European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 8, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 20 scene stars and stripes sunday april 82007 spider Monkey dishes inspired by isolated tribe photos by a cookies made with Machaco a Large Type of ant Are displayed during a demonstration of venezuelan chef Nelson Mendez at a gastronomic fair March 8 in Caracas Venezuela r d o o t 0 c q As a child in puerto Ayacucho Gateway to Venezuela Remote Southern rain forests Nelson Mendez was fascinated by tales of the isolated Yano Mami indians and their unusual diet the old men would say the Yano Mami have so Many children because the monkeys they eat make them extremely or those indians walk through the Forest for Days and they survive eating Only spi Mendez said years later the 43yearold chefs fascination co fix us and now he is working to preserve the a Noma i culture by bringing their cuisine to the main Stream holding demonstrations on How to please discriminating palates with termites monkeys and spiders at the first event i held everyone was shocked he said during a recent food fair after people try these things they change during a demonstration at the fair an audience of Amateur Cooks and students gasped As Mendez unveiled a smoked White Monkey used to make soup and his assistants handed out cookies made with Machaco Large ants with an enduring spicy after taste a tribe of isolated villages the Yano Mami inhabit mostly temporary settlements on both sides of Venezu Elas Border with Brazil traditionally Venezuela 6150 Yano Mami have lived by gathering fishing and Hunting with bows and blow guns Mendez who is the first chef in Venezuela to try to popularize Yano Mami cuisine and is careful to use Only animals that Are not endangered said he chose the tribe because there the most ethnically pure of them All and dont like to be near what they Call the White close to what we Call civilization during trips into the Jungles of Amazonas state where the Yano Mami live Mendez tries to help the tribe financially by hiring members to gather the ingredients he needs to replicate their foods ingredients such As tarantulas and giant ants he usually pays about 500 bolivars 20 us cents for each Tarantula they catch which involves luring the spiders out of holes Mendez said that on his first foray into the Jungle Many indians would not admit to eating Worms or assistants of venezuelan chef Nelson Mendez display a smoked araguato1 Monkey and smoked Alligator during a gastronomic fair in Caracas Mendez found inspiration for his innovative gastronomic creations within the farthest reaches of Venezuela Southern rain forests among the Yano Mami one of the worlds most isolated Indian tribes of grilled Paca a rodent weighing up to 22 they started to bring out All the things they had hidden Mendez said laughing other dietary Staples of the Yano Mami who cultivate edible insects inside Rotten logs include cassava plantains and grubs manioc a Large tuber often planted on the Village outskirts is leached and dried to remove cyanide then baked into bread and rain for est animals ranging from monkeys to Nelson Mendez venezuelan chef snakes to tapirs mammals with Short snouts that roughly resemble a pig in shape and size Are important sources of protein venezuelans like Alvaro Insausti a 21yearold aspiring chef have been excited by the Chance to try at the first event i held everyone was shocked after people try these things they rubs because they knew most venezuelans do not a native cuisine though he admitted being distracted from the Remote Jungle i 31 i 11 containers during Mendez recent we have restaurants in Venezuela offering foods from All Over the world Spanish chinese italian but unfortunately we dont know anything about the cooking of our own indigenous tribes Insausti said efforts like this to expose mainstream society to indigenous cultures can be Good for All involved but it must be done with care said Mark protein presi Dent of the Amazon conservation team a Virginia based group that works to preserve native communities it needs to be done in a Way that is culturally Sensi Tive which Doest disrupt the culture said protein who has made several trips into Yano Mami territory Mendez thinks he has found just such a Way he Hopes to launch a restaurant offering Zanoma mistype dishes if he can overcome the logistical hurdles involved in gathering and transporting ingredients share such tastes that changed once he ate a piece by the immense tarantulas crawling about inside people want to try it he said