Posted on 06/23/2005 8:03:14 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Whale burger on menu at Japanese fast food chain
TOKYO (Reuters) - With Japan under fire for plans to expand its whaling programme, a fast food chain is offering a new product aimed at using up stocks from past hunts -- whale burger.
The 380 yen slice of fried minke whale in a bun went on sale on Thursday at Lucky Pierrot, a restaurant chain in the port city of Hakodate on Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido.
"The taste and texture are somewhere between beef and fish," said Lucky Pierrot manager Miku Oh. "People in Hakodate have a long history of eating whale, so customers are looking forward to trying it."
Japan's plan to expand its scientific whale hunt to an annual catch of 900 minke whales were dealt a blow on Wednesday when the International Whaling Commission passed a resolution at a meeting in South Korea urging it to instead cut back on the catch.
"We are not going out to catch whales because we want to eat them, we are just using up meat from whales that have been killed for experiments," Oh said.
Asked about customers' reaction to the whale burgers, a worker at one of the restaurants said: "We get a lot of tourists here and even children who had never eaten it before said it was good. The grown-ups said the flavour made them nostalgic."
Whale meat was a staple of school lunches in Japan before a moratorium on whaling was introduced in 1986.
Ping!

Everybody's got something to hide, 'cept for me and my minke.
WaterBurger!
Clone them whales, yaaaarg matey, tis the future of the sea beef industry in Japan...yaaarg. MMmm Sea Beef, they better not steal that name from me.
You don't like buff?
Harumph.
There's a place near my house in Yokohama that has been serving whale for at least 12 years, and it didn't look new when I first saw it.
I'm gonna go down there once before I go back to the States.
Do they also sell "Save the leftovers" bumperstickers?
To say such ludicrous things with a totally straight face will fetch you a nice paycheck, unfortunately.
"What kind of "experiments"? Gross."
The word "experiments" was a bad translation from the Japanese.
They take a small number of some species of whales to monitor their health. Test the tissues for PCBs, dioxins, etc. There's nothing wrong with the meat.
Except for the PCBs and the dioxins. And the mercury. And...
Buff is a kind of dry.
Taste like chicken? with freezer burn?
" I'm gonna go down there once before I go back to the States. "
I would if I were you . Years ago whale was eaten by the general pop. on a regular basis . It was even served in school lunches . Those days are gone , but there are a few restaurants here and there that have sashimi , and cooked whale meat . It's good ! And healthier for you than beef .
"Buff is a kind of dry."
Sometimes, yeah. Depends on the cut and the animal.
Buffalo veal, now...
Arthur C Clarke's novel "The Deep Range" tells of a future time where mankind herd's whales just like the longhorns of the past on the Great Plains. Then a religious sect that abhors being unkind to our fellow animals, (pre PETA!) forces a change. A good read and great Clarke!
I'd like a dodo bird sandwich and a some fried bald eagle. Thrown in some roasted spotted owel for variety.
holdtheonions ping
I've had bison. Wasn't bad at all. Not sure how whale would taste, but I'd be willing to try it.
Is that book the PETA Bible now? heh
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