Gibnut

Ingredients

Meat

• 1.5 kggibnut, jointed
• juice of 2 sour oranges
• water, for soaking

Seasoning

• 2 tbsprecado rojo
• 4 clovesgarlic, crushed
• 1onion, chopped
• 2 tspblack pepper
• 1 tspdried oregano
• 1 tspsalt

Pot

• 2 tbspoil
• 1 tbspbrown sugar
• 2tomatoes, chopped
• 1sweet pepper, sliced
• 1habanero, whole
• 2bay leaves
• 500 mlwater

To serve

• rice and beans
• stewed beans
• fried plantain

Directions

1. Take it in season. Paca is legally hunted in Belize under licence with a closed season, and it is farmed in parts of Central America; it is a regulated species rather than a protected one.
2. Joint the animal and soak the pieces in water with the sour orange juice for an hour, then drain them.
3. The sour orange soak takes the edge off the strong gamey smell, and it is the standard first step for any bush meat in a Belizean kitchen.
4. Dissolve the recado rojo in a spoonful of sour orange juice before you use it, because the annatto comes as a hard brick and will otherwise sit in lumps.
5. Rub the meat with the dissolved recado, garlic, onion, pepper, oregano and salt, and leave it 2 hours or overnight.
6. Heat the oil in a heavy pot, stir in the brown sugar, and let it darken to the colour of strong tea.
7. Browning the sugar first is how a stew is coloured across Belize and the wider Caribbean. It wants to go genuinely dark, but stop well short of black, which turns it bitter.
8. Brown the meat hard in that caramel, in batches so the pot stays hot.
9. Return it all with the tomatoes, sweet pepper, whole habanero, bay leaves and water, cover, and simmer for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours.
10. Leave the habanero whole and lift it out at the end unless you want real heat, which is how the pot is usually managed.
11. It is ready when the meat pulls easily from the bone and the gravy has darkened and thickened around it.
12. Cook it right through. This is wild meat and it is never served pink.
13. Serve with rice and beans, stewed beans and fried plantain.
14. It picked up the nickname royal rat after being served to Queen Elizabeth II on her 1985 visit, which the British press reported with some alarm.

Technique

• The paca is a large nocturnal rodent rather than any kind of rat, and the meat is dark, fine-grained and closer to pork than to game birds.
• Rabbit is the usual stand-in outside Belize and takes the recipe unchanged.
• Recado rojo is annatto seed ground with cumin, oregano, pepper and sour orange, sold as a dark red brick.

Substitutions

• Rabbit, or pork shoulder, both of which suit the same stew.
• Lime juice with a splash of orange juice in place of sour orange.

Variations

• With coconut milk stirred into the gravy.
• Roasted whole over a fire rather than stewed.
• Curried, with Belizean curry powder in place of the recado.

History

Nicknamed the royal rat after it was served to Queen Elizabeth II during her 1985 visit to Belize, which the British press reported with alarm.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gibnut?

Gibnut is a main from Belize: stewed lowland paca, dark gamey bush meat with recado and rice. Nicknamed the royal rat after it was served to Queen Elizabeth II during her 1985 visit to Belize, which the British press reported with alarm.

How long does Gibnut take to make?

Gibnut takes 30 min plus 2 hr marinating of preparation and 2 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Gibnut?

Yes, within limits. Rabbit, or pork shoulder, both of which suit the same stew. Lime juice with a splash of orange juice in place of sour orange.

What is the most important thing to get right in Gibnut?

Take it in season. Paca is legally hunted in Belize under licence with a closed season, and it is farmed in parts of Central America; it is a regulated species rather than a protected one.