BECHE-DE-MER

plural Bche-de-mer, or Bches-de-mer, also called Trepang, boiled, dried, and smoked flesh of sea cucumbers (phylum Echinodermata) used to make soups. Most bche-de-mer comes from the southwestern Pacific, where the animals (any of a dozen species of the genera Holothuria, Stichopus, and Thelonota) are obtained on coral reefs. Bche-de-mer is consumed chiefly in China. Bche-de-mer, or Beach-la-Mar, is a pidgin English term used in New Guinea and nearby islands, where the trepang trade has long been important. The term Bche-de-Mer has also come to designate the pidgin English language spoken in these regions.