17. THE JOURNEYS INTO DARKNESS

HOW THE SLAVERS FED THEIR CAPTIVES

THE CROSSING

It seems appropriate in our discussion about the foods that enslaved Africans contributed to Caribbean cuisine to take a look at the journey of these foods from their source. Over the 200+ years of European chattel slavery, about twelve million souls were dragged out of Africa, chained together in rows and shipped thousands of miles away to Brazil, the Caribbean and North America. Think also about what that did to the populations left behind! Brazil absorbed almost 6 million, the English-speaking Caribbean about 3.5 million and the rest were spread throughout the Spanish, Dutch and French-speaking Caribbean and North America.

On average, the slavers carried between 200-500 enslaved persons per voyage, which added up to about 35,000 transatlantic crossings through which Africa’s botanical heritage was transferred across the fathomless sea from the old world to the new.

The journey lasted between five to seven weeks. That meant carrying a lot of food (the intention was to victual the ships with the foods generally eaten by the captives, which varied from region to region. For instance, those enslaved captives from Senegambia and the Gold Coast were fed rice and those from the Bights of Benin and Biafra were given yams). An average ship carried about eight tons of rice or 50-60,000 yams. There would also be provisions, some carried directly by the captives and some as victuals onboard the ships, such as sorghum and manioc, as well as with stocks of vegetables (such as okra), legumes (pigeon peas, etc.), cooking oils, such as dende or palm oil, and other – often covertly carried – crops, such as sesame seed, etc.

FORTRESS AFRICA

A vast complex of wholesalers and suppliers, protected by strategically positioned forts and manned by merchants and middlemen, came into force to service the demand. This often outstripped supply, and the ships’ captains would have to sail up and down the coast, sometimes for as long as two to three weeks, before the food quota was filled.

Vast food farms, dedicated entirely to servicing this trade in enslaved persons, began to dot the coastline. One such supplier was a consortium of some 50 plantations that managed a combined labour force of around 10,000 enslaved Africans. It was all run and managed by the Jesuits. No doubt they offered up prayers for their enslaved.

There were two meals on the ship per day: the morning one was at about 10am and the afternoon one at about 4pm. In between, the enslaved were forced to keep fit by dancing. Some party. The food they ate, usually prepared by (female) African cooks, consisted of the main starch (rice or yam, etc.) combined with a mixture of beans and peas with salt meat, pepper and palm oil. The ingredients would often all be boiled together into a soggy slop called dab-a-dab, served in large barrels or troughs (the kind used for feeding animals). The enslaved were given small bowls, called crews, to eat out of.

Many women were involved with the food preparation; they cleaned the rice, pounded the yams and ground the corn. In some instances, they worked along with the ship’s cooks; occasionally they might cook the higher quality food for the captain.

THE ARRIVAL

The distribution of the food had to be carefully managed (there was no room for running out of supplies); and its allocation had to take into consideration the final week’s ‘fattening up’. It was bad business to dock with a complement of gaunt, skinny prisoners. This final week was the last chance to ensure that everyone looked good and could fetch top dollar.