A special meal with special meat

[Geir Widar]

During a short period each summer, this meat is for sale, fresh, at my local fishmonger. I’ts quite expensive, very delicious, and easy to prepare.
There is no need to add more than oil, salt and pepper to make this meat perfect. Grill over very high heat, and a thermapen is nice to control the core temperature, medium rare is more than enough. Moist, full of flavor, and so tender that you can almost eat it with a spoon.
It looks like this, ready for the grill:

Squash, red unions, yellow peppers and beef tomatoes works well, as well as potatoes.
The meat does not need more than two to three minutes on the grill, but it turns into a leather sole if overcooked. Timing is everything!



Here a plated picture. Not my best shot ever, but I was quite busy grilling other pieces of meat.

I forgot to mention, this is whale. You do not know what you miss.

 

[RogerS]

Have to say I've never ate Whale. Looks good Geir I would try it

 

[Dwain Pannell]

I would, too. What is it like Geir?

 

[Ed M.]

Looks alot like a fine cut of beef! Great cook and thanks for sharing it, Geir!

 

[Geir Widar]

I would, too. What is it like Geir?

I do not really know what to compare this meat with, and I have had my share of the eatable animals of the planet, such as camel, bison, cangaroo, moose, python, antilope, crocodile, rheindeer, beaver and so on.
It's unique. We catch a few hundred animals form a sustainable and growing source of mink whales.
There is never a choice of cut, just "whale meat", and as I've said, you can compare the tenderness to tenderloin, if not even more tender if you are lucky.
Maybe some people would say it's "gamey", but there is no "liver" taste at all. The meat structure is pronounced, as expected, as the animals are 20-30 feet long and weigths about 7-9 tonnes. That is a lot of dinners!

 

[Brad Barger]

Thanks for your post. Looks great. And count me in, I would try it. No problem.

 

[Tony R]

Very nice!!!!!

 

[PeterZ]

Im not sure how I feel about killing whales............

Peter

 

[JSchlegelmilch]

Very nice! Seems like an occasional treat from a sustainable source.

 

[Bob Sample]

Looks delicious Geir. PeterZ didn't you read the sustainable and growing source part?

 

[Steve Cole]

Does it have a fishy taste?

 

[Mike Coffman]

Got to admit I have never tried that before, but am willing to give it a shot Geir! That really looks outstanding!

 

[Geir Widar]

I was expecting a post like that, and that is OK. I can relate to that, but I live in a very regulated country, and the catch of these wales are a part of a research program. Every aspect of the number of whales, and how they are caught are followed up by a number of official inspectors. The result of the research are public and open for all to read.

a "Whale" is a whole group of animals, not one special breed of them. Norway does not catch "whales", just the minke whales, and as I have mentioned, their number is increasing each year. I assure you, this is not a sort of "pirate" gung- ho bloodbath wiht no rules.

Now, if you think of how intelligent these animals are, I would like to remind you of the fact that a pig can be trained to distingush between numbers, such as two tennis balls and four tennis balls, taught to open doors, fetch the newspaper and so on.

I will not comment anymore on this subject, just state that I understand that others can have a different point of view. I also would ask you to check your sources of information before you decide that eating whale meat is wrong, with no exceptions.
A Wikipedia link, showing that the animals are not threathened:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minke_whale

My pure intention was to show you all a meal with meat that you probably have not seen before, not to provoke anyone.

 

[Geir Widar]

Does it have a fishy taste?

No, it does not taste like fish, crabs, shrimps and so on that I have tasted. I tastes like what it is, a wild mammal.

 

[John Solak]

Wow!! It kind of looks like liver raw and a fine cut of beef when its cooked. I don't know if I could eat it but you sure made it look appealing.

 

[Peter Gallagher]

It's unique. We catch a few hundred animals form a sustainable and growing source of mink whales.
There is never a choice of cut, just "whale meat", and as I've said, you can compare the tenderness to tenderloin, if not even more tender if you are lucky.

Very cool post - I'm thinking it's a little different in taste than Burger King's Boston Whaler sandwich!

 

[Marc]

That looks outstanding! As long as they are "politically correct" whale steaks, I'd love to try them!

 

[Paul Kastner]

Whale now that is interesting.

 

[Jim Lampe]

Looks GREAT both raw AND grilled!
Sir Geir, You, my friend, Kick @$$!!!

 

[Geir Widar]

I enjoyed this so much that I decided to combine this meat with hot smoked food. I bought a four pound piece, got to choose the best part out of a fifty pounds boneless chunk of meat.

In a few days, a piece of salted, cured and hot smoked meat will be ready. I promise to make a post. I hope the experiment turns out as tasty as this cook.