# Whale meat -- first-hand experiences?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whale-meat-first-hand-experiences/750818>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [April 1, 2016, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whale-meat-first-hand-experiences/750818 "2016-04-01T09:02:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whale-meat-first-hand-experiences/750818/21 "2016-04-03T18:11:42Z")

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> [@JacobSwan](#):
>
> I think I ate some whale in Moscow back in the 80s. It was like an inverted gammon steak, 95% fat with a thin rind of pink meat. Tasted very salty and slightly fishy, but the waiters wouldn’t tell us what it was.

The '80s were a time of great _defitsity_ in the Soviet Union. I’ve never heard about this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if whale meat was being promoted the same way it was in postwar Britain with its food shortages.

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**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whale-meat-first-hand-experiences/750818/22 "2016-04-03T22:37:00Z")

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> [@terentii](#):
>
> The '80s were a time of great _defitsity_ in the Soviet Union. I’ve never heard about this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if whale meat was being promoted the same way it was in postwar Britain with its food shortages.

We arrived at the hotel just after the kitchen had closed due to flight delays. They agreed to feed us, but we didn’t have any choice in what they served. It might have been some kind of Russian joke to serve whale to the dumb westerners.

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**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whale-meat-first-hand-experiences/750818/23 "2016-04-03T22:41:25Z")

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> [@Penfeather](#):
>
> I’ve eaten raw horse.

Me, too. In Japan as a type of sashimi. What surprised me was that it was sliced rather thickly, and require a lot of chewing which made the experience less than pleasant.

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**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2016, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whale-meat-first-hand-experiences/750818/24 "2016-04-05T13:52:55Z")

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I ate it when I worked on a Western Pacific island in the 70s. It was the only “red” meat available (except for dog, of course) so I liked it. I also ate it in Japan when I lived there. I usually consumed it with beer and it worked as a beer companion…but then again, what doesn’t. Well, maybe, leg of blond person, but overall, it was OK (the whale not the blond person.)

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**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2016, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whale-meat-first-hand-experiences/750818/25 "2016-04-05T18:49:21Z")

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> [@kayaker](#):
>
> My gf tried Minke whale in Iceland and found it blah. She preferred the puffin, which was smoked. She passed on pony.

I went to Iceland and had that same sampler plate.

I liked the whale, thought the puffin was ok and loved the horse.

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