What does whale meat taste like ?

x4740N@lemm.ee to Ask Lemmy@lemmy.world – 72 points –
49

So, disclaimers are needed here.

In Norway, they hunt Minke whale. The Minke whale is classed as "least concern", which means "doing great" as far as being endangered goes. It's the same category deer are in in the US, or pigeons everywhere.

So, obviously I tried whale meat, a few ways.

As a steak, it's kinda like gamey beef in texture, but with a fish-adjacent flavour. Like if you shifted a steak 20% towards tuna without changing the texture.

There's also whale bacon, which honestly tastes like pork bacon, but with the fat more in splotches than in layer.

There's also the blubber, which I'll simply an acquired taste. And that's given that I'm Dutch and enjoy my pickled herring and even like lutefisk. It's like if you filled a grapeskin with a nutty-oily, semi solid jelly substance.

It's like if you filled a grapeskin with a nutty-oily, semi solid jelly substance.

That's such a visceral description, I already hate it without experiencing it for myself. Sounds like really wet, soft steak fat which I can't stand either.

Thank you! Sometimes I go looking up things like, "what does x taste like" where x is something not very many people would eat culturally or the like, and is so hard to find info!

It's the same category deer are in in the US,

Basically, mobile, aggressively-suicidal highway barriers. Any people outside the US want to hunt themselves a deer in the US, great. Their natural predators are gone, so they're just an unbounded infestation.

The last time I drove through West Virginia -- where they're the densest as states go -- right at the state border I saw a sign warning about deer. About 300 feet behind that, roadkill deer on the road. Another 300 feet, another roadkill deer.

I meant in a "how many are there" way. You're obviously a lot less likely to hit a Minke whale in your car.

I hit a minke whale in my pickup while driving home one night, just north of Belle Fourche, South Dakota. Son of a bitch breached over a guardrail and flopped down right in front of me before I'd even had a chance to hit the brakes. Hit him square in the blow hole and mangled the whole front end of the truck. The fishy bastard just dusted himself off and fucked off into the night, making them wierd ass whale noises at me the whole time. Ever since that night, I take the long way home.

Damn, herring is amazing. We have it in buckling form, with pickles, onion and potato

You know, out of all the ways I've had herring, I don't think I've ever had it smoked. Which is weird, because we smoke every other fish here...

But the point was that I enjoy a lot of what others consider to be weird fish stuff, but whale blubber is too far for me.

I had a minke whale steak in Iceland. I describe it as "ocean-y beef" in its flavor.

It's not very good. Kinda chewy, like a game-y fish? Dont know how else to describe it, only tasted a little bit once in Oslo

As every sci-fi book and movie suggest, probably like chicken.

Well shit. You ever see how much meat they get off a cow? It's enough to feed like a small neighborhood.

Now imagine how much meat we could get from a whale! Forget save the whales. Lets over-breed the wales, and feed EVERYBODY by whale farming!

Seriously! How have NONE of us tried wale meat, but they're the biggest source of meat on the planet???!!!

Only issue I can see is that you can't exactly pull one onto a fishing boat....

You ever see how much meat they get off a cow?

Yes, we usually get just 1/8 of a cow for christmas and even that lasts longer than just christmas.

Well I would HOPE 1/8th of a cow lasts more than 1 day!

Well our christmas lasts 3 days, basically. Gifts are given on the evening of the 24th, then there's the 25 and 26ths for just chilling with the family and enjoying arguments in 150db. On the 24th, we have fondue, and the 25 and 26ths are the days for "Sauerbraten", basically a huge chunk of beef (the majority of 1/8 cow) pickled in vegetables, raisins, wine and vinegar, multiple liters of each, for a month. Then it's slowly cooked until it basically deconstructs itself on your fork, and is served with its sauce. So it's designed to last for 2 days, for around 4-6 people. Leftovers get frozen, and it's a nice treat after a long schoolday, or workday now.

Gifts are given on the evening of the 24th,

Oh, you mean Christmas eve.

then there’s the 25

Yes, Christmas.

and 26ths for just chilling with the family and enjoying arguments in 150db.

.......somehow you lumped the spirit of Thanksgiving into all this, without the turkey! If you're going to have loud drunken political and/or racist fights with your family, you're supposed to have turkey first!!! And it's like a month before Christmas as it's own seperate day!

Now historically that would be followed by driving to the mall, and waiting in freezing tempatures to be herded like cattle into a store at midnight to do some holiday shopping.

But between global warming, and the rise of amazon, that happens less and less the last 10 years.

Luckily it's not a racist or political debate, but not only does my family like to argue over anything, they're also very loud and always take the word.

And idfk which day has which name in every country.

We get 1/2 a cow from family who farm. It basically fills a chest freezer. Yeah, 1/4 of that is a lot of meat.

Idk but it's 2am and my brain slipped over the word "whale". I was trying to understand some 2d circlejerk about Lemmies being all communist vegans

I always assumed it tasted like shark?

what does shark taste like?

a bit like dolphin

What does dolphin taste like?

A bit like Seaturtle

I know Hawksbill is deadly, and Green is sometimes deadly. Which are we talking about ?

My brother works at a restaurant where the head chef mentioned that he has tried sea turtle soup. The chef said that it's a good thing that sea turtle is illegal to consume because the soup and texture of the meat was so perfect that sea turtles would be guaranteed to go extinct otherwise.

Mako shark tastes like marlin or swordfish (same meaty texture too) but with a little sweetness.

Kinda like a marginal steak and a good mushroom had a baby.

good mushroom

Ok, now could you describe it using things that actually exist?

I had Minke whale in Tromsø and it tasted pretty much like beef. Would not eat again

Do you not like beef? Or was it another reason you wanted to avoid eating it?

I like beef but if it just taste like beef I'm not going to pay the premium just to get beeg anyway.

I've heard that if it's cooked right, it's really gooooo00000000ooooooood

sorry

It’s kind of like a mix between beef and lamb, more on the beef side.

Depends on whale type and how it’s cooked. I’m referring to granny’s overnight milk soaked, pan fried with butter and potatoes whale. (Don’t recall the type).