When it comes to turu, there's not much middle ground. The reaction to mollusk from mangrove areas, consumed as a delicacy, is often mouth-watering or disgusting. Regardless of how much it is appreciated, there is no denying it: it is part of the riverside identity of certain Amazonian regions. But what exactly is this invertebrate, whitish, gelatinous animal with a cylindrical, elongated body that looks more like a large earthworm?
Its official name is Teredo sp. It is a bivalve mollusk of the same family as the oyster and the mussel. It has particularities that justify the aversion of some: in addition to having the appearance of a worm, it grows on rotted pieces of wood present in mangroves of the Marajó and the Atlantic Amazon, including the states of Pará, Amapá, and Maranhão.
It can lodge inside pieces of fallen logs or even in the wet hull of vessels, leaving the wood with a characteristic appearance, full of holes.
Even though this visual is not so inviting, turu has already been eaten for at least a couple of centuries, since it was first discovered by the indigenous people of the region. Whether in broths, farofas, only with salt and lemon, or in other ways of preparation, the riverside people keep the tradition.
More than food: part of the cultural identity
Those who maintain tradition and have turu in their daily lives have no doubts: it gives “sustância” [strength], is aphrodisiac, and even cures diseases. Miguel Picanço, a social scientist and researcher in the anthropology of food, proved the symbolism associated with turu during his studies for his doctoral thesis. "When I was in ethnographic field research for my PhD thesis, I found myself as a researcher with turu. But it is clear that this meeting had already happened because I am a caboclo, Amazonian, Northerner, from the community of Araí, in the municipality of Augusto Corrêa, northeast Pará. From a very early age, as a child, I already tried turu. But this more anthropological, more scientific look took place when I was studying the social life of cassava and chose Araí as my ethnographic field”, he explains.
During the observations and interviews conducted for his research, he realized that the turu occupies an important place in the representations of the Amazonians, particularly fishermen, of the Araí community. "But I can affirm, without fear of error, that the entire Atlantic Amazon is crossed by these experiences. In these places, turu brings with it certain singularities. For example, the people of northeastern Pará attribute to turu a healing charge”, he reports.
"So if the person is recovering from some disease, feeling very weak and debilitated, eating the turu would give this ‘sustância’, vitality, regenerating the body and health. The riverside people reported to me the cure for viral infections, including at the time of COVID-19. And they also told that in the past, before the discovery of treatment by modern science, people were treated for tuberculosis with turu broth,” he describes.
Picanço explains that practices related to turu originated from Indigenous people's knowledge. “When I talk about turu with this healing charge, I am talking about an ancestral science, inherited from the original peoples, Tupinambás, and other ethnic groups that populated the region,” he details.
The researcher also recalls another property attributed to turu: that of being aphrodisiac. "In the communities, they also say, sometimes even with a humorous tone, that turu can be aphrodisiac and a remedy to solve issues of sexual impotence,” says Picanço.
For the social scientist, turu is more than just food. "If we think of food as a marker of identity, it is not a food that is there just to satisfy hunger, but a food, in the perspective that it aggregates, that it is collective. And it's no ordinary food. It is not something that is eaten at any time, since there is a whole ritual to collect the turu, a wisdom of the Riverside to identify in which mangrove to go, in which stage of decomposition the tree needs to be, how to take the mollusk so that it is not torn to pieces. There is a whole technique and knowledge to collect and also to prepare, because if you don't do it the right way, you spoil the turu, and it gets rubbery”, he clarifies.
In this sense, the turu becomes a marker of territorialities. "Despite having people from Belém who know it, who have already established this relationship with turu, it is a marker of origin. Where do turu is eaten? Who eats turu? It is the people from northeastern Pará and Marajó. So, it is a very unique and very “ours” food, which says about the ways of being and living in the Marajoara territories and the Atlantic Amazon”, he adds.
Food is rich in nutritional properties
According to Elivaldo Modesto Júnior, PhD from Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência e Tecnologia de Alimentos [Graduate Program in Food Science and Technology] at the Universidade Federal do Pará [Federal University of Pará], turu has high nutritional value. “It is rich in proteins, with contents ranging between 5% and 8%; in carbohydrates, between 15% and 23%; in lipids, around 0.13% to 0.20%; and in minerals, such as calcium. Its total energy value ranges from 91 to 118 kcal per 100g, configuring it as a relatively caloric food, especially when compared to seafood such as shrimp, oysters and mussels”, explains the expert.
In addition to being a researcher in Food Technology, Modesto Júnior is also a marajoara and has known turu since childhood. "On the island of Marajó, where I am from, turu is widely sold and consumed, especially in Salvaterra and Soure, regions where mangroves provide the ideal environment for the development of this species. Turu is often known as 'Pará's aphrodisiac', which can be attributed to its caloric value since there are still no conclusive scientific studies that prove this property”, he highlights.
"However, the popular belief is strong, linked to both cultural and psychological aspects as well as the way of preparation, which ranges from direct consumption, accompanied by lemon and salt, to more elaborate dishes, such as stews, which are famous for ‘healing the hangover’ of many people from Pará”, reports the researcher.
Modesto Junior further recalls the possible therapeutic properties of turu, defended by traditional populations for a variety of diseases. “Some of the preliminary investigations indicate the possible presence of alkaloids, compounds that may contribute to the potential bioactive of the turu, and living up to its medical use, but there is still a need for further, more in-depth studies. In any case, it is an easily digestible food with a high protein content, which makes it valuable in the daily diet of the marajoaras”, he emphasizes.
Restaurants include the mollusk on the menu
Turu is a delicacy served in some restaurants in the regions where the mollusk is found. This is the case of some of the inns located in Vila dos Pescadores, in Ajuruteua, in the municipality of Bragança. On the menu, you will find Turu broth and raw turu, with salt and lemon only.
Maryllin Oliveira, the owner of one of these establishments, says she decided to serve turu when she opened her inn. "When we met the village, the residents themselves served turu to us. So, when we went to put together the menu, we put it together with the everyday things of the village, the things that usually do and eat here. The idea was to value local experiences and customs”, she recalls.
The businesswoman says some visit her restaurant precisely to taste the mollusk. "They have this curiosity, because we have the broth and the tasting, only in lemon and salt. Groups of friends come and play around, wondering if they'll be able to eat. So a lot of people start to come. And the most requested is precisely the tasting”, she points out.
For those who are afraid to consume, Maryllin argues: "sometimes turu does not please the eye, but it tastes very good. When we talk about the benefits, that it is rich in protein, in calcium, that it is healthy, people agree to taste it and many are surprised by the taste”, she says.
One of the clients who accepted the experience was Professor Abel Pojo. He had previously tasted turu broth but decided to bet on tasting it. “It was very interesting. It has a seafood flavor and a consistency that you will chew and the flavor will be prolonged. The broth is very tasty but, since it already comes with a lot of spices, you don't feel the taste of turu so much. If it is only with salt and lemon, you feel the texture well and a very particular flavor. I enjoyed it and I intend to eat it again. And I think it makes a lot of sense to be served here, because it is an appreciation of knowledge, of a traditional practice of fishermen”, he praises.
On the trail of turu
It is the villagers who provide the raw material for the dishes with turu served at the inn. “We buy right from a family. We talk about how many liters we want for the week and they already bring everything taken care of,” says owner Maryllin Oliveira.
One of the collectors is Roni Pereira, who has been going to the mangrove in search of turu since childhood. For him, it is a tradition that passes from generation to generation. "The older ones take us and we learn and enjoy the activity. I do not like to consume it, but I think it's fun to go to take it, and it’s interesting. We cut the wood, open it, and see a lot of turu, it is very beautiful", he comments.
"The turu only lives in woods that fall into the Mangrove, which the tide overthrows. But the very new wood [that fell not long ago] has no turu. Only the oldest wood, about four, six months [after falling]. To identify if there is turu there, we look under the wood. If it has red water, it's because it has. So, we cut with an axe, raise the trunk and knock so the turu can go down, "teaches the Riverside dweller, showing his ancestral knowledge.
Trail
In addition to offering the dishes in the restaurant, the Kiall Inn also offers another experience related to mollusk: the turu trail. Villagers take groups of visitors to extract turu directly from the mangrove. "The turu is consumed right there: they open the trunk, take out the turu, wash in the tidal water, and consume. I think it's much tastier that way,” says the owner of the inn. Asked if he would risk tasting turu under these conditions, Professor Abel Pojo does not hesitate: “At the time, no doubt. I would love to and still intend to have this experience,” he plans.
INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERSHIP
The production of Liberal Amazon is one of the initiatives of the Technical Cooperation Agreement between the Liberal Group and the Federal University of Pará. The articles involving research from UFPA are revised by professionals from the academy. The translation of the content is also provided by the agreement, through the research project ET-Multi: Translation Studies: multifaces and multisemiotics.
