Coming Soon To A McDonald’s Near You
The new taste sensation: The McMoby burger. A restaurant in Japan is serving whale burgers, whale cutlet sandwiches and whale hot dogs. Demand is quite high.
The sandwich, which features fried whale meat nestled in a bun with salad greens and lashings of mayonnaise and ketchup-based sauce, is the creation of a small whale restaurant in the town of Wada, about 100 km (62 miles) southeast of Tokyo.
"Young people think whale and bread really go together well, so the burgers are quite popular," said restaurant owner Akiji Ichihara.
For the whaleburger and a whale cutlet sandwich, both of which sell for 300 yen (1.41 pounds), he uses the meat of Baird's Beaked whales taken by Wada-based ships.
The third sandwich option, a whale hot dog priced at 350 yen, is made from minke whale meat taken by the "scientific whaling" programme run by the Japanese government.
Customers gave the sandwiches, which Ichihara serves only one day a month, good reviews. On one record day he sold 700.
The Japanese government is actually quite pleased since they consider eating whale a cultural heritage. I'm sure Greenpeace members heads are exploding all over upon hearing this news.
Japan stopped commercial whaling in 1986 in line with an international moratorium but began what it calls "scientific whaling" a year later, arguing that endangered species need protection but others, such as the minke, are numerous enough for limited hunting.
"I think we could whale more, because the number of whales has now increased to the extent that they are damaging the ecosystem by eating too much fish," Matsunaga added.
Which actually raises an interesting point. How much damage does a greatly increased whale population do to commercial fisheries? Is there a point where whaling should be allowed? I don't know the answer to those questions.
By the way, there really aren't any McMoby burgers coming. That was a joke. Although it would be funny to ask for one next time you're in McDonald's.
Weird Stuff, World news | Gaius Friday, 16 June , 2006
Other Links to this Post
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Blue Crab Boulevard » Blog Archive » McMoby Burgers — Monday, 19 June , 2006 @ 9:23 pm
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Blue Crab Boulevard » Blog Archive » McMoby Burgers UPDATE! — Tuesday, 17 October , 2006 @ 1:04 pm
By Black Jack, Friday, 16 June , 2006 @ 12:07 pm
Contrary to Matsunaga, I’m not sure whales actually eat all that many fish. It’s more likely those pesky dolphins are gobbling up more than their share, seals too, and then there’s all those ravenous penguins….
Hummm, I’m getting hungry. Does Penguin Linguine with braised Sea Scallops, Sun Dried Tiger Shrimp, assorted Sea Weed salad, and fresh baked Pugliese bread sound about right, or what?
By Gaius, Friday, 16 June , 2006 @ 12:19 pm
Penguin liguine?
By Blackhawk, Friday, 16 June , 2006 @ 10:36 pm
Keep an eye on those penguins. If they’re smart enough to hang with Big Al, they probably figger’d out automatic weapons…
Just sayin….oh, and P’guin Pasta is A-O-Tay in my book…
By Gaius, Friday, 16 June , 2006 @ 10:43 pm
I heard penduins are very greasy. Like duck only a lot more. If you light one they burn for a week.
By Black Jack, Saturday, 17 June , 2006 @ 2:12 pm
I’ve seen pictures of a long ago abandoned penguin press which was used to produce oil for the home lighting market. Penguin oil was used like whale oil before electricity came along and ruined the trade.
By Gaius, Saturday, 17 June , 2006 @ 2:15 pm
See, I told you they were greasy!