Since we’re taking an interesting domestic turn this week, let me contribute my salute to the successful Bowhead Whale hunters in Iqaluit, who harvested the community’s first Bowhead in over 100 years. The recipe below was given to me in Kotzebue, Alaska, in 1986.
*The Official Alaskan Whale Stew Recipe
Ingredients: *
- 1 (105 ton) Whale
- 1896 lbs Onions, thinly sliced
- 7326 lbs Potatoes, chopped
- 1908 gallons Tomato Sauce
- 2276 lbs Carrots, coined
- 927 lbs Celery, diced
- 104 lbs Salt
- 76 lbs Black Pepper
- 52 gallons Tabasco Sauce
- 88 bushels of Italian flat-leaf parsley for garnish
Directions:
Place whale in pot with tomato sauce. Bring to boil, cover and simmer for 14 hours. Add onions, potatoes, carrots, celery, salt, pepper and Tabasco sauce. Return to boil, cover and simmer 36 hours. Garnish whale with parsley, and serve hot with bannock.
A microwave oven may be used if one large enough is available. Cooking time may be reduced to 12 hours if cooked at high.
Serves 3,161 people.
Note: there is a simpler Inuit variant common in the Easter Arctic:
a) Take one whale.
b) Remove muktaaq.
c) Eat.