Fried whaleburger woos young
Japanese customersBy Takanori
Isshiki
Fri Jun 16, 8:22 AM ET
TOKYO (Reuters) - To woo young customers more fond of burgers than
traditional whale cuisine, a Japanese restaurant has come up with a
new taste sensation: the fried whaleburger.
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.
"I thought whale meat was too tough to eat, but actually it's
tender and very delicious," said Yuko Takahashi, 25, as she bit
into a whaleburger.
Juichi Matsunaga, 38, chowed down on a whale cutlet and whale hot
dog, which he also pronounced delicious.
The praise is music to the ears of Japanese policymakers, who say
that eating whale is a treasured cultural tradition but find demand
low among young consumers, many of whom have few chances to try the
usually pricey delicacy.
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.
($1=114.69 Yen)
Taken from:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060616/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_life_japan_whale;_ylt=Am42ErZd.y75vuM1TFEF.P_tiBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTA0cDJlYmhvBHNlYwM-
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