Lovers of dog meat in Calabar continue to relish the delicacy which has now become part of their daily culinary preferences. ANTHONY UBONG, in Calabar, writes on the swelling number of the dog meat joints and how the business has continued to boom despite the recession.
ONE man’s meat, they say, is another man’s poison. Elsewhere, a dog may inherit a fortune, sleep in a large bed and be pampered with the best things money can buy; but in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, its destiny is to titillate people’s taste buds and end up in their stomachs.
Popularly called 404, no one really knows how they name stuck but mention it across the length and breadth of the country, everybody knows what you are talking about.
One would have thought that with the economic recession, the rush for 404 meat would dwindle, but not in Calabar. In fact, the consumption of ‘404’ has increased. For the connoisseurs of the delicacy, recession is just a word signifying nothing.
This is, however, evident in the increasing number of people who throng ‘404’ joints in Calabar to relish the delicacy. These joints dot the nooks and crannies of the state capital.
The delicacy is eaten mostly by the Efik people of Calabar and those from Akwa Ibom State among whom the love for dog meat dates far back and has become an age-long tradition that cannot be abandoned.
Dog meat is often prepared with what is known in local parlance as ‘Kaikai’ (local gin) and Ntong (scent leaves). Once it is done, which takes approximately two hours it goes with beer and palm wine. It can also be eaten with rice and plantain. In fact, the best way to tantalise a Calabar man is dog meat well-seasoned with the usual ingredients.
In the evenings, the streets of Calabar, are often filled with customers. Some rich customers could buy a whole pot of dog meat and take it home to entertain their friends and relatives. To some it has become a daily ritual.
When Sunday Tribune visited some of the ‘404’ joints in Calabar metropolis, it was discovered that the patronage for dog meat has not diminished in any way.
In separate interviews with Sunday Tribune, some customers at a popular dog meat joint located at Big Qua town, Calabar, said they prefer dog meat to goat meat because of its nutritional and medical value.
According to one of the customers, Etim Ene, dog meat cures malaria and liver diseases. He added that the economic recession cannot affect the consumption of ‘404’ because it is a delicacy the natives cannot do without.
“The kind of satisfaction I get from the consumption of dog meat, I cannot get it from goat meat or any other meat. It has medicinal value that is why some people prefer it to any other meat.
“You can stop me from consuming any other thing, but not dog meat. I love it so much. You know the Ibibios and Efiks are some of the tribes in the country blessed with mouth-watering delicacies. Most of our native delicacies are recognised internationally and can compete favourably with others from other parts of the country. One of them is dog meat,” Ene told Sunday Tribune.
Another customer, who gave her name simply as Arit said her life is incomplete without dog meat.
According to her, she can eat dog meat only for a whole day without any other food, adding “it is our traditional meat and we the Efiks love it so much. If you don’t prepare it during occasions, it means that you don’t know what you are doing.”
On why the consumption of dog meat is not affected by recession, Arit said: “the same way you manage to eat garri every day is the same way we manage to eat dog meat. There is no difference. If I have N500, I can get at least four to five pieces of it; so recession does not affect it.”
The owner of a ‘404’ joint at Ekondo Street, Calabar South, Ubong Udofia, has been in the business for 23 years. According to him, though the price of dogs has increased, the business is still lucrative.
“It was N8,000 for a small-size dog from May to October last year but from November… December 2016, we began to buy it for N20,000 depending on the size. After preparing it, I also increased the price for my customers, but it hasn’t affected the consumption. People still come to patronise me.
“We don’t buy dogs that are treated or injected with vaccines because it is not healthy for consumption. I buy from Benue State and other parts of the North, but the only problem is that sometimes there are delays in bringing them down here.
“It takes approximately two hours to prepare the delicacy; I do the killing and butchering while my wife takes care of the cooking. We add local gin while cooking it so as to bring out the natural oil from the meat because no other oil is used in the preparation.
“I even prepare the meat on contract for some persons. What you need to do is to buy your own dog and bring it to me, then I will kill it and cook it for you and you pay me. I can charge you up to N10 or 15 thousand for preparation.”
A major dog dealer at Marian Market, Asim Ekpenyong, said he buys his dogs from the North in cages and sells to joints in Calabar.
According to him, he sells more than 150 dogs everyday as ‘404’ joint owners throng the market on a daily basis to buy from him.
“I am a major dealer in dogs. I buy in cages from the North and people who operate dog meat joints buy from me. What you need to do is just to come here and choose the one you want and I tell you the price. We can even kill it and roast it for you. It all depends on what you want.
“I can tell you that I still make good sales despite the fact that people are complaining of lack of money. Our people cannot just stop consuming the meat because it has become an age-long tradition,” Ekpenyong said.
So how much is it per plate? That is left to the ‘joints’ operators. Those who throng the joints daily take the delicacy according to their pockets. One piece of the delicacy is N100 or N200 depending on the size and it is taken with cold beer or the usual food. Some regular customers would tell you there is nothing like dog meat and are ready to wager on its medicinal values as well.
On the issue of medicinal value of the dog meat, a dietician at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), Henry Archibong, dismissed the notion.
According to him, dog meat unlike any other meat contains protein and nothing more.
He said the belief that dog meat has medical value may be due to the scent leaves and other ingredients used in its preparation.
“Dog meat is just like goat meat or any other meat. It has nothing absolutely to do with the cure of malaria. But the leaves and other ingredients used in its preparation may have some medicinal value but not enough to cure malaria as insinuated,” he said.
However, Chief Okokon Ita, an Ekpe title holder says there is a traditional dimension to the dog.
“When someone commits suicide, a dog is used to do spiritual cleansing of the land to prevent the re-occurrence of such bad omen. The dog is used to drive away the evil spirits responsible for such evil and it is an age-long tradition among the Efiks.
“Also, when a child who is growing up and finds it difficult to walk, there is a concoction we make with the bones; we use it to massage the leg of the child and within a few weeks, the child will start walking,” Chief Ita said.
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