Illegal Amazon Jungle Meat!! Peru’s SHOCKING Belen Market!!

would you take a look at this last time on our cross-country Peruvian food tour what is the logic behind it we feasted on Mountain meat in Peru's Highlands I think you're so very much now we're leaving the Andes and heading Eastward to the city of Iquitos gateway to the Amazon this place has a lot of rivers right now we're basically on their Supra Highway they have almost no Bridges if you got across you got to take one of these this city of half a million is home to the controversial Belden Market I thought I'd seen my share of shock inspiring bazaars like tomahome Market in Indonesia where you'll find piles of fruit bats meant for consumption have you ever had that you have what do you mean or Vietnam's not Sea Market where bug vendors sell fresh salads complete with live dragonfly larva this is one of the most terrifying insect Creations I've ever seen in my life still nothing could have prepared me for this place uh Oro take a look at this I don't want to take a look at it foreign Block Maze of tables meat fruit and fabrics you'll stumble upon unlikely proteins that were hunted and shipped straight from the nearby Amazon jungle do they keep the foot attached so you know what animal it is yes what is this today I'm on a mission to discover this Market's most extreme food it is a little bit like salmon is your mouth numb [Music] the locals love it it all starts here with breakfast bananas Sava bean stew fried fish grilled meat and a whole array of other breakfast options are offered here at Belden Market which most grabbed my attention this morning is this I thought I've seen chicken prepared every way possible here it's basically a chicken spine being used as a dish a vessel to hold all the eggs I'm used to this that's unlaid eggs and this right here this is intestine usually in some countries it would take these eggs out sell them separately I thought they put an egg here no they didn't put it in they just didn't take it out Jesus before an egg can be late it must be formed inside the hen starting as an unlaid yolk is there a name for this dish the yolk then transforms into a fully formed egg with an egg white and a shell after about 20 hours in this case the egg met a premature ant and was boiled while still inside the hen but this two-for-one deal was certainly no accident some eggs you lost me uh stick the finger of a chicken's ass what was the reason for that again meet our local guide edus he was born in a small village a two-day boat ride into the Amazon jungle today he's here to guide us through this country's most extreme Market ah to realize if he has eggs or not because how do you know that a chicken has eggs inside well clearly yeah with this I've never had to peel my egg out of the intestine and then peel the shell mine doesn't want to get out into like look for it maybe if somebody shoved their finger up there too far Cheers Cheers this is like egg so this is a standard hard-boiled chicken egg roll let's eat some of this it's intestinal fat way but the intestine is still inside so that means they didn't clean it up yeah are we eating um sometime Lord is Laura say more is more sorry Optimus well let's just go for it stop thinking so much all right what yeah juicy my man yeah more is more it tastes almost like a really juicy chicken breast has a great texture so more delicious this chicken is about the most normal thing you'll find in this market but among the beef bits pork parts and jungle Meats fish are consumed most often Seafood here in this market a lot of fish is it all from the Amazon yeah the diamond River we have 600 kind of fishes this city is surrounded by rivers and it butts up against the Amazon rainforest where a wide variety of freshwater fish are caught and brought here to sell from giant catfish to species new and exotic some sectioned up to Southern chunks and some already ready to eat like this what kind of fish is this Corvina a type of firm white fish similar to sea bass women eating a lot of fish from the ocean so this has a lot of minerality like a freshwater fish this Market is kind of famous for the different wild animals that it has here but before we get started my first question is how dangerous is this Market you know I've traveled to many places in the world and once in a while we need security you know when I went to Johannesburg when I went to Lagos in Nigeria we needed guys with guns but today at this market we've brought three extra people to come watch our back what's going on because over here a lot of people there are some big Pockets yeah it's still in some things like cell phone cameras if you're a tourist and you come here should you come here alone or not coming along we're a little bit more down to the market if they use knife or organ yeah yeah this is Berlin Market a glimpse into the soul of Peru deeper into the market I begin to spot wooden tables piled high with mystery meat closer look reveals the animal appendages still remaining helping to identify just which species you're looking at so this is a giant meat pile there's probably 300 pounds of meat here at least I would say can I pick it up by the toes oh what is this a pig yes Pig wild pig wild pig this smells like it's smoke yeah does that make it last longer yeah how long will this stay good six months six months yeah because it's dry and salt wait what is this guinea pig guinea pig fantastic well Oro knows all about the guinea pig oh my God they change shape I did you tell by the color of the hair oh I'm guessing this did not come from a farm no no no no it's a white it's a wild deer how far away from here do you think this deer came from almost three days by boat the vast green Amazon rainforest blankets 60 percent of Peru a thriving and diverse ecosystem that's a Lifeline for the locals markets like this have emerged as vital trading hubs fueling the economic engine of the region however the Journey of this meet on this table has its own story freelance Hunters spend up to a week voyaging deep into the Amazon jungle by boat there they hunt for any force-dwelling creatures that cross their path how many deer will a hunter try to get or how many animals 10 12 or 20 not just one once the hunter accumulates a pile of varying animal protein it's sold here to Distributors it's not like oh we happen to like smoked meat there's no other option they must smoke it in the jungle then or else it cannot be preserved it's not going to make the journey back here to eat the meat do you have to cook it more or can you eat it like this yeah you can eat it like that this is incredible because this was just in the jungle probably days ago or actually he said it could last six months should we get a piece from the bottom all right I want to try just a little piece of deer it smells like charcoal it smells deary it tastes like turkey it's really salty it seems like something they would put in a soup do you put this in soup yeah because after they put in the water the check out a little bit of salt right like it's a meat and a seasoning next the board it looks gummy on the inside it's okay to eat them yeah I got pept invisible in the first aid kit I may need it a little bit more sweet insanely salty Smoky and softer fantastic this is a good start let's see what else we got animals range in price but species that are harder to find or hunt will Garner a few more souls than easier to find animals like wild boar or deer live animals this little guy is called a pygmy marmoset the world's smallest primate guys take a look at this it's got a big tail it could fit in a shot glass it is so tiny and you can see it's a little brain time to figure out what is going on and why this giant is looking at him I've never seen something more adorable than this live animals stay fresh longer and they can fetch a higher value like these tortoises here we stumbled upon the yellow-footed tortoise you can see right here it's a little tail it's a little feet and they keep it upside down so he can't get away this is built to survive in nature but it's not built for the ultimate Predator Hungary peruvians and the rainforest this is the shell of a much bigger tortoise you can see in here the actual turtle eggs they will actually use the shell to make kind of a soup or a stew out of the turtle bits and parts here they've also classified the turtle Parts into different piles so we have a turtle liver we have Turtle intestine Turtle heads and then my favorite oh the turtle penis it's a slippery little guy now this is not going to waste either but people aren't just simply eating it they put it into wine they let the wine and the penis get all happy together then you drink that wine and guess what it's an aphrodisiac it gives you stamina it helps you with your action on the lookout for food I'm quickly drawn to a myriad of exotic insect options like beetle larva and even this right here we have stingless Amazonian bees what's most interesting about it is the color I guess the hive is dark kind of Blackish Brown the bees are black and I'm gonna try a bite of the hive stingless bees are closely related to Common honeybees but they're darker in color with bigger mandibles that can inflict a painful bite I see actual eggs or I'm not eating maggots am I their nests are usually found in hollow tree trunks termite nests or Rock crevices that's really sour it's not even sticky it's just waxy it almost is like taking a bite of a lime this part you're supposed to spit up I'm not being rude that's wax you want me to eat wax I'm not gonna do it a stunning Discovery something like I've never seen before I'm told this type of Honey is being more and more sought after because it has medicinal applications is that Chrome I don't know hopefully it heals me soon because I am a Broken Man what do people not eat here when it comes to meat is there any meat that people don't eat yes so only that Dolphins because in the Amazon River or in this market everything that moves that people is eating they have a legend that the Dolphins are humans from another life right so that's why they don't eat it but otherwise aside from the dolphin everything else no problem no problem holy cow well Aura we found something new that's for sure take a look at this I don't want to take a look at this what is this so this is a red howler monkey [Music] oh my God that's a beautiful monkey is this legal to eat because it's a dangerous species every year we have a less monkeys the different species the topic of endangered species here appears to be well understood yet it doesn't cause much of a stir so this one's endangered the woman selling it is very aware that we're filming right now we ask permission she's not worrying no because everybody is eating this is this is one Local's understanding but outside experts espouse a different story claiming indigenous communities are allowed to hunt and eat wild game but selling the meat at all is prohibited half a block behind we have the police station but that's not the problem is illegal when I find some animal is alive but like that but another problem so it's it's too late yes too late much like other parts of South America there's a wide gap between what's illegal and what's actually enforced by men in uniform can I pick one up oh this is literally the hand it looks kind of like a human hand but with sharper fingernails you can see the there's like a paw pad here it smells exactly the same as what we tried already yeah it just smells like smoked meat oh my god oh dude man that's so bizarre that is the head the face I mean there's no questioning where this came from you know what's crazy my heart is like pumping right now like I have a rush of emotions right now what are you feeling I don't know I feel like I'm nervous I think because it's closer to human it feels even more weird well you don't have to eat it that's the good news that's a great news pointing out what's wrong in this situation isn't hard to do but unraveling the reasons behind the people participating in an illicit Wildlife trade while harming endangered species that's a tougher nut to crack to dig deeper we're venturing across the river to a local neighborhood [Music] foreign our local cook soon she'll be preparing a Meal made from a locally hunted creature that would strike fear into the hearts of even the boldest of men I'm talking about the black alligator but first we're heading to her food cart for some safer local options we just got done touring the market we got to see a lot of unusual animals including monkey and here we are eating some chorizo see or I'm taking care of you very safe I appreciate it this dish is called takacho a traditional Peruvian meal popular in the Amazonian region made with plantains cooked then mashed in a large wooden mortar that plantain putty is formed into big bowls and served with grilled wild boar skin and chorizo sausage [Music] it doesn't have a strong flavor it's not banana at all just a starchy like a completely unripe plantain I think that the reason why you can find the flavor and maybe you just found it is because you need to combine it that's right really good really good I'm loving them the chorizo is Savory it's a bit like gritty compared to normal chorizo I think this is more expressive meaning the framework it dances so this is pig skin I like that it's almost like a bacon it's really chewy and then it's just full of juice and flavor delicious yeah is this meat all from the market over here so is this farmed or is this from the jungle it's like 100 from the jungle you say that the local people prefer to eat the wild because the taste is better what are some of the most rare meats you find in this market and beef so it's beef more rare than monkey yeah why because here you don't have some people is breeding um cow they don't have big farms here to breed cow I'm very curious about the community here this is a place like no place I've been before I'm told there's no way to actually drive to where we are you have to either take a boat or you have to take an airplane this is a small suburb of Berlin known as San Francisco where Adelaide and her family spend their time away from the chaos of the market [Music] now it's the dry season and the water is low but during the rainy season flooding can bring these Waters up another 15 feet that would explain why some of the houses are so tall yeah would it be okay if we took a look at your house despite the challenges this presents folks here have learned to adapt to get around they use boats or canoes in lieu of a four-door sedan meanwhile their homes are either built high to avoid flooding or they're built on giant logs that will later float when Rising Waters come nice to meet you meet hazer Adelaide's husband he's just returned from the market with treasures in hand I would love if you could walk me through what we have here this fish what is this a prehistoric creature that took its own evolutionary path you definitely know they're catfish because they're still alive and kicking and they have been out of water maybe at least a day by now instead of scales their skin is protected by bony plates known as skews so feel this front part dude it's like a fingernail all in is so hard right they say that it's very ugly but the face is tasty I thought he was gonna say it has a good personality and then here we have the alligator two different types of Tails between these two is there anything different about the taste he said that this one is harder and it has more fiber and this one is a little bit softer which one do you prefer he prefers this one great let's try the black one yeah an apex predator with a strong jaw and sharp teeth the black caiman is the largest species of alligator in the Amazon basin able to grow up to 20 feet in length and weigh over 1 000 pounds [Music] as the kitchen heats up adelit will turn this wild protein into a domesticated stew she adds tomato sauce to hot oil then garlic pepper cumin bay leaves MSG seasoning powder and homemade salsa now comes the protein dense Bean chunks of alligator tail meat when is the last time you had alligator cooked like this and say that he stays alligator like two months ago but cooked in a different way have you ever had alligator oil no well I have crocodile is everyone has a U-shaped mouth one has a v-shaped mouth I try not to get that close to the mouth so I don't know how it's shaped now they do say the black one is a little bit tougher than the other one it smells great it looks great let's try it out oh that's really good it reminds me of a chicken breast but more juicy and there's a slight fishiness to it actually the flavor is close to a big fish but the texture is more like a chicken breast nailed it it's wild that you can just go to this Market it's so close to your home and you can buy an alligator here have you ever caught these animals what is the process of catching an alligator so that you don't die so what they do they go in a canoe and they use a harpoon tie to a floating log because when they they hit the alligator it tends to leave really fast so with that log they can identify where it goes and then cash it wow when you see these animals do you feel scared he's saying no he gets happy because like food like in general it feels like this is not really a agricultural or pastoral Society not a lot of crops not a lot of people raising pigs and cows and so people go into the jungle they bring animals from there they eat them so then that leads to issues with animal populations for certain species so people watching this video are going to go oh that's terrible they shouldn't be eating all those animals and it's like great no problem we have a solution we'll just cut down the forest we'll grow wheat we'll grow corn we'll make room for cows and then they'll go no but you can't cut down the forest either so then what the [ __ ] do you do if you live here I mean is there any solution to like get people off of depending on the meat from the jungle and move people to you know pork beef chicken no because local people is killing for eating every day people gotta eat yeah is there any proposed Solution by the government or by outside organizations are there are some organizations when you find some animals in markets policies that take and are going to the rescue center that's great for the animals but what about the people ice breathing some like hangs but how does our Bible in the jungle that's the thing like yes you can have hands and other animals but how those animals will survive that young when the water goes or older Animal City so it's a constant fire of finding what can we eat with the conditions that they have right here compared to the gator preparing the armored catfish is a breeze simply Grill the whole fish until the heat finally penetrates its outer shell and Cooks the meat inside whoa do we eat that glad it's almost away yeah that's the eggs it looks like just my fish has an egg sack um okay mine came with a pear [Music] it smells really fishy Oro cheers really neutral flavor it feels like Wax balls it's like rubbery corn I'm still chewing on it you can feel every individual egg even the eggs are armored and they're protected I gotta say there's not much meat in the fish right no gosh there's really just maybe a couple of bites a few morsels there's not much to it I say that it's not a lot of meat but it's a treat because it's really yummy that's pretty good how long have you lived in this community right here he's lived here for 15 years we were with your wife earlier today I can see that she's cooking food as her job and what's your main job right now he transport people from one side to the other side it's interesting because you know speaking to different vendors people working here I ask you know are you closed on Sundays do you ever have a day off and they're like no no that idea is so foreign and when you come to someone's home like this certainly you can see the challenges that are here for people and it makes sense like what are you gonna do with the day off yeah if you just had one thing in your life right now that could make your life easier what would that be he said it's just a good job he's a man of work what kind of job would be ideal for you [Music] so he he will hope in the future he can be a cook or a chef and do more culinary work sir thank you so much it's a pleasure meeting you and your family and drawing this food with you too so thank you I will finish my cheese yeah chicken fish okay best ever Food review show is a small team of independent creators and everything we do here works because of you guys click the link in our description to join our patreon and receive exclusive benefits a peace well is dripping literally with fish oil so do you take a fish oil ever you know for your health vitamin D I get it from the Sun oh okay can you see it there can you see the cross the boat ah they have a pig in a boat the pig is like I've never been on a boat music I'm in the time of my life oh okay you want that angle wait hold on hold on what are you aware chickens don't have a separate hole for laying eggs foreign for you do you know where the chicken eggs come out from ah like uh um like us that's right have you ever been the one to do that yeah like a 10 12 or more time and do you put Vaseline on it first do you need his help I'm opening this is my way to open it bam I thought it would be easier but um let's throw in the you don't have eggs in Cuba we do what I can't get over is that I'm here in South America and there's tortoises but when I was in Tanzania or South Africa also tortoises how explained it is it Pangea is it Joe Rogan did he do something man he's crazy because I'm always shopping in Amazon but I I never thought I would end up being here in the real Amazon go still there dude your lips are our magnet for random Foods there you go two more where'd they come from I don't know wildest meat market and I have never seen anything like it I hope you enjoyed it and we're fascinated like me and maybe it gets even more wild which it will in the next episode otherwise I want to say a huge thank you to my man Oro you can find him right here on Instagram and follow his fun adventures in Miami and Beyond guys that is it for this one thank you so much for watching I will see you next time where are we going usually I'll walk away from the camera but uh

Channel: Best Ever Food Review Show

Views: 2,900,583

Keywords: Best ever food review show, befrs, sonny side, befrs team, food, around the world food and culture, peru, south american country, south american food, peruvian food, exotic feed, extreme food, Belen market, monkey meat, turtle, dangerous place, iquitos, wild boar, deer meat, guinea pig meat, black bee, stingless bee, yellow footed turtle

Id: ySsTLyBBmhw

Length: 24min 31sec (1471 seconds)

Published: Sun May 28 2023