Whale Meat

In my culture class we had a guest visitor, Trond Theun who wrote a couple of the articles we are reading in class. His lecture was very intriguing and I appreciated him coming to talk to us.

During our break our culture professors surprised us with another snack to enjoy. Thus far I have tried seal, reindeer heart, and dried cod and today our professor had brought Minke whale. She also brought flatbread, sour cream, rose jelly, and another jelly to eat with the whale. In Norway whale used to be a common staple of people’s diets, however, as agriculture progressed and the prices of other meats decreased, whale became more of a traditional food. Nowadays, mainly the older generation eats whale and only some Norwegians of the younger generations consume whale on a regular basis. Even though whale is only popular among some people, whale hunting is still an active part of Norway’s economy and they have a certain quota of Minke whale to fulfill each year.

Minke whale meat we had in our culture class

I am not a supporter of whale or even seal hunting, however, I decided to at least try the whale meat. I only took a little bit and placed it on the flatbread with some sour cream. Like the seal, the whale tasted very bloody and I could only take one bite. In addition to the whale I also tried the rose jelly on the flatbread. The rose jelly was okay but it tasted like a rose perfume or candle which makes sense since it is made from roses. The other more yellow jelly was okay.

The whale meat with sour cream on flatbread and jelly on flatbread

Even though I was not particular fond of either item our professor brought in today, I am very grateful that she makes the effort to share a part of Norway’s culture. This class has been a great way to get a little taste of Norway.