In Greenland, muktuk (mattak) is sold commercially to fish factories,[4] and in Canada (muktaaq) to other communities.[5]
When chewed raw, the blubber becomes oily, with a nutty taste; if not diced, or at least serrated, the skin is quite rubbery.[citation needed]
One account of a 21st century indigenous whale hunt describes the skin and blubber eaten as a snack while the rest of the whale meat is butchered (flensed) for later consumption. When boiled, this snack is known as unaaliq.[6] Raw or cooked, the blubber and skin are served with HP Sauce,[7][8][9][10][11] a British condiment. Muktuk is occasionally finely diced, breaded, deep fried, and then served with soy sauce.[citation needed]
Nutrients and health concernsedit
Muktuk has been found to be a good source of vitamin C, the epidermis containing up to 38 mg per 100 grams (3.5 oz).[12][13] It was used as an antiscorbutic by British Arctic explorers.[14] Blubber is also a source of vitamin D.[15]
The most important item of food of the Polar Eskimos is the narwhal (Monodon monoceros). [...] The skin (mattak) is greatly relished and tastes like hazel-nuts; it is eaten raw and contains considerable amounts of glycogen and ascorbic acid. The White whale (Delphinupterus leucas) is almost as important...[16]
Contaminants from the industrialised world have made their way to the Arctic marine food web. This poses a health risk to people who eat "country food" (traditional Inuit foodstuffs).[17] As whales grow, mercury accumulates in the liver, kidney, muscle, and blubber, and cadmium settles in the blubber,[18] the same process that makes mercury in fish a health issue for humans. Whale meat also bioaccumulates carcinogens such as PCBs, chemical compounds that damage human nervous, immune and reproductive systems,[19][20] and a variety of other contaminants.[21]
Consumption of muktuk has also been associated with outbreaks of botulism.[22]
Spellingsedit
Transliterations of "muktuk", and other terms for the skin and blubber, include:
^Stern, Pamela (2009). The A to Z of the Inuit. Lanham: Scarecrow Press. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-8108-6822-9.
^"10 Weirdest Foods in the World". News.travel.aol.com. 9 September 2010. Archived from the original on 11 September 2010. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
^Heide-Jørgensen, Mads Peter (January 1994). "Distribution, exploitation and population status of white whales (Delphinapterus leucas) and narwhals (Monodon monoceros) in West Greenland". Meddelelser om Grønland, Bioscience. 39: 135–149.
^Hoover C, Bailey M, Higdon J, Ferguson SH, Sumalia R (March 2013). "Estimating the Economic Value of Narwhal and Beluga Hunts in Hudson Bay, Nunavut". The Arctic Institute of North America. 66: 1–16.
^Zellen, Barry Scott (2008). Breaking the ice : from land claims to tribal sovereignty in the arctic. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. p. 376. ISBN 978-0-7391-1941-9. OCLC 183162209.
^Zellen, Barry Scott (2008). Breaking the ice : from land claims to tribal sovereignty in the arctic. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. p. 376. ISBN 978-0-7391-1941-9. OCLC 183162209.
^Magazine, Tusaayaksat (15 April 2015). Tusaayaksat – Spring 2015. Tusaayaksat Magazine.
^Goward, Sydney (10 August 2021). "Exploring Tuktoyaktuk: Pingos, Muktuk, and the Arctic Ocean". My Site. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
^Boorman ·, Charley (2012). Extreme Frontiers: Racing Across Canada from Newfoundland to the Rockies. Little, Brown Book Group. ISBN 9780748132775.
^Research with Arctic Inuit communities : graduate student experiences, lessons and life learnings. Tristan Pearce. Cham, Switzerland. 2021. ISBN 978-3-030-78483-6. OCLC 1265523671.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
^Geraci, Joseph R. & Smith, Thomas G. (1979). "Vitamin C in the Diet of Inuit Hunters From Holman, Northwest Territories" (PDF). Arctic. 32 (2): 135–139. doi:10.14430/arctic2611. JSTOR 40508955.
^Fediuk, K.; Hidiroglou, N.; Madère, R.; Kuhnlein, H. V. (2002). "Vitamin C in Inuit Traditional Food and Women's Diets". Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. 15 (3): 221. doi:10.1006/jfca.2002.1053.
^McClintock, Francis Leopold (2012), "CHAPTER XVI", A Narrative of the Discovery of the Fate of Sir John Franklin and His Companions, Cambridge University Press, pp. 301–322, doi:10.1017/cbo9781139236522.018, ISBN 978-1-139-23652-2
^Kuhnlein, H. V.; Barthet, V.; Farren, A.; Falahi, E.; Leggee, D.; Receveur, O.; Berti, P. (2006). "Vitamins A, D, and E in Canadian Arctic traditional food and adult diets". Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. 19 (6–7): 495. doi:10.1016/j.jfca.2005.02.007.
^Sinclair, H.M. (1953). "The Diet of Canadian Indians and Eskimos". Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. 12: 69–82. doi:10.1079/PNS19530016. S2CID 71578987.
^"Country Food (Inuit Food) in Canada | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
^Wagemann, R.; Snow, N.B.; Lutz, A.; Scott, D.P. (1983). "Heavy Metals in Tissues and Organs of the Narwhal (Monodon monoceras)". Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 40 (S2): s206–s214. doi:10.1139/f83-326.
^"Chemical Compounds Found In Whale Blubber Are From Natural Sources, Not Industrial Contamination". 18 February 2005.
^"Japan warned on 'contaminated' blubber". BBC News. 24 January 2001. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
^"Google Scholar". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
^Horowitz, B Zane (2010). "Type E botulism". Clinical Toxicology. 48 (9): 880–895. doi:10.3109/15563650.2010.526943. PMID 21171846. S2CID 20417910.