Sunday, August 28, 2005
The Puffin - A Tasty Snack.
In a recent post I linked to a story about the island of St. Kilda. Elizabeth over at Tropical Blues commented, surprised that long ago when the island was populated, the residents ate puffins.
In fact, puffins were regarded merely as a snack. The fulmar and the gannet were also an important part of the islanders diet, along with barley, oats, fish, and the eggs of seabirds.
There were no shops, let alone supermarkets, and supplies from the mainland were dependent on weather conditions, which could be fierce. And puffins were not regarded as a protected species as they are now.
The last of the St. Kildians finally left in 1930, demoralised and unhappy with the isolation they endured.
Even today, the men of Ness, on Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, sail to Sula Sgeir to cull the Guga - baby gannet - which is regarded nowadays as a delicacy by them. Less than a hundred years ago it was essential to the islanders survival.
In fact, puffins were regarded merely as a snack. The fulmar and the gannet were also an important part of the islanders diet, along with barley, oats, fish, and the eggs of seabirds.
There were no shops, let alone supermarkets, and supplies from the mainland were dependent on weather conditions, which could be fierce. And puffins were not regarded as a protected species as they are now.
The last of the St. Kildians finally left in 1930, demoralised and unhappy with the isolation they endured.
Even today, the men of Ness, on Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, sail to Sula Sgeir to cull the Guga - baby gannet - which is regarded nowadays as a delicacy by them. Less than a hundred years ago it was essential to the islanders survival.
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Thank you for that little bit of culinary history. Very interesting. I'd have to be awfully hungry to eat a cute little puffin, though.
Culinary? Yuk. Downright fishy I should imagine, but the beaks would make fine dangly ear-rings :)
I watched puffins from the ship going to North Uist. Far out from land, they were bobbing on the huge waves, incredibly tiny and completely unconcerned at the huge, noisy bulk passing so close to them and throwing them about. Lovely wee things to see.
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I watched puffins from the ship going to North Uist. Far out from land, they were bobbing on the huge waves, incredibly tiny and completely unconcerned at the huge, noisy bulk passing so close to them and throwing them about. Lovely wee things to see.
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