Trepang
Trepang or Bêche-de-mer is a preparation form for sea cucumbers (Holothuroidea), which is especiallyknown and popularin China and the Philippines . The animals are freed from their entrails and the outer skin and dried so that they can later becookedwith vegetables in the form of soups or other dishes. The pineapple sea roller ( Thelenota ananas ) (susuhan) and the red Halodeima edulis are particularly popular.
However, improper handling and preparation can lead to symptoms of poisoning, as these animals contain saponin-like poisons ( holothurins ).
In the 18th century, Makassar , the largest port city on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi , was the main hub for trade in sea cucumbers, which were caught on the many small Indonesian islands and shipped to China. With significantly higher quantities than rattan and other agricultural products, Trepang was the main export product from Makassar to China. The trade with Trepang was of great economic importance, especially for remote islands. Western researchers of the 19th century, on the other hand, expressed little understanding for the appreciation that the Chinese showed for the trepang. Alfred Russel Wallace described Trepang as "sausages rolled in the mud and then thrown down the chimney".
Individual evidence
- ↑ Heather Sutherland: Trepang and wangkang. The China trade of eighteenth-century Makassar c. 1720s-1840s. In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, Authority and enterprise among the peoples of South Sulawesi. 156, no. 3, Leiden 2000, pp. 451-472