# Why Do The Inuit/Esquimos Have a Fondness for Rotten Food? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 23, 2004, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-inuit-esquimos-have-a-fondness-for-rotten-food/236004 "2004-03-23T22:07:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-inuit-esquimos-have-a-fondness-for-rotten-food/236004/21 "2004-03-24T16:31:26Z")
I was in a commercial Chinese restaurant that had a bottle of hot sauce on the table, with writing on it in a number of different languages. In English it said: “Delicately aged …” and the Spanish translated to: “Left to sit for weeks.” ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-inuit-esquimos-have-a-fondness-for-rotten-food/236004/22 "2004-03-24T17:07:49Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Yet, the natives would expose the opened shellfish to the sun, and dry them for consumption later. Dried oysters, scallops, and whatnot are commonplace ingredients in many Eastern Asian cuisines and are hardly weird or gross. Fishermen _the world over_ let things dry out in the sun for consumption later. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-inuit-esquimos-have-a-fondness-for-rotten-food/236004/23 "2004-03-24T17:14:54Z")
The famous Danish artic explorer and anthropologist Knud Rasmussen died after a meal of rotten seagull (this is where the seagulls are stuffedinto a sealskin and buried for 5 months). So even for those accustomed to it, aged meat has some dangers. ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-inuit-esquimos-have-a-fondness-for-rotten-food/236004/24 "2004-03-24T17:20:27Z")
The thing that amazes me about all this is the procedures they must have gone through to figure out that if do nasty things to a piece of meat, it becomes edible and potentially tastier ! I mean, humans have pretty strong aversions to maggoty and rotten food, with good evolutionary reason, and out of necessity they overcome this in certain situations. But imagine the scene in Prehistoric China: ‘You know, this oyster tastes kind of rank. I think I’ll leave it out in the sun for a few days to see if it improves …’ ‘Well, the last time we tried to prepare this kind of fish, Uncle Xi died. Maybe we should use a different type of maggot this time …’ ---
**Author:** ![Kempis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kempis/32/19248_2.png) [@Kempis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kempis)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-inuit-esquimos-have-a-fondness-for-rotten-food/236004/25 "2004-03-24T18:04:22Z")
That anecdote about the anthropologist eating the seagull makes me wonder if the Inuit with him died too, or at least got sick. If they did not, what is the mechanism that makes someone new to a bacterium/amoeba/nanomachine sick? Is there a toxin that overwhelms the liver, or is it something weirder? -k curious ---
**Author:** ![Tabithina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@Tabithina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabithina)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-inuit-esquimos-have-a-fondness-for-rotten-food/236004/26 "2004-03-24T20:50:24Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Romans were very big on fermented fish paste. I understand that’s a big hit in southeast Asia, too. It’s one of those flavors that western civ has apparently decided to do without. But we have plenty of fermented and rotted products of our own – cheese, wines, sauterne, “aged” beef, etc. I remembered reading about _garum_ fish sauce, so I dug up a [link with a recipe.](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lostempires/roman/garum.html) MMMMmmmm…fish left to rot in the sun for twenty days, stirred daily till they turn into a liquid. I don’t envy the people who got stuck doing the stirring! I think I’ll stick with my dairy products fermented with acidophilus. ---
**Author:** ![Tabithina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@Tabithina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabithina)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-inuit-esquimos-have-a-fondness-for-rotten-food/236004/27 "2004-03-24T20:56:06Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Romans were very big on fermented fish paste. I understand that’s a big hit in southeast Asia, too. It’s one of those flavors that western civ has apparently decided to do without. But we have plenty of fermented and rotted products of our own – cheese, wines, sauterne, “aged” beef, etc. I remembered reading about _garum_ fish sauce, so I dug up a [link with a recipe.](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lostempires/roman/garum.html) MMMMmmmm…fish left to rot in the sun for twenty days, stirred daily till they turn into a liquid. I don’t envy the people who got stuck doing the stirring! I think I’ll stick with my dairy products fermented with acidophilus. ---
**Author:** ![JohnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/848f3c/32.png) [@JohnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnM)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-inuit-esquimos-have-a-fondness-for-rotten-food/236004/28 "2004-03-24T21:43:14Z")
**Tabithina** , I don’t think the process is really “rotting”, given the amount of salt in the recipe. From what I’ve read, the active agent in the break down is the enzymes within the fish (and particularly the fish guts) themselves. Still doesn’t sound terribly appetizing, but neither do the production details of many common foods. I’d try it, whereas I’d be very reluctant to eat some of the traditional Inuit fermented meat products. ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-inuit-esquimos-have-a-fondness-for-rotten-food/236004/29 "2004-03-24T21:53:29Z")
I’d just like to say, as someone who has actually eaten with Inuit, that in my experience in the Eastern Arctic, nasty-smelling food isn’t eaten as much as threads like this might suggest. Raw, sure, and quite possibly frozen, but generally not decayed. As to why fermented meat on some occasions…I can’t speak for the Inuit, but my take on it is - try living on a diet of raw meat, without benefit of pepper, Tabasco sauce or ketchup. Pretty much anything that varies the flavour is going to seem worth doing at some point. (By the way, Inuit are now quite fond of soy sauce, for whatever that’s worth.) ---
**Author:** ![Kempis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kempis/32/19248_2.png) [@Kempis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kempis)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-inuit-esquimos-have-a-fondness-for-rotten-food/236004/30 "2004-03-24T23:28:38Z")
> [@Rube E. Tewesday](#): > > (By the way, Inuit are now quite fond of soy sauce, for whatever that’s worth.) It’s interesting to hear from someone who’s actually ben dere and dun dat. I wonder if the soy sauce use is related to the Japanese using it on sashimi? I know one of my favorite foods is tuna sashimi with Kimlan soy and a dab of wasabi… Oh, lawd, I’m starting to drool. -k ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-inuit-esquimos-have-a-fondness-for-rotten-food/236004/31 "2004-03-25T01:14:36Z")
Well, believe me, disgusting foods are a frequent topic of discussion in some forums, and as far as we could tell over at alt.tasteless, the winner for most disgusting food goes to the Sardinian maggot-infested cheese called [Casu Marzu](http://www.portlandmercury.com/2000-09-14/scientific.html). I can’t do any better than the Portland Mercury author in describing this disgusting mess… And why are the most disgusting foods always traditional at weddings?? “Here have some curdled milk infested with the jumping larvae of barn flies to celebrate the betrothal of my lovely daughter!” ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-inuit-esquimos-have-a-fondness-for-rotten-food/236004/32 "2004-03-25T17:29:03Z")
> [@Kempis](#): > > I wonder if the soy sauce use is related to the Japanese using it on sashimi? Possible, I suppose, but my own guess would be that after bad Chinese food reached the Arctic, as it reaches everyplace, the Inuit tasted the soy sauce and went "Hmm, I bet that would go good on muktuk. " And, to the extent anything goes good on muktuk, it does. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-inuit-esquimos-have-a-fondness-for-rotten-food/236004/33 "2004-03-25T18:11:24Z")
> [@JohnM](#): > > **Tabithina** , I don’t think the process is really “rotting”, given the amount of salt in the recipe. From what I’ve read, the active agent in the break down is the enzymes within the fish (and particularly the fish guts) themselves. Still doesn’t sound terribly appetizing, but neither do the production details of many common foods. I’d try it, whereas I’d be very reluctant to eat some of the traditional Inuit fermented meat products. That’s exactly right - I’ve cooked Roman dishes (substituting Thai fish sauce for _garum_ or _liquamen_) and it’s really just a way of adding salty savoury tastes - kind of like adding anchovy fillets to the base of a decent bolognaisse. In fact, one really great desert is peaches baked with liquamen, honey and cumin -divine! ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-inuit-esquimos-have-a-fondness-for-rotten-food/236004/34 "2004-03-25T18:16:15Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > In fact, one really great desert is peaches baked with liquamen, honey and cumin -divine! It’s also a great **dessert** :smack: Here’s the recipe: Patina de Persicis - Peaches in Cumin Sauce Peach Patina: Peel some firm peaches, cut in chunks, and cook. Place in a patina pan and drizzle with oil. Serve with cumin sauce. Cuminatum: Another cumin sauce: pepper, lovage, parsley, dried mint, a large amount of cumin, honey, vinegar, fish sauce. [----- Apicius-----------] ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-inuit-esquimos-have-a-fondness-for-rotten-food/236004/35 "2004-03-25T18:53:50Z")
[qute]Quote: CalMeacham one of those flavors that western civ has apparently decided to do without. Worcestershire Sauce is a stinky fish sauce. Not quite Vietnamese prawn paste, but certainly the same territory as Thai fish sauce. * * * [/quote] Based on what others have written about _garum_ fish paste, and what William Poundstone has to say about Worcestershire sauce in his book **Big Secrets** , I’d have to agree that it’s not rotted (although I believe I said _fermented_). I’m not sure that fish is the dominant flavor in Worcestershire sauce, in fact. There are a lot of other ingredients in there, including the pungent vegetable product _asafoetida_, whose name translates as “devil’s dung”. Yum. ---
**Author:** ![Kempis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kempis/32/19248_2.png) [@Kempis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kempis)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-inuit-esquimos-have-a-fondness-for-rotten-food/236004/36 "2004-03-25T19:10:56Z")
> [@bughunter](#): > > “Here have some curdled milk infested with the jumping larvae of barn flies to celebrate the betrothal of my lovely daughter!” Ugh! Aren’t they taking a big risk that the flies which laid the eggs also brought along dangerous bacteria? It seems like the height of foolishness to do that just for something that tastes different. -k [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-inuit-esquimos-have-a-fondness-for-rotten-food/236004.md?page=1)