Stuffed walrus and akutaq

Mr. Henry quotes an Eskimo recipe from the old Joy of Cooking:

“Gut your walrus. In its cavity place one flock of small birds after having first removed one wing feather from each wing. Sew the cavity closed, cover the walrus in snow, and leave it outside to freeze for the winter.

Come spring, partially thaw, slice and serve.”

Which reminds me of another dish from the frozen North:

Akutaq. Looks good, right? Check out the ingredients:

• reindeer, caribou or moose fat, first cut into small pieces and then whipped by hand until [light] and fluffy
• seal, walrus or whale oil
• berries of any kind in any combination
• salmon, whitefish or trout
• fish liver
• fish eggs
• cooked sourdock greens, which have a tart spinach taste
• sugar or honey
• odds and ends, including mashed potatoes, rice, dried fruit, evaporated canned milk

Akutaq. Looks good, right? Check out the ingredients:

• reindeer, caribou or moose fat, first cut into small pieces and then whipped by hand until [light] and fluffy
• seal, walrus or whale oil
• berries of any kind in any combination
• salmon, whitefish or trout
• fish liver
• fish eggs
• cooked sourdock greens, which have a tart spinach taste
• sugar or honey
• odds and ends, including mashed potatoes, rice, dried fruit, evaporated canned milk

Comments

[prairie biker]

not even survival spice can save that.

[John]

I prefer Platurpig: a pig suffed inside a turkey, stuffed inside a platypus. Yummy!

[Ana]

Why would anyone do that to perfectly good food?

[gail]

You need a lot of fat to survive in extreme cold. It's the same principle as pemmican.

[Jake]

Every culture has it's Haggis, I guess...