Barbecued Meat and the Origin of the Buccaneers

The buccaneers were a fierce and ruthless breed of pirates who prowled the seas back in the 17th century, during the so-called "Golden Age of Piracy."

They originated in the Caribbean, at a time when Europe was a hotbed of economic and political upheaval. European powers like Spain, England, France, and the Netherlands competed for territory in the new "Indies" and control of lucrative trade routes. The constant conflicts and wars among these powers provided the perfect breeding ground for piracy.

Spain had amassed so much wealth from exploiting its American colonies that Spanish galleons sailed loaded with treasure and soon became attractive targets for plunder—plunder initially bankrolled by rival powers eager to see Spain's economy collapse.

But there came a point when many of these pirates found themselves cut off from English, French, and Dutch funding, and instead of being rewarded for their misdeeds, they began to be hunted by their former "patrons." Around 1620, the English opted for a strategy of trading with Spain rather than financing the "theft" of its treasures.

And so it was that many pirates, the most ruthless among them, decided to take refuge on Hispaniola, present-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic—at first drawn by the enticing number of wild pigs and cattle roaming the jungle. They had food and fresh water, sea on all sides, and a "no man's land" at their disposal, since Spain exercised weak control over the island in those days. What more could a retired pirate ask for!

Over time they learned from the indigenous Taíno people a technique for roasting meat, using a wooden frame and a combination of bark and herbs with which they smoked and preserved the meat. The natives called this method "boucan," and it not only preserved the meat but also gave it a distinctive flavor. And so the former pirates took up smoking meat and selling it to ships that anchored in passing at the island. This was the birth of the buccaneers, taking their name from the ancestral "boucan."

Note: A bit more obscure, but no less true, is the origin of the word barbecue, whose etymology is also intimately linked to the "boucán."

But let's continue with the story, because it doesn't end there.

Over time the buccaneers concentrated on a small island north of Haiti called Tortuga Island. From there it was easier to access passing ships. Perhaps the region's history would be different if these barbecuing buccaneers had prospered; but Europe was not comfortable with news of the new settlers and saw them as a future threat. They hunted them down and decimated their population after repeated and merciless attacks. Eventually, those who remained, blood in their eyes, decided to return to their life as sea thieves, but this time under their new law: "there is no law whatsoever." It was in this way that this legion of outlaws, made up of former pirates, adventurers, madmen, ex-convicts, and other fugitives from justice, decided to return to the sea.

The buccaneers began their new venture by attacking minor targets, aboard small canoes provided by the Taíno, until they captured their first Spanish vessel, well equipped with batteries of cannons and ammunition, and thus they grew until they formed a new vengeful army that sailed the seas, no longer accountable to anyone and attacking ships of any nationality, seeking only their personal profit, to fill their pockets… and the ego wounded by their former patrons. The only institution they answered to was their own, called the brotherhood of the Brethren of the Coast. A new flag was raised, with the skull, as a sign of death for anyone unfortunate enough to cross paths with them and their wounded soul.