In Greenland, muktuk (mattak) is sold commercially to
fish factories,[4] and in Canada (muktaaq) to other communities.[5]
When chewed raw, the blubber becomes oily, with a nutty taste; if not diced, or at least serrated, the skin is quite rubbery.[citation needed]
One account of a 21st century
indigenous whale hunt describes the skin and blubber eaten as a snack while the rest of the
whale meat is butchered (
flensed) for later consumption. When boiled, this snack is known as unaaliq.[6] Raw or cooked, the blubber and skin are served with
HP Sauce,[7][8][9][10][11] a British condiment. Muktuk is occasionally finely diced, breaded, deep fried, and then served with
soy sauce.[citation needed]
Nutrients and health concerns
Muktuk has been found to be a good source of
vitamin C, the
epidermis containing up to 38 mg per 100 grams (3.5 oz).[12][13] It was used as an
antiscorbutic by British Arctic explorers.[14] Blubber is also a source of
vitamin D.[15]
The most important item of food of the Polar
Eskimos is the narwhal (Monodon monoceros). [...] The skin (mattak) is greatly relished and tastes like hazel-nuts; it is eaten raw and contains considerable amounts of glycogen and ascorbic acid. The White whale (Delphinupterus leucas) is almost as important...[16]
Contaminants from the industrialised world have made their way to the Arctic marine
food web. This poses a health risk to people who eat "country food" (
traditional Inuit foodstuffs).[17] As whales grow,
mercury accumulates in the liver, kidney, muscle, and blubber, and
cadmium settles in the blubber,[18] 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,[19][20] and a variety of other contaminants.[21]
Consumption of muktuk has also been associated with outbreaks of
botulism.[22]
Spellings
Transliterations of "muktuk", and other terms for the skin and blubber, include:
^Fediuk, K.; Hidiroglou, N.; Madère, R.; Kuhnlein, H. V. (2002). "Vitamin C in Inuit Traditional Food and Women's Diets". Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. 15 (3): 221.
doi:
10.1006/jfca.2002.1053.
^McClintock, Francis Leopold (2012), "CHAPTER XVI", A Narrative of the Discovery of the Fate of Sir John Franklin and His Companions, Cambridge University Press, pp. 301–322,
doi:
10.1017/cbo9781139236522.018,
ISBN978-1-139-23652-2
^Kuhnlein, H. V.; Barthet, V.; Farren, A.; Falahi, E.; Leggee, D.; Receveur, O.; Berti, P. (2006). "Vitamins A, D, and E in Canadian Arctic traditional food and adult diets". Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. 19 (6–7): 495.
doi:
10.1016/j.jfca.2005.02.007.
^Wagemann, R.; Snow, N.B.; Lutz, A.; Scott, D.P. (1983). "Heavy Metals in Tissues and Organs of the Narwhal (Monodon monoceras)". Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 40 (S2): s206–s214.
doi:
10.1139/f83-326.