Eskimos eat raw meat. Useful but smelly

The food ration of the coastal and reindeer Chukchi was different. Its basis for the nomadic population was reindeer meat, for the sedentary - the products of the marine hunting industry. True, as V.G. Bogoraz, “reindeer Chukchi have a great inclination to sea food. ... On the other hand, the coastal Chukchi and Eskimos also highly value reindeer meat and call it“ the sweet food of reindeer herders ”(Bogoraz, 1991, p. 126). the groups constantly exchanged the products of their trades.

The peculiarity of the diet of the coastal Chukchi was its diversity, which is typical for all Arctic peoples engaged in hunting: "In the societies of sea hunters in the Arctic, a traditional diet has developed, characterized by the highest variety of foods and dishes in comparison with the diet of other Arctic peoples" (Bogoslovskaya et al., 2007.S. 372). It is characteristic that the food of the sedentary Chukchi of the northern and Bering Sea coasts was somewhat different, which is explained by the peculiarities of the climate and natural conditions, the specifics of the fishing routine of both.

Among the food products of the coastal Chukchi, one of the main places was occupied by meat, fat and walrus entrails. The meat of walruses caught in the summer was cleaned of fat and put into a special pit where water was poured. In such a pit, meat could be stored until the onset of cold weather. A significant part of the summer walrus meat was dried and stored for future use. Dried meat was eaten in winter, usually pounded and mixed with fat. The insides of walruses were also harvested for the winter. At the same time, the lungs and heart of the walrus were cut and dried on hangers, the kidneys were dried for the winter. The insides of the walrus were often eaten raw. Especially appreciated raw liver... She was considered a good remedy for recuperating after a large blood loss, she was treated for stomach, intestinal and pulmonary diseases.

Most often, walrus meat was eaten fermented: " Kopalchen- pickled walrus meat - for the coastal Chukchi was an indispensable dish for at least six to seven months a year ... Kopalhen is eaten "like bread". It is eaten by itself, as well as with fish and herbs. ... Copalchen is extremely easy to digest. It is not chewed, but simply swallowed "(Afanasyeva, Simchenko, 1993. pp. 65-66). To prepare copalhen, pieces of fresh walrus meat, together with lard and skin, were placed in special earthen pits, which were covered with sod on top. Walrus fat, both subcutaneous and internal, was considered the most valuable food product. food additive... Walrus oil was also used for the conservation of wild plants. It was kept in sacks of seal skins.

The meat and fat of the seal were of no less importance for the nutrition of the Chukchi. "The seal was mined all year round and the most different ways... Seal meat ... was a constant ingredient in the menu of coastal hunters "(Ibid. P. 73). For many centuries, the population of coastal Chukotka used whale products for food." Traditional cuisine Chukotka's marine hunters include more than 20 different dishes of meat, fat, skin, fins, tongues and innards of bowhead and gray whales and beluga whales "(Bogoslovskaya et al., 2007, p. 375).

In the collection " On the path of Bogoraz"some recipes for dishes prepared by the Naukan Eskimos and Chukchi Uelen from whaling products are given:" Whale skin with lard (man "so") is traditionally eaten raw and boiled. For the future, it is harvested by tightly shifting the leaves of Ivan-tea (vevegtyt) in a barrel and flooding with water, then it has a pleasant smell of Ivan-tea and retains its freshness for a long time. Such skin is eaten only in winter. In the fall, with the onset of hard frosts, bowhead whale manna is placed in large plates in a meat pit, where it is stored until spring. This is good gift when visiting reindeer herders in neighboring villages. In winter, raw mann "so" is eaten before going to bed, and boiled mann is often consumed with a mushy mass of leaves of the three-winged mountaineer (kyugak). Hunters, going out to sea, take with them manna "tak" as a stock of food. ...

In summer, fresh gray whale fat is eaten with the grated leaves of the Knotweed. Sour whale liver is eaten with fresh boiled skin and walrus lard (kahu). Sour liver juice is drunk together with broth (k "ayuk) from seal fat.

Fresh buds (takhtuk) are boiled before meals, and the buds are eaten raw, dipped in melted seal fat (toe) (Tein et al., 2008, p. 177).

Among the nomadic Chukchi, the traditional food ration necessarily implied the regular consumption of venison. The insides of the deer (liver, kidneys, heart), as well as the eyes, bone marrow, tendons, and cartilage of the nose were eaten raw immediately after the slaughter of the animal. The meat was eaten mainly boiled and dried. About the process of drying meat by Chukchi V.G. Bogoraz wrote the following: " In the spring, around mid-April, the Chukchi reindeer dry meat in the open air; under the combined action of the daytime heat and nighttime cold, even large pieces of meat completely come out, preserving their taste and tenderness. Dried meat is slightly smoked over the hearth in the tent"(Bogoraz, 1991, p. 129).

Meat broth was drunk and used to prepare various dishes: “In the past, young and middle-aged reindeer herders significantly limited themselves in water consumption. children and older children. Meat broth was used in the preparation of vegetable food "(Afanasyeva, Simchenko, 1993. pp. 88-89).

Blood stew was an everyday dish. It was cooked with wild garlic - wild onion and sarana - kimchak. "Blood stew was an indispensable element in all rituals of asking for well-being. It was splashed in all directions of the world, starting from the east, when such rituals were performed" (Ibid. P. 89).

Reindeer blood was also prepared popular dish For this, finely dissected cartilage, veins, films, as well as gastric juice, which was obtained by squeezing out the green mass contained in the stomach of a slaughtered deer, were added to the blood. All this blood mixture was fermented in the deer's stomach.

Among the ritual meat dishes a special place was occupied by sausage from the caecum - rorat. This sausage "was an obligatory ingredient in all rituals, without exception. Fire was fed to it, sacrificial parts were cut off from it to supernatural forces of nature. It played the role of a kind of sacrament in all sacred acts" (Ibid. P. 92). One of the popular festive dishes from venison - tychgitagav. To prepare it, bone fat was added to the crushed, grated reindeer meat. The resulting mass was made into koloboks and frozen.

In addition to the meat of domestic deer, the Chukchi also ate the meat of wild deer, bighorn sheep, hares, partridges, and waterfowl. The Chukchi have some prohibitions and restrictions related to animal food. So, according to V. G. Bogoraz, "Chukchi reindeer abstain from wolverine and black bear meat, all types of wolves and most of the birds of prey" (Bogoraz, 1991, p. 130).

Both nomadic and sedentary Chukchi were widespread various fish dishes... We caught mainly salmon. The coastal Chukchi "put summer fish in ground pits, laid out along the bottom and sides with alder branches. The fish were laid in several layers and also covered with a decking of alder branches and laid with sod or covered with earth. After a while, the fish fermented and froze with the onset of cold weather" ( Afanasyeva, Simchenko, 1993.S. 74). Frozen fish was eaten with copalchen and sauerkraut.

The reindeer Chukchi “the main way of preserving fish was making yukola, yukola was made from any salmon. When cutting, they first cut the belly from the anus to the head and took out the entrails with caviar and milk. The caviar was immediately hung to dry ...

Then the abdomen was cut off - the knife was led from the abdominal gills to the tail, separating both sides at once. The abdomen was the most tasty part. Fish bellies were collected and hung up for smoking in a yaranga. Further processing consisted in dismembering the fish carcass into the actual jukola part and the spine with the head. ... Yukola consisted of two plates of meat, joined at the tail. The yukola was hung up with its tail up to dry ... Yukola was an indispensable ingredient in the food of reindeer breeders. She was not served with a rare meal. As a rule, they drank tea with yukola ... (Ibid. P. 96).

A special dish was prepared from fish heads. To do this, "caviar, washed and pounded between the palms, was put into a bag of seal skin, and fish heads were put in it. This mass was allowed to sour for three to four days, after which the heads were eaten" (Ibid. P. 97)

Fish dishes were a must at many reindeer herding festivals, such as the autumn herd meeting. Different groups of Chukchi had their own traditions of using for food and harvesting edible plants. Some groups prepared herbal mixtures based on the "golden root" - arctic radiols in others - the basis of plant preparations was made up of polar alder (willow) leaves. Plant food supplies were constantly exchanged.

According to the observations of G.M. Afanasyeva and Yu.B. Simchenko, among the Bering Sea Chukchi, “the most common root is bite, which is identified by modern Chukchi with potatoes ... fresh meat"(Ibid.).

The Bering Sea Chukchi also used the roots of marsh grass for food, which were taken from mice minks: “The procedure for collecting plants stored by mice for the winter was strictly statutory. every autumn, they take their sons' young wives and their own female descendants, who are not married, and take them to the tundra to traditional lands, where they are shown mouse holes, which they do not look for anew every time, and they open up well-known holes. that there is continuity between specific Chukchi families and mouse families ... There are several immutable rules for the exploitation of mouse stocks, violation of which automatically entails severe punishment.

This includes the prohibition to touch "alien" mouse holes. It is believed that if a woman disturbs the mice not on her site, then her "own" mice will leave the traditional grounds out of solidarity with their relatives. Another mandatory rule is to leave mice for the winter with yukola or dried meat in an appropriate amount for the stocks taken.

Every woman carries a bundle with her dried fish, which he distributes among the mouse pantries. The third statement - it is categorically impossible to take the amount of stocks of mice equal to half, or even more than half. For violation of this rule, not only the offender herself, but also her family had to pay with various misfortunes. The fourth rule is to cut and turn off the sod layer above the burrow carefully. Having taken away the stored plants, you need to put the layer on top as carefully as it was lying. I had to see holes that were repeatedly visited by people, and the mice did not leave them.

Last thing important rule: the time of collecting plants from mouse holes should be strictly observed - a fairly long time before snow falls. According to Chukchi regulations, this was required to be done by aphids so that the mice had time to replenish the stocks of the plants they needed ... (Afanasyeva, Simchenko, 1993, pp. 69-70).

Shiksha, cloudberries, lingonberries, blueberries, currants, honeysuckle were collected from the berries. The berries were eaten raw, as a delicacy, or they were an integral component of various fish and meat dishes: they were mixed with fish caviar, crushed raw deer liver, and boiled fish liver. Mushrooms (except for fly agaric) were eaten extremely rarely. They were considered deer food. Amanita was a ritual food... It was used to make a "trip" to other worlds, for fortune-telling, to maintain tone during heavy physical exertion.

The diet of the coastal Chukchi invariably included various products that were "supplied" by the sea. Seaweed they ate raw and boiled. It was eaten with walrus meat and walrus blood.

From the beginning of contacts between the Chukchi and Europeans, flour products, sugar, bread, and spices began to occupy a significant place in their diet. V.G. Bogoraz wrote: “The Chukchi love to try“ foreign food ”and even get used to such cultural spices as mustard and pepper. They willingly sacrifice sugar, bread, etc., believing that spirits also love new types of food ”(Bogoraz, 1991, p. 134). It is characteristic that "by introducing flour products into their diet, the indigenous people of the North significantly changed the way they culinary processing adapting to the requirements of the arctic environment. The traditional addition of blood or fish roe to baked goods, frying the cakes in the fat of sea animals allowed maintaining the vitamin and microelement balance "(Bogoslovskaya et al., 1997, p. 383).

Each nation has its own unique national dishes. Czech cuisine is hard to imagine without pork knuckle, Italian - without thin slices of carpaccio, and Spanish - without jamon. And here the National dish Nenets, Chukchi and Eskimos is called kopalhen.

The peoples of the North have been using it since childhood meat delicacy, however, people who are unprepared cannot try kopalchen, since the consequences can be dire.

Kopalchen is a northern “delicacy”, the description of which may seem disgusting to many. The dish is “prepared” most often from fresh venison, less often - from walrus, seal or even a whale. The carcass of the animal is harvested as a whole, such a supply of food can be enough for the whole family for several weeks or even months.

The first step in the "preparation" of copalchen is to properly kill the animal. When it comes to deer, the healthiest and strongest of the herd is chosen. Further - they beat him off from the herd and keep him hungry for several days. So the stomach of the deer is completely cleansed in a natural way, and the animal can be sent to slaughter. They kill the deer by strangulation, trying not to damage the skin, so that there are no wounds on the body. Then the carcass of the animal is immersed in a swamp, sprinkled with turf, and a mark is made at the place of its "burial". Interestingly, in the Soviet years, pioneer ties were used as marking, which were clearly visible and did not fade in any weather.

The carcass is left under water for at least six months. Then, in winter, they dig up and eat. During this time, the meat begins to decompose, cadaveric poisons are released, which is why an unprepared person should never try kopalchen. And hardly any of the tourists will want to taste the carrion: Kopalchen has a specific look and smell, which completely discourages appetite. Local peoples eat such meat with pleasure, for them it is a life-saving supply in the event that hunters cannot get food for a long time. Eskimos and Nenets got used to cutting frozen kopalchen into thin slices and seasoning with salt before use.

Kopalchen has been known since ancient times. Such meat is high in calories, so just a few pieces are enough for an adult man to work in the cold all day without freezing or physically exhausted.

So that the use of copalchen does not cause poisoning, children are taught to fresh meat from birth. Instead of a nipple, babies are given a piece of meat or bacon, and after the child has grown up, he eats kopalchen along with the older members of the family. Kopalchen, by the way, is also used to feed sled dogs.

Each northern people has its own traditions. For example, the Nenets prefer to harvest deer meat for the winter, the Chukchi - walruses, and the Canadian Inuit - whales. Another version of this dish is a seal stuffed with seagulls. The method of preparation is the same: leave the skinned carcass for several months in the permafrost, and then, having dug it out, can be eaten.

The cadaveric poison contained in rotted meat will definitely lead to severe poisoning or death if a stranger decides to try such a dish, but for local residents this is a real salvation from starvation and a delicacy.

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In Russia, industrial production of seals and seals may begin - the authorities are trying to fill store shelves with domestic seafood. WG wrote about this the other day. The Baikal endemic seal also runs the risk of getting to the consumer's table from the waters of Lake Baikal - the meat of young seals is quite edible, it doesn't smell as fishy as it does in adults.

Experts gathered at a round table in Irkutsk on November 25 to answer the question - Is it worth it to extract the Baikal seal on an industrial scale for these purposes? This issue has acquired particular urgency now, when the All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography began to develop standards for food products from seal meat- we are talking about minced meat, semi-finished products, pâté, canned food and hot smoked products.

The number of seals on Lake Baikal is now quite large - about 100 thousand heads, says Boris Ditsevich, senior researcher at the educational and methodological center "Sibokhotnauka" of the Irkutsk Agricultural Academy. If earlier the seal could be seen only in the north of Lake Baikal, now often this mammal also enters the south of the lake, appears in the area of ​​the Small Sea. Such a greatly expanded population harms the animals themselves in many ways - many seal cubs experience difficulties in obtaining food, their body weakens and they become susceptible to infectious diseases, in particular, to distemper. And many females, due to the greatly increased population, often remain unfertilized. And if in the north of Russia polar bears help regulate the number of seals, then on Lake Baikal this mammal has no natural enemies. There is no need to be afraid that the industrial extraction of seals will damage the biosphere of Lake Baikal, says the scientist: "Every year the seal brings one or two cubs, and it lives for about ten years, so this type of seal reproduces very quickly."

Ideally, it would be good to cut the number by half - to 50 thousand heads, says Boris Ditsevich. To do this, a quota of two thousand heads per year would be enough to begin with. Seal hunting would attract tourists to Lake Baikal in winter.“Hunting for seals with sleds on the ice of the lake was very widespread in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Now tourists, too, would like to give preference to this type of active rest, ”says Boris Ditsevich. And the meat of young seals would become a delicacy that would be treated to tourists at tourist centers. You can even make hats from seal skins. The fat that can be melted from the seal meat is also useful. But the meat of adults can be used as feed for fur animals, in particular, minks and arctic foxes, which are raised in animal farms.

Now only those Russian peoples have the right to get seal meat. for whom this food is traditional, in particular for the indigenous peoples of the north. At the same time, the Evenks did not particularly like the meat of an adult seal because of its smell. Often it was used simply for fertilization. In all other territories, industrial extraction of seals is now prohibited. The few animals that are caught for research purposes represent a fraction of the total. Basically, seals are studied by scientists in Buryatia, in the Irkutsk region, several individuals were sent to the Institute of Geochemistry named after V.I. A.P. Vinogradov SB RAS and the Baikal Museum in Listvyanka. Accordingly, the size of quotas for Buryatia is larger - almost 1.5 thousand individuals per year, and for Priangarye - 50.

According to the representative of the Angara-Baikal Territorial Administration of the Federal Agency for Fisheries Alexei Telpukhovsky, the last time in the Angara region, three peasant farms took a quota for the extraction of seals from Bolshoy Goloustnoye and Buguldeika. However, in fact, they mined only three to five of these Baikal endemics. But sometimes there are cases when seals fall into fish nets - up to 10-15 individuals. This is already, as they say, illegal mining.

It will take at least three years to allow commercial fishing for seals. To do this, firstly, research organizations must conduct monitoring, which would show how many seals can be caught. Secondly, it will be necessary to make changes in the fishing rules. In this case, the initiative can come from the regional government. According to the assumptions of experts in Buryatia, the quota for the extraction of seals could be set at 4-5 thousand individuals per year, and in Priangarye one thousand would be enough. According to Boris Ditsevich's estimates, the extraction of seals could bring 6-7 million rubles to the regional budget annually.

Alexey Telpukhovsky agrees - you can get a seal, but the main thing is that you do not need to make a show out of this, because this animal is a brand of the Baikal region.

The question pops up - if there are fewer seals, perhaps omul will be added to Lake Baikal? Some officials from Buryatia and the Angara region, we recall, believe that the breeding seal is to blame for the decline in the population of this fish.

It is impossible to give a positive answer to the question, experts say. The seal mainly feeds on gobies and golomyanka. People taught the seal to omul themselves: “Often the seal swims to where the nets are installed and she has no choice but to eat the omul that has swum there, she gets used to it, and then the animal starts looking for the food it has got used to,” says Boris Ditsevich. In general, it is not typical for the seal to eat omul - this fish swims quickly and the seal simply cannot keep up with it.

Magadan scientists have developed sausages, sausages, jerky and pâté from seals and seals

Scientists from the Magadan Institute of Fisheries have developed new products with a purely northern flavor - sausages, sausages, jerky and seal and seal pate. They say that it is very useful for health.

Jellied and pate, sausages and sausage. All this is made from seal meat. Director of Magadan-NIRO Sergey Marchenko, demonstrating product samples, is sure that the processing of pinnipeds in Magadan can be put on an industrial level. “This is a good high-quality product with unique characteristics in front of you. Once upon a time, no one ate crabs, squid, but now they are considered a delicacy, ”said Sergei Marchenko, director of Magadan-NIRO.

The sea animal was actively hunted in Kolyma thirty years ago. Its meat has always been part of the diet of the indigenous peoples of the north. In Magadan, a sewing and souvenir factories worked, producing clothes and souvenirs from fur and bones of seals and seals. But in the 90s, the fishery was curtailed. They are ready to revive it, says Andrey Zyulkin, the Magadan fishery. He is already in the business of drawing up a business plan. “There were 3 fishing vessels on the territory of the Magadan Region, which, on average, harvested about 9 thousand individuals each vessel. This is about 30 thousand per year. It was in demand! Today we have a demand ”, - says the Magadan fishery producer Andrey Zyulkin.

Seal hunting is also needed to preserve marine bioresources. The population of sea animals in the waters of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk has already reached a million. Which poses a threat to the natural balance and not only. “Now there are so many seals that the fishermen just complain that the seal even gets fish out of the nets. The hunting industry just stopped working, ”explained Evgeny Tikhmenev, Chairman of the Far Eastern Branch of the International Academy of Sciences of Ecology and Human and Nature Safety.

According to scientists, up to sixty thousand heads of sea animals could be hunted in Kolyma per year. Its meat is rich in useful polyunsaturated acids and hemoglobin. In the future, a canning production could be opened here, long-stored useful products would be in demand even by astronauts.

So far, there are only prototypes of products made from seal and seal meat. Mass production is out of the question. But scientists and fish producers are already thinking about this. They say: you just have to start. Then it would be possible to produce also the drug Tulenol, and cosmetics from the endocrine glands of the sea animal, according to

It may soon appear on the shelves of Russian stores and on the menu of restaurants. It is planned to start commercial production of these marine animals, which are considered a traditional food product among northern peoples. The Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography is developing standards for feeding from seal meat. However, experts, recognizing the recent increase in the number of marine animals, are not sure that seals and seals will take root on our tables. The correspondent Marina Kostyukevich found out why.

Seals and seals can go for meat. This is just one of the ways to fill store shelves with domestic seafood. Now only a few northern peoples are engaged in fishing, but soon other fishing farms may also receive permits. The population of seals and seals is now high, and their voracity contributes to a significant decrease in the number of salmonids, says Georgy Martynov, president of the Association of Fisheries Enterprises in Primorye. But it is unlikely that the mass production of these pinnipeds can unfold in the near future.

“Science must confirm, do research and determine how much sea animal needs to be hunted, who will do it, and only then start this process. a lot of animals have accumulated. And we see no harm to the population if we hunt for sea animals. "

Another question is how much such fresh meat will taste like. Most of us have a vague idea of ​​what a seal tastes like, considering it to be a cross between meat and fish. And it is very difficult to imagine offhand any of them. But, as experts of the Research Institute of Fisheries assure, cutlets, hot-smoked fillets and foodstuffs secondary forms. Georgy Martynov is not sure that it is worth diversifying the meat counters with such a novelty.

"The meat of an animal was never used for food, according to at least, the Russian population. Not counting the residents of Chukotka, as it is included in their diet. And how much will it be in demand in Russian stores? It is hardly necessary to rush to extremes. Previously, it was used to feed the fur-bearing animal. "

And not only that, adds naturalist journalist Alexander Khaburgaev. And talk about the popularity of seal and seal meat among northern peoples is too exaggerated.

“The Evenki, with whom we had to talk, said that this was never a traditional trade. Because the seal's meat is tasteless, the skin is bad. skins sew panels for tourists. "

The chances of getting accustomed to the menu of restaurants or on the shelves of the stores for the meat of seals and seals are minimal, continues Alexander Khaburgaev. Its specific taste is unusual for us.

“Everyone who has tried it says it's disgusting. It gives off a lot of fish, since fish is the main food of seals. famous culinary skills and art, seasonings, etc. you will eat it. By the way, about 30 years ago they sold whale stew. All this was not in demand, for the product to become traditional, you need a habit. "

Experts say that in the desire to fill the counters of meat and fish stores with protein products, one should still focus more on something more digestible for our stomach. In the case of seafood, it is better to arrange the supply of fish. If there is enough of it and the prices are not astronomical, you will not have to look for a replacement among marine animals.

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