Mattak and Marine Mammal Foodways

Mattak

Specialised

MATTAK — whale skin with the adhering blubber, from narwhal or beluga, eaten raw in cubes — is the best-known Greenlandic food and a genuine nutritional one: it is a rich source of VITAMIN C in a country where plants barely grow, which is a large part of why the traditional diet prevented scurvy without vegetables. Seal and whale meat boiled, dried, frozen raw or aged; rendered blubber as fat and fuel. ⚠ A traditional diet, recorded as such — and see the safety note on contaminant load.