Igunaq Deer Meat in Chukotka, Russia

One of the most frightening and disgusting dishes in the world is igunaq. That’s meat of a rotting deer, seal or walrus. This kind of meat dish is widespread in some ethnic groups living in northern Russia: Khanty, Inuit, Nenets, Chukchi, and Nganasan. The method of cooking of this food is quite time consuming and requires special skills.

First, the northern residents catch a deer or a walrus, and then keep it without food for several days, to clean the intestines of the animal. Only healthy animals are caught to cook igunaq. After a few days of fasting, animal is strangled without damaging the skin. After that, a whole carcass is plunged into a swamp, abundantly filled up with peat, stones, and twigs. Then, it stays there forgotten for a few months. At the end of 70 - 100 days, the animal is removed from the swamp, cut up, and eaten.

The way of half-decayed meat consumption is not less exotic than the method of cooking. The frozen rotten meat is cut into thin slices and rolled into a tube, and then dipped in salt and eaten. The most popular addition to igunaq are raw lungs of a just butchered deer. The disgusting meat dish is very popular among some northern nations. However, it is considered the most dangerous treat in the world. Even the smallest piece of meat can cause a fatal departure. The native inhabitants of the north have long got an immunity to this rigor poison. Even local children eat igunaq without any fear. To the beginning - Boiled Bat in Lutukina Restaurants