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I'm making whale carpaccio tomorrow for a friend's birthday, and I don't know what type of spices and garnish I should use for this delicate and flavorful meat. What are some good flavour pairings with whale meat?

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Is whale common in Norway? I've never seen it here in the US. – hobodave Aug 5 '10 at 20:32
yes, it is whale season from around mid may until at least late august maybe september. Its relatively cheap, tender and very flavorful. I usually put it on a grill as its the perfect grill meat in my opinion. Never played around with it raw, and i want to be a bit more creative than just making sashimi. – Tore Aug 5 '10 at 21:00
Whale is, from my understanding, very fatty and rich. You should look at flavourings that cut through those. That being said... whale? Really? Eating endangered animals? Come on. – daniel Aug 6 '10 at 8:31
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Not all species of whales are endangered, and I imagine a country like Norway manages hunting responsibly. – Jeffrey Aug 6 '10 at 15:06
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the whale species hunted in norway is Balaenoptera acutorostrata, estimates to a population of about 180 000 in the central and northeastern atlantic. So with about 300-700 whales each year the population is not going to shrink to the endangered status. Though i hope no other nations start whaling again, norway iceland and Faroe islands should not stop in my opinion. This is kinda cultural though, we have been whaling for 1200 years, and the populations mainly hunted for in the north ice sea and nothern atlantic has not become endangered yet. – Tore Aug 10 '10 at 2:58

1 Answer

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Presumably, this is something that's being eaten responsibly.

The combination of 'delicate' and 'flavorful' is interesting. ´Regular´ carpaccio's try to emphasize the good qualities of the meat you´re eating, adding a few notes to make the experience more interesting than just having one and the same taste.

Acidic or sour notes presumably´d still work. Capers, lemon juice, (flavoured) vinegars.

As we're now eating whale I'd take a trip into things that are commonly associated with fish (smoked salmon, tuna steak) which you'd normally not see often with your carpaccio. Say, chives, or dill might be fun. (touch of cream and lemon juice, perhaps).

I'd like some black pepper as well. Greens to freshen up the plate.

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Just in case; whale isn't a fish. – hobodave Aug 9 '10 at 22:21
+1 for straight up answer. What i did was brush the carpaccio with a blend of canola oil and lemon juice, sprinkeled the plate with chives and had a majo/mustard dressing i made. Capers i thought of, but i usually use it for fish so i figured it might not work so well with red meat, so i skipped on that idea. The meat was disappointing, ive had better whale meat before, so the tastes werent really there, what saved the dish was the majomustard dressing which gave it the right flavor. – Tore Aug 10 '10 at 2:38

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