Would You Eat Seal?

on July 2, 2009 at 7:38 AM

would you eat seal meat Guess which cuddly sea creature is on the menu at several restaurants in Canada?

Seal. Seal appetizers, seal entrees, seal pepperoni, seal roasted in the oven with cranberry sauce. Seal.

Apparently, it's delicious, tasting similar to beef tenderloin. If only it weren't so controversial...

Canada is one of the only countries in the world that allows commerical seal hunting. (The U.S. banned the practice in 1972.) Animal rights groups have protested Canada's annual commercial seal hunt, which allows fishermen to kill about 280,000 seals from a herd of 5.6 million. And Europe has banned the import of Canadian seal.

Despite the controversy, some restaurants continue to serve it because of customers' requests. Ordinarily, I'd try anything. But I might have to draw the line here.

Would you eat seal?

About the author Kim Conte

has shoes that make people stop her on the street and ask "Where did you get those?" but it doesn't work for taxi cabs as she was hit by one ... and lived to tell the tale. She has more freckles than Lohan but way less attitude. And she's a fierce cook with tons of recipes to share -- and wishes she could share some with Bourdain.

Filed Under: food, trends

Comments (6)

Cafe MicheleZ

on Jul 2, 2009 at 10:45 AM

Nope. But I am not an adventurous eater. I watched Top Chef Masters and they had to cook with tongue, heart, tripe, and pig ears and I almost tossed my cookies!

I can't even eat eel without imagining it swimming around. I would think I would feel the same way about seal.

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aurorabunny

on Jul 2, 2009 at 12:05 PM

Jeebus NO.

LuminousMom

on Jul 2, 2009 at 2:15 PM

No way... considering the way Canada treats seals, however (savagely clubbing them over the head to skin them on the ice and leave their carcasses behind)... I'm not surprised.