WHALE STEAKS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 220, 11 June 1919, Page 10

WHALE STEAKS

A NEW MEAT SUPPLY POPULAR IN AMERICA Americans, it is said, are learning to like whale moat. The Food Administration was responsible for tho early attempts at eating whale, but, according to a writer in the "Scientific American," the liking bids fair to grow and spread after the emergency that gave riso to it has passed. During the war the production of whale meat has enabled the United States to keep the usual supply of domestic animals nearly normal, and has released ample meats of other types for the maintenance of the military and naval forces, Plants for preparing whale meat, storage houses for keeping it, ;aid vessels for its distribution, are now scattered along the North Pacific coast. Seven stations have thus disposed of about 1000 whales this season—nil of which havo been eaten. ' Readers who havo never knowingly consumed whale are invited to reflect on. the fact that it tastes remarkably like beef. The meat of the whalo extends in great masses from the base of the skull to the tail fin and downwards to the middle lino, or completely over tho •rib section. This meat, ail of it of the same quality, amounts to ten tons for each fifty feet of length and each fifty tons groES weight of tho whale. Above these dimensions there may be fifteen tons of solid whale flash of best eating quality. In other words, one-fifth of a whale is meat, without computing the other parts, such as the heart, etc., that are edible. The steer, being also a mammal, with nearly identical tkeletonic structure, Irepresents almost precisely the same proportions. That is to sav a steer weighing 10001b. has 2001b. of beef, but only a proportion of its meat of tho first class such as characterises nearly the whole whale flesh. A 50-foot. 50-ton whale, then, represents in bulk a herd of 100 steers of onehalf ton weight each. He represents as much meat also as the herd. "Ho is also equal to 500 sheep of 2001b. each or to SOO iiogs of 3301b. each. Of course steers ratigo up to a ton weigh with a corresponding increase of weight or flesh Hut a whale also weighs np to 75 tons,' representing a herd of 150 steers of. a half-ton weight each. f Beats Cattle-Rearing, Any way you look at it. the whale lias advantages over, beef cattle. He requires, no herdsmen or cowboys to onre toi; him. lie and his wife "rear feed nntl guard their own young without any' assistance from labourers. There is no cost to anyone to feed him or his family no food, clothes, or fuel to buy with coresponding labour to produce hen, When wanted, the whale is , h s g,ven haunts, ready to be taken No butchering ls required for him, f] 0 harpoon gun ands the fatal stroke \]\< you have to do is (<, haul him out and cut him up. Th o CMt of wl| e ™ "™ thT m . a riV°r ired 1 a *&* °» Willi I JY° r' ,uU in fompnrisoD Willi thai, ot breeding and rearing « ■tew that the ™ nese wl soon havo meat as good as th B * ' best parts of beef at probably noTow? la con« por pound, and i, as \Vm ■ quantities as any family needs E A whale is n mammal, not a fish U produces its young alive and Tu'ekl a t em he "same as a cow. JU flesh looks like that of beef, although Silteft a little coarser in texture, and it las a slight flavour of venison. Wb "lo steaks and roast whale have ken served in several of the leading New r o .k ißrtaiirßiita tor gome fime past, having had a preliminary test at Delmomco' restaurant. New York chefs have dl vcloped the best methods of cooking and serving, ami have found that it yields to as many forms of preparation as beef. Ihere is htrlo to distinguish it from beef, when served on the table either in appearance, aroma, or taste Many would be deceived into thinking it beef if not-told what had been served Jt is only in America that whalo meat is a novelty;. In Asia and elsewhere whale meat is the staplo 'food. Freo from Disease. , Whalo meat has every advantage over beet—mutton—pork. In the first place, tho wliate is a diseaseless mammal, and its salt-water habitats contribute to its freshness, 'oleauness. 'digestibility, and healthfnlness as food. On tho contrary, cattle are subject to tuberculosis and foot-and-mouth and other diseases more or loss communicable to humans. As an example, according to tho statistics issued by the University of California, a billion pounds of pork are annually lost to Amorica from hog cholera. Sheep are subject to foot-and-month and other diseases. Disease also is destructive of immense numbers of the poultry and domestic food-bird families. In brief, we have diseased meats of all descriptions, if bred on land, and no disease to worry about if bred in salt water. Tho meat of tho back of tho whale further diffei-s from that of all other edible mammals in that it is uniform, that is. all roasts and steaks, and ako boneless. Its sirloin section, of some ten tons, is entirely lacking in those tough, cheap, and nearly inedible parts characteristic of beef, which some of us havo to consume or go without meat because of the cost. In conclusion, the writer quotes Dr. Roy C. Andrews's bonk on "Whale Hunting with tho Camera" to the effect that few people realise the great part whnlo meat' plays in the life of the poorer Japanese, who cannot afford to buy beef. For • shipping purposes, it is cooked in < great kettles, canned, and sent to all parts of the Empire.