Just a question: why don’t we actually eat penguins?
From chicken nuggets and ostrich steak to goose, pigeon and pheasant: eating birds is completely normal. But has anyone ever sunk their teeth into a penguin? Why is penguin never on the menu?
No one walks through the zoo licking their lips, and when you see penguins waddling around, your thoughts don’t automatically turn to a good penguin steak on the barbecue or a cosy penguin stew with baguette. It’s actually rather strange, because why do we eat some animals and not others? Penguins probably aren’t on the menu because they happen to live all the way at the South Pole. Few people nearby, let alone an Antarctic restaurant chef looking for inspiration in the area.
Scrambled penguin eggs
Penguin eggs were eaten in South Africa, where penguins are also found. They were a delicacy, but nowadays collecting them is forbidden. World travellers who mapped the South Pole also ate penguin eggs. They keep longer than chicken eggs and are packed with protein. What’s striking is that the yolk, more orange and darker in colour than a chicken egg, always remains slightly runny. That’s why experts say penguin eggs are best as scrambled eggs. But don’t do it, because as mentioned: eating them is forbidden.
Steak with cod-liver oil
Eating penguins themselves is also forbidden; in 2000, a law was drawn up prohibiting the hunting and eating of penguins. It turns out we aren’t missing much, according to the diary of a Belgian naval doctor from 1898. He compares penguin meat to firm steak, with a fishy smell and an aftertaste of cod-liver oil. According to Dr Philip G. Law, who led various expeditions to the Antarctic from Australia between 1949 and 1966, when preparing penguin—as well as seal and seagull—you need to make sure you clean the meat thoroughly. ‘Remove every trace of the blubber, the insulating layer of fat. Otherwise the meat tastes extremely fishy. Because penguins use their wings and chest muscles for swimming, the breast meat is the best to eat. In terms of texture, it resembles ox heart. My favourite is thinly sliced penguin breast, breaded like a Wiener schnitzel.’
