Muktuk (transliterated in various ways, see below) is a traditional food of the peoples of the Arctic, consisting of

whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...

skin and

blubber Blubber is a thick layer of vascularized adipose tissue under the skin of all cetaceans, pinnipeds, penguins, and sirenians. Description Lipid-rich, collagen fiber-laced blubber comprises the hypodermis and covers the whole body, except fo ...

. It is most often made from the

bowhead whale The bowhead whale (''Balaena mysticetus'') is a species of baleen whale belonging to the family Balaenidae and the only living representative of the genus '' Balaena''. They are the only baleen whale endemic to the Arctic and subarctic waters, a ...

, although the

beluga The beluga whale (/bɪˈluːɡə/) (Delphinapterus leucas) is an Arctic and sub-Arctic cetacean. It is one of two members of the family Monodontidae, along with the narwhal, and the only member of the genus Delphinapterus. It is also known as the wh ...

and the

narwhal The narwhal, also known as a narwhale (''Monodon monoceros''), is a medium-sized toothed whale that possesses a large " tusk" from a protruding canine tooth. It lives year-round in the Arctic waters around Greenland, Canada and Russia. It is ...

are also used. It is usually consumed raw, but can also be eaten frozen, cooked, or

pickled Pickling is the process of preserving or extending the shelf life of food by either anaerobic fermentation in brine or immersion in vinegar. The pickling procedure typically affects the food's texture and flavor. The resulting food is called ...

Methods of preparation

In Greenland, muktuk (''mattak'') is sold commercially to fish factories, and in Canada (''muktaaq'') to other communities. When chewed raw, the blubber becomes oily, with a nutty taste; if not diced, or at least serrated, the skin is quite rubbery. One account of a twenty-first century indigenous whale hunt describes the skin and blubber eaten as a snack while the rest of the

whale meat Whale meat, broadly speaking, may include all cetaceans ( whales, dolphins, porpoises) and all parts of the animal: muscle (meat), organs ( offal), skin ( muktuk), and fat ( blubber). There is relatively little demand for whale meat, compare ...

is butchered ( flensed) for later consumption. When boiled, this snack is known as ''unaaliq''. Raw or cooked, the blubber and skin are served with

HP sauce HP Sauce is a British brown sauce, the main ingredients of which are tomatoes and tamarind extract. It was named after London's Houses of Parliament. After making its first appearance on British dinner tables in the late 19th century, HP Sauce ...

, a British sweet and sour condiment. Muktuk is occasionally finely diced, breaded, deep fried, and then served with

soy sauce Soy sauce (also called simply soy in American English and soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermented paste of soybeans, roasted grain, brine, and ''Aspergillus oryzae'' or '' As ...

Nutrients and health concerns

Muktuk has been found to be a good source of

vitamin C Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits and vegetables, also sold as a dietary supplement and as a topical 'serum' ingredient to treat melasma (dark pigment spots) ...

, the

epidermis The epidermis is the outermost of the three layers that comprise the skin, the inner layers being the dermis and hypodermis. The epidermis layer provides a barrier to infection from environmental pathogens and regulates the amount of water rel ...

containing up to 38 mg per . It was used as an

antiscorbutic Scurvy is a disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, feeling tired and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, decreased red blood cells, gum disease, changes to hair, and bleeding ...

by British Arctic explorers. Blubber is also a source of

vitamin D Vitamin D is a group of Lipophilicity, fat-soluble secosteroids responsible for increasing intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium, and phosphate, and many other biological effects. In humans, the most important compounds in this group ar ...

. ''

Proceedings of the Nutrition Society ''Proceedings of the Nutrition Society'' is one of the publications by The Nutrition Society and is a scientific research journal which focuses on "the scientific study of nutrition and its application to the maintenance of human and animal health ...

'' stated in the 1950s that: Contaminants from the industrialised world have made their way to the Arctic marine

food web A food web is the natural interconnection of food chains and a graphical representation of what-eats-what in an ecological community. Another name for food web is consumer-resource system. Ecologists can broadly lump all life forms into one o ...

. This poses a health risk to people who eat "country food" ( traditional Inuit foodstuffs). As whales grow, mercury accumulates in the liver, kidney, muscle, and blubber, and

cadmium Cadmium is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, silvery-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12 element, group 12, zinc and mercury (element), mercury. Li ...

settles in the blubber, the same process that makes mercury in fish a health issue for humans. Whale meat also bioaccumulates carcinogens such as PCBs, chemical compounds that damage human nervous, immune and reproductive systems, and a variety of other contaminants.

Spellings

Transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus ''trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or L ...

s of "muktuk", and other terms for the skin and blubber, include: *Ikiilgin, Chukchi *Maktaaq (ᒪᒃᑖᖅ),

Siglitun ''Sallirmiutun'' (formerly Siglitun) is the dialect of Inuvialuktun spoken by the Siglit, an Inuit group of the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is mainly used in the Inuvialuit communities of Paulatuk, Sachs Harbour and Tuktoyaktuk. Sallirm ...

, Kivalliq, Aivilik, North Baffin, East Baffin, South Baffin *Maktak (ᒪᒃᑕᒃ), Inupiat, Siglitun, North Baffin *Maktaq,

Inuinnaqtun Inuinnaqtun (; natively meaning ''like the real human beings/peoples''), is an indigenous Inuit language. It is spoken in the central Canadian Arctic. It is related very closely to Inuktitut, and some scholars, such as Richard Condon, believe ...

, Natsilingmiutut (

Inuvialuktun Inuvialuktun (part of ''Western Canadian Inuit/Inuktitut/Inuktut/Inuktun'') comprises several Inuit language varieties spoken in the northern Northwest Territories by Canadian Inuit who call themselves '' Inuvialuit''. Some dialects and sub-dial ...

) *Mattak,

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland ...

*Mangtak, Alaskan Yup'ikJacobson, Steven A. (2012)
Yup'ik Eskimo Dictionary, 2nd edition
. Alaska Native Language Center. *Mungtuk,

Siberian Yupik Siberian Yupiks, or Yuits (russian: Юиты), are a Yupik people who reside along the coast of the Chukchi Peninsula in the far northeast of the Russian Federation and on St. Lawrence Island in Alaska. They speak Central Siberian Yupik ...

*Kimaq, Alutiiq/Sugpiaq In some dialects, such as Inuinnaqtun, the word ''muktuk'' refers only to the edible parts of the whale's skin and not to the blubber.

References

External links

* {{Portal, Food Inuit cuisine Chukchi cuisine Yakut cuisine Whale dishes Animal fat products Canadian cuisine

Methods of preparation

Nutrients and health concerns

Spellings

See also

References

External links