Eating Whale in Tokyo
Posted by jennifer, September 12th, 2008 - under News.
Tags: Whales
Some people worry about whether a particular food tastes good, others whether it is healthy, while some concern themselves with the ethics of food production and consumption.
There are two criteria that I consider valid when it comes to ethical food choice: 1. Is the harvest of the animal sustainable, and 2. Is the killing humane.
Whaling by the Japanese is undertaken in accordance with a strict quota system to ensure populations are not depleted and every effort is made to get a quick and painless kill including through the use of a grenade tipped harpoon.
So I had no problems with the ethics of eating whale when I visited a restaurant that specializes in whale in downtown Tokyo recently with well known blogger, David.
Furthermore, whale tastes good, at least when it is cooked.
Our meal started with a green salad containing crunchy whale blubber.
My favourite dish though comprised lightly peppered whale steaks.
But several of the dishes comprised elegantly presented raw whale meat including cold raw morsels of heart and tail.
I didn’t enjoy these at all.
Later in the meal we were provided with our own cooking pot which we filled with whale tongue and an assortment of vegetables.
Later David added some raw egg and noodles.
All in all it was a fun evening and I can recommend whale – but it’s definitely best cooked.
——————-
This is my second post on whales and whaling from Tokyo, the first is here.
Whatever side of the argument you are on, slaughtering hundreds of whales every year just so people can have a tasty meal is pointless, there is no need for whaling, just eat some other kind of meat that comes from animals that come from factories, its a delicacy whether you want to admit it or not, it isn’t just some ordinary protein like beef or chicken..and the whole “whaling for scientific research” probably has a lot of BS behind it, you’d really expect the Japanese to be completely truthful by everything they say? don’t be so naive. its mostly about making money, that’s all they care about. Also, in one of the biggest fish markets in Japan, in Tokyo, selling whale is illegal.
I dnt know the full details about this but i am moraly against whaling and cant help but notice that those supporting have an answer for everything and CHOOSE to ignore the simple facts, you DO NOT need the meat for any reason. Also remember it used to be traditon to do alot of barbaric things, the rest of the world woke up. And id just like to add, eventualy a true psycho will make it into greenpeace…