Holiday Massacre

Jorge Rangel, a 50-year-old Mexican fisherman, has a favorite recipe. With a clunk on the head and a slit of the throat, slaughter a sea turtle. Cut off the flippers, and save them for soup. Carve out the underbelly, and set the meat aside. Then place the shell on an open fire, and simmer the fatty entrails for three hours. Take the meat and boil it for an hour, stir in onions, chilies and corn, add the roasted entrails and use the mix as a tasty taco filling. Serves 10 to 20. "I've eaten it in restaurants," says Rangel, "but it is not the same as when my wife makes it at home."

Sea turtles were declared endangered in the United States in 1973, and eating them has been illegal in Mexico for a decade. But along the coast of the Baja peninsula in western Mexico, the turtle is the equivalent of the holiday ham (with purported Viagra-like powers, too), and it is eaten in most households at least a few times a year. Last week the poachers--small-time fishermen hunting for their families, as well as organized smugglers who send turtle meat as far north as Los ... // 84% Remaining