Meat-Lavyann

I was fortunate to spend some of my younger days on a small property in the village of Grand’Anse on the island of Praslin, Seychelles. I lived with an aunt and her name was Aunty Margot. Her property was about 40 acreas and during that time, I learnt some very valuable skills that have been of great assistance for me in later years. On the property we had our own baskour or backyard farmlet.

Baskour

We reared our own animals and these included pigs, cows, chicken, ducks and even turkey. All the animals were kept close to the house. The chicken, ducks and turkey were all kept in the poulaye or chicken coop. The pigs sty or park koson was always at the back of the house and close to water supply. The water, that was used to cool the pigs down during hot days and to replenish their feeding trough or loz, was delivered through bamboo pipes, or ladal, from a small river source up in the hills. The pigs were slaughtered for special occasions like Christmas and Easter.
The few cows we had were kept mainly for milk and I had to milk the cows every morning and take them to pasture before going to school. Milking a cow manually was a skill that was not easy to acquire especially for a young boy. The milk, which was a rare commodity then, was bottled and sold in the local village. All the animals had to be fed daily and this had to be done before the school homework and any games we had in mind.

Below is a list of the most popular meats consumed on the islands. Click on the meat type below to share some of my experiences and to read more about the meat item…