Welcome to the Blogging from A to Z Challenge! Each day in April (except Sundays) I’ll be posting about unusual and exotic foods.
What does it look like? Whale skin and blubber? Yes, that’s what it is!
Traditionally eaten raw or frozen, it can also be cooked (chopped, breaded, and deep-fried). Muktuk is a good source of vitamin C, but, as whales grow, mercury accumulates in the liver, kidney, muscle, and blubber, and cadmium settles in the blubber. Lord knows what else is in there these days, but there are undoubtedly carcinogens.
In the Inuit culture, it’s a sign of respect to use the entire whale, and that includes consuming its blubber and skin. If you’re invited to dinner at an Inuit’s home, you might be served muktuk. And that means I have to ask…
Would you eat muktuk?
If only to be a grateful guest, yes, I would eat it.
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That’s a difficult one to answer. I don’t think I’ll ever be in the area where whale is served. Considering that it contains mercury and who knows what else, I’d probably be polite and just take one bite. I do appreciate that they treat the whale with respect and use everything.
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I appreciate that they use the entire whale, too, Bonnie. Thank you 💚
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Yes of course, don’t be rude! 😉
M is for Modern Quilts
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BTW…….for those who don’t know, Warren Miller movies are “real”…..part action ski documentaries, part travel show. Did I say Cow Brains????
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There was a segment from an old Warren Miller ski movie…..the guys meet some cute girls while skiing in Russia. They are invited back to the girls house for a “special dinner.” When the guys show up, they are told that as special guest, one of them must take the first bite of the cuisine. It was cow brains mixed up and repacked in the skull of the cow. Sometimes it’s just better to go to bed hungry….or agree to meet for coffee (and then order a coke!).
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I would rather take the chance of offending “someone” by declining their dinner invitation than showing up for dinner and refusing to eat what the guest has prepared.
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Do t think so. Only if a host forced me and what host would do that?
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A host who would assume that you’d enjoy this delicacy as much as they would!
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Might explain why there is no overwhelming population of Inuits.
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