Whale of a Sandwich

Reuters | 4-25-02 | n/a

[Temple Owl]

Whale of a Sandwich

Thu Apr 25,11:16 AM ET

SHIMONOSEKI, Japan (Reuters) - First came the hamburger. Now, from Japan, the whaleburger.

This newest contribution to world sandwich cuisine is the brainstorm of "Kujiraya," or "Place of Whales," a small shop in the port city of Shimonoseki, 825 km (490 miles) southwest of Tokyo, and just a short taxi ride from this year's meeting of the International Whaling Commission (news - web sites) that is discussing the controversial industry.

Featuring whale meat in a barbecue-like sauce between two slabs of pressed rice instead of bread, the Whale Rice Burger retails for 300 yen ($2.30) compared with 85 yen for a McDonald's hamburger.

At lunch on Thursday, a line stretched back from the take-away window where owner Yoshiaki Nakagawa was doing brisk business in whaleburgers, a fried whale cutlet sandwich and a whale hot dog.

"I really wanted to come up with something with whale in it that people could eat casually and cheaply, as a take-away item," Nakagawa said.

"We are the only place that provides this," he added proudly.

Whale was an important protein source for an impoverished Japan in the dark days just after World War Two, but has become an expensive, gourmet food that rarely appears on family dinner tables and can usually only be eaten in a handful of specialty restaurants.

While older Japanese remember eating whale fried or stewed in school lunches, the meat is an unusual food for younger Japanese who may be more at home in McDonald's than a traditional Japanese restaurant.

Nakagawa also runs a sit-down whale restaurant and a store selling items such as raw whale meat, salted whale skin, whale bacon and thinly sliced whale tongue.

[Temple Owl]

Whaleburgers? There's something fishy here.

[Hugin]

Whale...reel food for real people!

[Chad Fairbanks]

Whale... Mmmmmmmm... :0)

[snopercod]

I'll have a side of spotted-owl lips with that, please.

[samtheman]

The Japanese never saw a whale they didn't want to kill. At the risk of sounding like a tree-hugger (which I'm not), I have much more respect for the intelligence of whales than I do for the intelligence (or lack thereof) of those who would eat whale-meat.

[Cyber Liberty]

Personally, I'm holding out for dolphin-dogs.

[stlrocket]

What about this whale?

WHALE ALERT - CAUTION GRAPHIC

[Focault's Pendulum]

Personally, I'm holding out for dolphin-dogs.

.....on a large bun with squid ink, and seaweed please!!!!

[Ronin]

Anyone who has ever tasted whale (and I have) will tell you it is absolutely disgusting. If given a choice between one of these whaleburgers and my old Navy boondockers, I would be scrubbing off the Kiwi and picking the pebbles out of the soles double-plus quick.

[Hugin]

Your tree-hugging tendencies can be adjusted by some facts. First there is no evidence that whales are particularly smarter than other mamals like say pigs or deer (I've seen some darn smart pigs). Second, whales as a whole are not endangered. Only one species are endangered, Right whales, and that's from collisions with ships and fishing nets, not whalers. Some species like Blue and Bowhead whales are scarce, but their popluations have been on the rise for a while. But most species are doing fine. There are for example over a quarter of a million Minke whales in the North Atlantic.

As for taste, different whales taste different. Minke whale has been described as tasting like veal soaked in fish oil, while beaked whales are said to taste like filet mignon.

[Temple Owl]

A great little lesson on whales. Good post!

[honeymagnolia]

Trust me, it doesn't. More like mountain oysters. Eeewww!!

[lowbridge]

As for taste, different whales taste different. Minke whale has been described as tasting like veal soaked in fish oil, while beaked whales are said to taste like filet mignon.

Soylent Green (another type of mammal) on the other hand, tastes just like chicken.

[samtheman]

I agree that pigs are smart, but they are domesticated for food production and to me that does make a difference. Whales in the wild seem a different matter to me. Eat them if you want. I won't.

[ZinGirl]

clock ticking to see how long it takes for a study to indicate that eating whale meat causes cancer....

[AppyPappy]

Orca on a Ritz. Mmmmm...good cracker

[DainBramage]

Humpback

[Hugin]

The pigs I hunt are a cross between feral pigs and wild european boars, and are anything but domesticated. They also breed like crazy and are quite destructive to the environment is left uncontrolled. But the point is hunting whales should not be viewed as any different than any other hunting. Restrictions should be based on scientific wildlife management, not emotional tree hugging.

[Temple Owl]

Ugh! I DON'T WANT THAT ON A SANDWICH!