What You Need to Know
The process involves freezing the skin and blubber together at a temperature range of -10°C to -20°C for several hours or overnight, allowing the blubber to reach a consistency that can be easily scraped off with a sharp, curved blade. This method is rooted in the traditional practices of the Inuit people, who have developed this technique to prepare mattak, a nutritious and culturally significant food source. The freezing and scraping process transforms the raw whale skin and blubber into a consumable product, highlighting the importance of temperature and mechanical processing in food preparation.
Steps
- 1.
Kalaalimernit (Greenland): Primary preparation method for serving raw whale skin/blubber
- 2.
Nipisa (Canadian Arctic): Creates chewable texture for fermented whale blubber
- 3.
Suaasat (Greenlandic): Provides textural contrast when added to traditional soups
The Science
Primary Reaction
CRYSTALLIZATION