Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-04-01
A WHALE OF A STEAK

A WHALE OF luncheon" was given in
| "a New York the other day at the Amerl-
| can Museum OF Natural History by Fresioeht
/ Henry Fairfel1 Osborne as demonstratoh
| OF the superiority Of whale meat over otner
meats during the present food crisis. Whale
| steak is as paiatabje as venison. can be sup
| piled in large quantities in the United STATES
and sold at IAN cents pound The iuhch-
con was planned on strictly war OASIS
| Whale meat that Of the humpbacked variety
which makes the best eating, formed, OF
| course the backbone of the meal and the
| piece de resistance. as the society reporters
would say, was planked whale steak la
| Vancouver
Some years ago Doctor osborne first be-
came interested in the use OF whale peat
| as a food, through thesreport OF Roy CHAP
man Andrews Curator of Mammals at the
Museum of Natural History who devoted
eight years 70 the study Of whales who has
attended whale hunts and eaten whale meat
in all parts of the world, and who knows so
much about whales that he has even written
book, called whale Hunting with Gun
and Camera" 1t was, however, not until the
present food crisis that Doctor Osborne
thought of introducing whale meat generally
as substitute for beef, and decided to get
up luncheon for that purpose.
All Of the guests found the taste OF the
novel meat excellent Federal Food Admin
Istrator Arthur Williams, who has had inter-
agreed with the opinion expressed by Doctor
Andrews in his book, whales and Whale
Hunting" that whale meat closely resen-
bles venison in flavor Others said that II
tasted very much like potroast, only that
1t was richer in fat and juices.
Mr.. Andrews relates in his book that when
he was studying the whaling industry in
Japan he found whale was almost the only
meat used by the poorer classes. He says;
Few people realize the great part that
whale meat plays In the life of the ordinary
Japanese. Too poor TO buy beef. their diet
would include little but rice. fish and vege-
tables we're It not for the great supply of
flesh and blubber furnished by the huge
water animals In winter II there is little
fish to be had, the meat of the humpback
whale, which is most highly esteemed some
times brings as much as thirty sen (fifteen
cents) prepared, but ordinarily II can be
bought for fifteen sen or less" Besides the
bubber and flesh the japanese use the heart.
liver, tongue and intestines OF the whale as
food They prepare II in a variety of ways
but their favorite whale dish is made by
chopping the whale meat up finely and mix
Ing II with vegetables and a sauce made
from the soy bean called shoyu In the sum-
mer when the fresh whale meat cannot be
shipped inland because of the heat, the flesh
Is cooked and canned at the Japanese whal-
ing stations and sent to all parts of the
Mkado's empire.
Wnale meat is coarse grained ana mas
flavor peculiarly its own. 1T contains" said
Mr.. Andrews, more than 9s per cent of
digestible material, while ordinary beef sell
dom has more than 93 per cent" The whale
blubber, or fat, is also especially rich in fat
and could, no doubt. advantageously be used
instead of suet in cooking.
Although the subarctic islands have proved
the greatest whaling grounds of modern
times the shores of our own country are the
site of large whaling industry. New Bed
ford once the center of the worlds whale
trade, has lost its former prestige, but there
are seven large whaling stations on the Pa
ci1c coast. Only three of these however are
equipped to handle whale meat for food
The other whaling plants only use the meat
as fertilizer, and 10000 900 pounds of ma
terial that would make splendid human food
are wasted in this way every year. Doctor
Osborne has ascertained from reliable sources
that 10O0O0,0O0 pounds of whale meat could
be supplied to this country annually at
cost of = cents pound. This food makes
an excellent steak, roast or stew when eaten
fresh and is said to be more palatabe when
timed than beef, mutton or pork. One mem
Der of the museum staff, who found whale
meat too oily to be to his taste when fresh
declared that canned whale was delicious
and that it tasted like flrst-class beef The
whale flesh, as II is now put up in cans can
be kept indefinitely and should prove very
welcome addition to the diet of all Americans
who are trying to do their bit by saving on
the meat which is so sorely needed by the
armies in Europe.