Wednesday, July 04, 2007

whale watching...whale tasting

Whaling is a controversial subject around the world. It at once is a greatest single mass of edible flesh grown on a mammal yet it is also noticed to be majestic, intelligent, and the larger, less cute cousin of tuna safe dolphins. Eating it, in many countries, would be unthinkable.

How lucky I am then to be at a country where whale serves both as a source of wonderment and as a protein alternative.

Picture to the left is whale sashimi , or whale caparccio, or as the menu called it, whale served Japanese style. In any case, it is a euphemism for raw meat. A bit of soy sauce and a dash of wasabi. They tossed in a few shrimps for decoration, and it was also untouched by fire.

The texture is quite similar to tuna sashimi. The meat is very tender. However I was a bit disappointed because there was no perceptible "whale" taste. Even without the soy sauce, the meat seemed cold and bland in my mouth. Perhaps next time there is a beached whale on the coast, I will go and lick it, just for confirmation.

The other way to cook whale is by application of heat and sauce. In this case, pictured to the right, whale steak with pepper sauce.

The meat is fork tender, and is deeply red. It reminds me more of ostrich meat than beef. It came with a side salad and boiled potatoes, a staple of Icelandic cuisine.

The sauce overpowers the already bland whale flesh. But it was good nonetheless. Probably not something that I would seek out again, and at $100US, wouldn't recommend it to family or friends.

It is, however, not legal in the United States and various other countries, and makes me feel like a rebel. Will my stool also be illegal when I get back? Good thing I have almost a week in Norway to make sure my system is clean.

Oh and I ran across this guy dressed in Eurotrash chic sponsoring Pepsi Max and burgers. What is Pepsi Max? As I understand it, "diet" is too feminine in these parts of the world, so calling it "Max" makes it more acceptable by both genders.

The guy creeps me out.

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1 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

Whale, whale, whale. How overpriced is the whale compared to a normal cow steak.

9:33 AM  

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