[Water-]

Originally Posted by moose eater

I don't understand your question, shithawk.

Water- In my opinion, muktuk (raw whale meat) tastes nothing like moose.

It's not extremely fishy, but more of a unique 'sea' flavor (not anything like something else to compare it to; different from raw frozen walrus meat as well, which is much more red, and can carry trichinosis), and there's a richness to the fatty part. The more firm/harder skin part gets chewed down to a much smaller piece, but there's always a bit of what 'feels' like gristle left that is swallowed.

The fatty part has a pinkish hue to the white, while the fin meat tends to be more white, and less fatty.

I suspect many people who dislike the taste, may also actually/instead, dislike the consistency.

The fin meat is often cut a bit differently than the rest, often coming in long stripes, more or less square at the ends, but long, with skin on both ends, so it has a -longer- strip of whitish tissue in the middle (which is a bit more fibrous than the fatty parts of the rest), and there's black 'skin' at either end.

I was out with someone fishing halibut once, maybe 10 or 14 years ago, in the Gulf of Alaska, and in a bag he had some bowhead fin meat. I was elated to be among others who ate muktuk and had access, and asked how old it was. He replied that it was fairly fresh, and had recently been given to him, stating it was for chumming. At the thought of him wasting such a gift by chumming with it, I asked if I might dig into the bag, and began eating his 'bait.'

I'm sure it was entertaining for a couple folks on-board, but feeding it to the halibut, or using it to lure them closer, to me was a crime... Perhaps literally.

Thought it sounded strange and wrong. Thanks for the info. Great post!

[Green Squall]

Whale meat for sale in Japan

[moose eater]

Originally Posted by Green Squall

Whale meat for sale in Japan

View Image

The Japanese are among the last of the commercial whalers, and they take some serious ridicule from others for it. There've been (limited) times I've heard derogatory references to the Japanese by some Inupiat folks, specifically relative to commercial whaling.

The difference being what amounts to wholesale subsistence harvests that feed villages, and allow for gifting of meat down the chain, to extended family and friends, versus commercial harvesting.

It was years upon years (hundreds) of relatively unrestricted commercial harvesting of whales that led to the condition of their populations today, and the groups and countries that have banded together to end commercial (and sometimes Aboriginal subsistence) harvesting altogether.

Most food consumed traditionally by coastal Aboriginal folks had a stout fat component to it. Fat and protein; food groups to stave off harsh conditions. And for the commercial whalers, the blubber was made into everything from lamp oil to soap, and even cosmetics. The Eskimo (Yupik and Inupiat/Inupiaq) used the fat for oil, as well as food.

Edit: That's not muktuk in the photo, by the way, but rather meat.

Search 'Barrow whale harvest,' and look for pics of the whales being cut up on shore.

[Green Squall]

Originally Posted by moose eater

The Japanese are among the last of the commercial whalers, and they take some serious ridicule from others for it. There've been (limited) times I've heard derogatory references to the Japanese by some Inupiat folks, specifically relative to commercial whaling.

The difference being what amounts to wholesale subsistence harvests that feed villages, and allow for gifting of meat down the chain, to extended family and friends, versus commercial harvesting.

It was years upon years (hundreds) of relatively unrestricted commercial harvesting of whales that led to the condition of their populations today, and the groups and countries that have banded together to end commercial (and sometimes Aboriginal subsistence) harvesting altogether.

Most food consumed traditionally by coastal Aboriginal folks had a stout fat component to it. Fat and protein; food groups to stave off harsh conditions. And for the commercial whalers, the blubber was made into everything from lamp oil to soap, and even cosmetics. The Eskimo (Yupik and Inupiat/Inupiaq) used the fat for oil, as well as food.

Edit: That's not muktuk in the photo, by the way, but rather meat.

Search 'Barrow whale harvest,' and look for pics of the whales being cut up on shore.

And rightly so! Along with the Taiji dolphin drive hunt. Both are practices that need to be retired in this day and age at least in my opinion. As for the Inuit and other indigenous groups, I have no problem with their annual whale hunt.

[moose eater]

Stoned40years wrote:


>>>”””Trichinosis is some bad shit and freezing or cooking meat doesn't always work.”””<<<

Yep, both the trichinosis in bear, as well as in sea mammals up here, often can’t be ‘cold-cured’ like domestic pork can be.

Very similar issue, but different. One can be dealt with by freezing, and the other not as much. But they’re both trichinosis. FDA and Ak Fish & Game advise about this.

>>>”””the first thing you look at while gutting it is the liver”””<<<

Best general internal indicator of health in the animal; nice 'sharp' crisp edges, no bloating, no lesions, no white tumors.

[stoned-trout]

I'm

Originally Posted by shithawk420

You know how expensive that is?way too rich for my blood.I really wanna try shark fin soup but that's even more expensive.

We have soup fin sharks here in Cali.....mmmmmm. Yeehaw....but we use most of the shark not just fins...back in the day whale oil was great for machining/ drilling metal...I actually liked the smell...road kill has fed quite a few people in Maine..if it's real fresh or cool out best....had a few deer and shared a baby moose once...