Stinkheads

JayT

JayT

Hey TB, you ever have these? I heard about them this week and they sound disgusting.

Stinkheads (tepa), fermented salmon heads, are a traditional food of the Yup'ik peoples in southwest Alaska. A customary way of preparing them was to place salmon heads and salmon guts in a wooden barrel, cover it with burlap, and bury it in the ground for about a week. For a short while in modern times, plastic bags and buckets replaced the barrel, however this increased the risk of botulism. Presently, Yupik Eskimos typically ferment fishheads directly in the ground rather than in plastic to avoid the risk of botulism associated with the fermentation of animal products in plastic containers.
 
That's kind of what I thought. I am waiting to hear from TB or some other Alaskan or Canadian that has seen this first hand.
 
yep. Natives in western Alaska dig on 'em. Slightly toxic but they handle it. White people can't. They also do a fermented beaver tail. The stinky heads and beave tail kill a few every year. Gawd' awful nasty stuff. My buddy Herman Nelson, the chief in Koliganek, uses everything on the moose when he kills eat. Even eats the nose....but as he says....you have to boil the snot out of it.

Salute', TB.
 
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