Whale meat

Whale meat is the flesh of whales used for consumption by humans or other animals, and broadly includes other consumed parts as blubber, skin, and organs. It is prepared in various ways, and has historically been eaten in many parts of the world, including across Western Europe and Colonial America, and not necessarily restricted to coastal communities, since flesh and blubber can be salt-cured.

Practice of whale consumption continues today in Japan, Norway, Iceland, Faroe Islands, by Basques, the Inuit and other indigenous peoples of the United States (including the Makah people of the Pacific Northwest), Canada, Greenland; the Chukchi people of Siberia, and Bequia in the Caribbean Sea.

Human consumption of whale meat is controversial and has been denounced by detractors on wildlife conservation, toxicity, and animal rights grounds.

History

In Europe, whale could once be hunted locally throughout the Middle Ages for their meat and oil. Under Catholicism, aquatic creatures were generally considered "fish"; therefore whale was deemed suitable for eating during Lent and other "lean periods". An alternative explanation is that the Church considered "hot meat" to raise the libido, making it unfit for holy days. Parts submerged in water, such as whale or beaver tails, were considered "cold meat."