One thing the locals tell me goes well with crab is whale. Yes, I know that would not be your first thought of a pairing with crab, but when in Nome… Luckily for me, one of the villages just landed a 55 foot whale. I was just out on the St. Lawrence Island and the village of Savoonga was kind enough to let me try some of the whale. Now traditionally, whale is eaten raw. The closest thing I can compare it to is taking an old crusty bike tire, smearing Crisco on it and chewing it for at least 20 minutes…. It is an acquired taste, and one that I must admit, I did not acquire.
Thinking that there must be some way to make the whale taste better, we tried multiple recipes. We put it in the microwave,(not a good idea, it literally blew-up), tried baking it with shake and bake (a local favorite) still not very good and finally tried frying it with some seasonings. The fried was the best, but I have to admit, it tasted like an old French fry found at the bottom of a deep fat fryer. In the end, I think I will leave the whales for the natives. They did say walrus season is now just starting…..
Me and the first fresh crab of the season. It is still alive and moving at this point.
Weighing in at 2.5 pounds.
The crab in the sink as I try to figure out how to cook the thing...
Steaming along. We had to really hunt to find a pot big enough to hold the whole crab.
Nice and steamy red! The best way is to steam the crab for about 11 minutes.
A picture of a bowhead whale. The one we ate was 55 feet in length.
Me and the raw whale. As you can see, there is a layer of skin (black) and fat under it (pinkish color). They have cut it into small sections for us.
My friend Peter and I trying our first bite of whale.
Chewy little stuff...
In the end, not a taste I acquired.
(I left out the photo of me spitting it out into the trash can...)
History of Whale Hunting in the area:
Whale hunting amongst prehistoric Inuit hunting cultures illustrates the ingenuity of people without modern tools in a severe environment.The Inuit legend of the giant bullhead whale is a mythological explanation for the creation of the heavy mists that characterize the spring climate of the Arctic coast.This legend says that the giant bullhead whale was the Creator's favorite animal. However, the creator realized that the people needed this animal for survival, and decided to offer it to them provided they did not kill it for mere sport. The Creator created a special season -- spring -- in which the sea ice melted, leaving jagged cracks. The whales would swim amongst the ice cracks, making it easier for the Inuit to capture them. Although killing the whale was essential for survival, the Creator did not like to witness the hunt. Consequently, the thick mists of spring were created so the Creator could not see the killing of the great whale.The huge bowhead whale liked to spend time near or in the sea ice. Inuit hunters found points of land jutting into the sea that were close to the whale's migration route. In spring the hunters pulled their umiaks and kayaks to the edge of the ice and waited for the whales to surface near them. Sometimes days lasted into weeks. When a whale surfaced, a flurry of activity began as boats were quickly set afloat, and silently and swiftly the whale was pursued. When the whale was overtaken, the lead hunter hurled his harpoon into the animal. Attached to the leather harpoon lines were several seal skin bags inflated with air. These were used to slow down the whale and to mark its location for other hunting crews. When the whale was exhausted, it was killed with a long-handled stone tipped lance. It was towed to thick ice and pulled out of the sea by means of the seal skin ropes. The meat was cut up and hauled back to the shore on komatiks (sleds) and the muktuk or skin was eaten as a delicacy.Smaller beluga whales were caught with strong nets as well as by harpooning. In western Alaska, long nets made of bearded seal straps were strung out from the beach to catch whales swimming close to shore. Once tangled in the nets, the whales were speared from kayaks (single man hunting boats) or umiaks (larger boats that carried several people).The types of whales found along the coast of the western Arctic were the beluga, the Pacific killer whale, the grey whale, the fin back, and the hump-back whale. The most common Greenland whale was the bowhead. The whale hunters were most interested in the capture of beluga and bowhead whales.Each spring in late March or early April the beluga and bowhead whales began to move north from their winter feeding grounds in the Bering Sea farther to the south. Their migration route followed the eastern coast of Siberia, through the Bering Strait, and then along the western and northern coast of Alaska and eastward toward the Beaufort Sea. (Check this route on a map). Normally the bowheads and belugas traveled together in early spring. Beluga moved northward until late June or early July. In autumn the whales migrated westward from the Beaufort Sea past Point Barrow, Alaska, and returned to the south in the Bering Sea.
No comments:
Post a Comment