Whale and stockfish

[kairoer]

Disclaimer (for the 'murican's mainly): Whale is meat, and if you haven't had it yet, you are MISSING OUT! No, this is not about eating Willy or Keiko, those are different species.

This week I will be BBQ (on the kettle) both stockfish (dried cod, watered out then grilled like fresh fish), and whale. I will update this thread with report

Stockfish recipe:
- get dried whole, stockfish (not the flatt/beaten)
- water it out. It may need up to 10 days, even if the package says 48 hours, so prepare well in advance. When watered out, treat the fish as you would treat fresh fish (i.e. keep cold, vacumed, or even freeze it).
- cut in filets, or just bone it and cut across in nice pieces. I leave the skin on.
- day of BBQ:
- use nice olive oil (extra virgin), or a mix of EVOO and melted, cleared butter, and spread over the pieces of stockfish. Ensure all sides and the skin has a nice, thin layer
- season with salt and pepper.
On a medium-hot grill, lay the pieces skin-side down. I prefer direct heat. A minute or so later, move to indirect, and put the lid on. Do as you would a fresh fish, and take it out before it gets dry and boring.
Serve with petite poise cream, root-veggies (something a bit sweet), and something cruchy like tiny bits of fried bacon, and if served as main dish, add salt-cooked potatoes.

Whale steak recipe:
- get a nice cut of whale meat
- if late in the season or overly fishy-smelly, marinate in red wine for an hour or so to remove the fishy-taste (ocidated omega-3)
- cut in steaks 1.5-2 CM thick (0.5-0.8 inch) thick
- Season the meat (you may add salt up to 60 mins early to drybrin), add pepper right before hitting the grill
- Whale is extremely tender, and only needs a quick cook, like this:
- On a hot grill, with direct heat, leave the steak for 1 minute, perhaps 1.5 (let the juices show), then turn and leave for one more minute. Take off the heat, leave resting for as long as you heated it. Whale is at its best at medium-rare.

NOTE: Overdoing whale makes it go dry and non-tender, like a rubber sole, so keep it quick.

Serve with fried (grilled) root veggies, or like a beef steak with just fried onions, bernaise and possibly some potato.

Bon apetite!

(pics etc will come later this week, as will response from my 'murican family who is visiting this week!)

[gcdmd]

Is stockfish the same as bacalao?

A belated welcome to the pit. We're looking forward to your input and perspective.

I recently re-read Moby Dick. Your post reminded me of Stubb's (the second mate) affinity for whale meat.


http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/42/moby-di...ale-as-a-dish/

https://octopusgourmet.wordpress.com...whale-as-food/

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2701/...m#link2HCH0064

[kairoer]

Thanks I will have to post my comment as a separate reply - see below.

[Spinaker]

I thought that he should change his name to Stubbs!

[gcdmd]

LOL Spinaker . I doubt that C.B. Stubblefield ever cooked or ate whale meat, however.

[kairoer]

Stockfish is the non-salted, dried cod (typically) fish traditionally created in the North of Norway. It was caught, then gutted and de-headed, and hung on land for drying, typically in the month of February-March. The special air and temperature in the region made it possible to dry and thus store/transport fish without the need of salt. I believe the modern principle is dry-freezing.
Stockfish was exported, and one of the uses is indeed bacalao, although AFAIK they tend to be using klippfisk (dried and salted cod, a more modern way of preserving the fish). Bacalau is the portugese word for cod, so it may mean both cod, dried and salted fish, and the famous cod-in-tomato dish bacalao.
Personally, I am not a huge fan of bacalao, but as a friend of mine says, "that is because you have not had the right one yet".
Other uses for stockfish is lutefisk (a special, Norwegian dish where stockfish is added to a water and lye solution for a couple of days, making the flesh go yellowish and jello-like (as in jello), and also makes for a distinct taste and smell).
IMO, you can use stockfish just as you do any fresh cod - cook, fry, grill.
More on stockfish: https://cod.fromnorway.com/norwegian-cod/stockfish/

[JCGrill]

With Spinaker on the lutefisk. Pretty sure both he and I can find it if we change our minds.

[kairoer]

hehe I am with you guys on the lutefisk too. (People in the "know" hail the side-dishes...says quite something about the main dish IMO).

[Henrik]

Lutfisk is a Swedish specialty, but I'm not a fan. If you need a sauce to make it tasty, then there's something wrong with the fish in my mind. Tastes very bland, and I don't like the rubbery texture.

[Spinaker]

I don't even know where to find Whale meat. But I am very curious.

What is the texture of the meat? You mentioned that it is very tender, so does it melt in your mouth like buttery fish or is it more mushy in texture?

The flavor is another big one for me. I have always wondered what whale meat tastes like. And what species they are harvesting. I know they still harvest Minke Whales up in and around Scandinavia, but I am sure there are more species being harvested as well. What differences ,if any, do you experience between these?

Thanks for posting, this is interesting.

[ComfortablyNumb]

I see Spinaker He likely does then, however according to this NatGeo article he's in a minority. For you, it's a road (boat?) trip to Iceland or Norway, or possibly Japan. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2...ing-fur-farms/

[Spinaker]

Ha I read that article when it came out in Nat Geo. Very interesting, not the life for me. I just don't think I would be able to kill one. Let alone eat one. ComfortablyNumb

[kairoer]

I think this is either Minke whale or humpback-whale AFAIK. Tender as in melting on the tongue is done correctly, and tender as in rubber sole if not prepared well. Tender as in tenderloin from a medium-sized game (deer). Taste: A mild game-taste, with a mild tuna-ish addon flavour.

[Mr. Bones]

I also would like to know more about whale...
I've eaten lotsa shark, love it...
Location, location, eh?

[kairoer]

Location: Norway
Hunting 999 whales a year, it seems. I just eat it when I find it.

[Willy]

WHAT??????????????? Eating Willy?

[MBMorgan]

... and somewhere ... Nemo breaths a sigh of relief ...

[kairoer]

An update, as promised:
The stockfish turned bad before I could prepare it. Due to the lack of salt in the dried product, the re-humidiation (??) requires cold water, and water-exchange every 24 hours. The watering process can take up to ten days, depending on how dry the fish is. Mine were very dry, it seemed, I did the test-cook after 5 days, and the resulting meal were still a bit on the dry side. I decided to keep soaking the second fish for a few more days, and I must have failed to keep the water cold enough, so the fish turned bad on me. I was a bit sad about that.

The whale on the other hand, turned out great. It came pre-cut in steaks, each vacuum-packed. (I would have preferred to have bought a larger piece and cut it myself).
I seasoned the meat with only salt and pepper, and put it on the grill on high-heat, white-glowing charcoal.


A little more than a minute (juices flowing) on the grill, then turning it. A beautiful crust had formed, and my eyes started watering! A minute or so later, the steaks came off the grill, and were left breathing for a couple of minutes (a rule of thumb with whale: rest the meat for as long as you have cooked it). Now, the meat was perfect to serve!





A few curiosities with whale: you can eat it raw (like sushi, or as carpaccio - which is fantastic if done properly), so you can have your steak rare if you like. The best cook for tenderness and taste is medium-rare, according to those in the know. Another key to whale: do not, I repeat, do not over-cook it - when over-cooked, whale meat turns into a rubbery texture, like old chewing-gum.
Oh, and if the omega-3 acids have started to oxidate, just marinate the meat in red-wine for 30 minutes - the wine neutralises the oxidation.





Serve the steaks with anything you enjoy with steak - potatoes and bernaise, or fried onions, or whatever you want. I just fried some vegetables and baked some onions. A nice red-wine goes well to this cook!

[Mudkat]

Great write up and a completely new idea. Love it!

[martybartram]

Awesome, looks delish. Maybe one of our Alaskan member's will chime in. I am pretty sure that you can't sell whale meat in the US and hunting is restricted to native peoples.

[Jerod Broussard]

Looks like a "whale of a time"

[Spinaker]

hahahahaha, I knew that one was coming sooner or later.

[Spinaker]

Very interesting cook. The meat is very dark, but it grills up beautifully. So what does it taste like? I imagine like a lean cut of red meat, say elk, with kind of a fishy under tone. I have always been curious.

[kairoer]

You are spot on in your imagination!

[w12x40]

Awesome, looks delish. Maybe one of our Alaskan member's will chime in. I am pretty sure that you can't sell whale meat in the US and hunting is restricted to native peoples.

I don't think you can buy or sell it. For the most part, you can't buy or sell wild game meat in the US. I'm sure there's something in the marine mammal protection laws, too.

I once saw a show about the Tsukiji fish market in Japan. They were selling whale. It looked like a beautiful eye-round roast, except it was a cube about a foot on each side. It looked good.

[Henrik]

I've had whale up in the north of Norway, Lofoten is the name of the place. I went fishing for 'stock fish', which is cod. Good fun, and good eating. The whale meat is very dark, and very tender. I cooked it in the frying pan, since my kitchen was very limited, but it sure makes for a good meal. I would say it tastes closer to a horse tenderloin than tuna. Either way, I'm glad I tried it, but have my moral doubts about eating it, due to scarcity.

[Spinaker]

I will take the horse meat. Save the whale meat for the ocean critters.

[kairoer]

Whale, like seal (especially the babies...) are one of those species that stir emotions. Yes, there are some species that need protection, and there are some that can be harvested - if done responsibly. I am a believer in purposeful protection, just as I am a believer in purposeful harvesting, where we figure out how to best protect.
Personally, I have a much larger challenge accepting the extremes of industrial meat production than I have with hunting (including whale).

[fzxdoc]

I had some smoked whale just a couple of days ago in the fish market in Bergen, Norway. Also saw the stockfish hanging at the sides of most fish stalls and asked about it because it looked so weird, as if it came off another planet. Can't remember if we took photos, but if I did, I'll post them later. (I'm pretty jet-lagged right now and am waiting for my brain to come back to my head. It went AWOL yesterday during the long flights home. )

Imagine my surprise when I got back home yesterday, logged in here this morning, and saw this topic. Wow.

I liked the whale--I only sampled a small bite--great smokey flavor with a bit of a gamey taste, as others have mentioned. There was a back flavor of fish, but not strong at all. It was a fun experience. Went well with the beer too.

Kathryn