Tasting whale

No, it's not like chicken. For anyone just a little curious after this week's raid of a Santa Monica sushi restaurant, kujira (aka whale meat) is more like reindeer or moose - quite gamey and, well, let's just say it's an acquired taste. (Eating it is also a violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.) From Slate's Explainer column:

For those who find its unrefined flavor off-putting, whale is cured, marinated, or slathered with a flavorful sauce. Whale bacon, marketed in shrink-wrapped packages of thin marbled slices closely resembling pork bacon, is offered at some Japanese markets. Whale meat curries are sold from a few Tokyo lunch trucks. Japanese schools are currently trying to figure out a way to get children to eat the meat for lunch, possibly turning to whale burgers or fish stick-style preparations. But some Japanese traditionalists still enjoy gamey, unadorned strips of whale meat sashimi.

[CUT]

Japanese whale meat restaurants--which are rare and don't flaunt their presence to Westerners--also serve cubed and grilled blubber, cartilage salads, and whale skin stew. In times gone by, Japanese noblemen consumed whale gums, too, and served the trachea and duodenum to the poor. The practice of spreading the whale out among many people is based in the Buddhist principle that it's better to sacrifice a single soul to feed many than to kill many animals to feed one person. Thus many schools of Buddhism favor eating whales (and recommend against eating shrimp).

Apparently, the tail and belly meat are lower in fat and calories than most cuts of pork and beef, but whale meat also has very high levels of mercury and PCB. Meanwhile, a lawyer for the Hump restaurant said that it would agree to pay the fine and be done with it.