assure me they are looking.
Bon Appetit.

[caradow]

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ar...l.pone.0198358

Here is an interesting article on ciguatera poisoning & lionfish.

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by Hardhead

Looks good-

On a slightly related topic, has anyone found a really good way to prepare & cook King mackerel? Spanish mackerel are great grilled with lemon, olive oil, garlic and salt, but the King of mackerels is somewhat different matter in my mind..

only way i know is steak it butter it and flame cook it..eat immediately. no bubba didnot eat king mackerel second day.
the 'cuda we caught while sailing gom was delicious, about 3 ft length. cooked over open flames.