Eating dog in East Timor

Don’t Knock It Till You’ve Tried It

It wasn’t a mistake. It was a conscious choice I made under the motto: don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.

There I was, sitting in the hostel’s common room, chatting with a group of interesting travellers who had all found their way to a relatively unknown destination: East Timor.

As we swapped stories and impressions of the country so far, a newly made friend mentioned he’d stumbled upon a canteen that served dog meat. I was intrigued—especially when a Chinese girl across the table enthusiastically chimed in, insisting it was a must-try dish.

She described in vivid detail how good dog meat can taste, and how it’s sometimes served in pudding form back in China. Wide-eyed, I listened, curiosity growing by the second. I’m the kind of person who’ll try almost any food once—maggots and cockroaches being the only exceptions.

I wasn’t exactly planning to go out and order it off a menu, but now, here it was—slow-cooked in red and green chili sauce, just waiting to be eaten.

Hey, don’t judge…

A Little Background

East Timor—officially Timor-Leste—endured a long and bloody struggle for independence that only ended 16 years ago. During the war, famine gripped the country, and people were left with no choice but to eat whatever they could find—including dogs.
As life slowly improved, many Timorese had grown accustomed to the taste of dog meat and genuinely came to enjoy it. We spoke with a local man who explained that even though they’d sometimes see dogs eating human corpses left in the street during the war, they would still choose to eat those dogs.

Partly out of necessity. Partly because they liked the meat.

Since 2002, Timor-Leste has been recognized by the UN as an independent country, and while its economy is still fragile, eating dog meat is no longer a matter of survival. Some locals continue to enjoy it; others refuse to touch it, as it reminds them of darker times.

Timor-Leste is a Catholic country with a sizable Muslim population, including Indonesians, Indians, expats, and locals. Because dog is haram in Islamic tradition, dog meat—called RW—is kept in a separate cabinet so it won’t “contaminate” the rest of the food.

 

Anyways… I ate dog stew. How was it?

The sauce was delicious—spicy, flavourful, with a nice little kick. Unfortunately, it completely overpowered the meat, which was tough and chewy. The texture reminded me of that one sad, freezer-burnt piece of beef you find at the bottom of your freezer.

This wasn’t a perfectly cut steak; it was just random chunks of meat, mostly fat and skin. I really wanted to be brave. I didn’t want to waste food. But… I couldn’t finish my plate.
With every bite, I kept picturing myself gnawing on one of those scabby street dogs I’d seen earlier in the day. Eventually, I put down my fork and downed a liter of water.

I tried it. And now I know for sure: I do not like dog meat.

What’s the most unusual meat you’ve ever eaten?

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