a seal story

The following tale contains very graphic pictures of a seal being butchered- 

fair warning...

Our neighbor Howie is originally from a village called Emmonak, which is also along the Yukon River, but much closer to the Bering Sea than we are.  In Emmonak they are able to hunt seal as well as moose.  Since he is here, where there are no seals, he had his son send him two seals so he could share some with the villagers here in Marshall.

He got the large one you see in these pictures, as well as a smaller one.  He asked for Josh's help carrying the seal from the rail into the house. Josh said it looked like it would be light, and easy to carry, but that was deceiving, as it was very, very heavy.

Once they got it in the house, they placed it on the living room floor on some cardboard that had been laid out for the purpose of butchering it.

Howie laid down next to the seal to show just how big it was. 

They were gracious enough to let us come, take pictures and experience watching a seal get butchered.  After seeing pictures of Josh catching the moose and then eating it in our kitchen, the boys are well aware that our meat comes from real animals that were once in the wild.  Logan especially will ask me what animal his meat came from. (Like when he is eating bacon or hamburger)

They thought the seal was really cool. Especially his flippers and his whiskers.

What constantly amazes me about the hunting that takes place in the village is how every part of the animal is used.  This is also true of seals.  They use everything except the face.  The heart, liver and kidneys are especially delicious, and the fur is very soft.  They even use the fat, cut into slices and pictured above, to extract an oil that is used as a side dish, somewhat like ranch, that they will dip veggies in.  Audrey assured me that when it finishes collecting she will let me try it.

That night, after watching Howie butcher the seal (which is back breaking and exhaustive work) Audrey cooked some up and shared with us.  I was surprised by how good it was. It was so soft and tender, like a perfect steak, but was a bit oily, so I was careful not to eat too much.
---
In return for their generosity, I baked some bread last weekend to share with them.
I was asked to share my bread recipe (which is actually my mother-in-law's), so I will attach it here:

CUNNINGHAM HOMEMADE BREAD

INGREDIENTS:
5 tbsp yeast, 1/2 cup water, 1 tbsp sugar
Egg
5-7 lbs. flour
2 quarts water
1/2 cup sugar
4 tbsp butter
1 1/2 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350

Melt a stick of real butter in a frying pan on the stove top.
Put the 5 tbsp yeast, 1/2 cup warm water & 1 tbsp sugar in a large mug.
Stir well, and allow to rise on the stove top.

Put 2 quarts of WARM water, 1/2 cup sugar, an egg, 4 tbsp of melted butter from stove top, and 1 1/2 tsp of salt into a HUGE mixing bowl.  Then put the yeast from the mug into the bowl and stir until it is fully dissolved.

Start adding flour. Stir with wooden spoon until you cannot stir any longer with the spoon.  Keep adding flour and mixing with your hands (rubbed in butter to reduce sticking) until the dough is no longer sticky.

Place the dough on top of the stove, covered with a hand towel until it doubles in size. This usually takes an hour.

After the dough rises, punch the dough down for about five to ten minutes.

Once you are finished kneading the dough, place the dough into bread pans/muffin pans.  Let the dough rise in those pans (again covered with a hand towel) for about a half hour, or until desired size is reached, on the stove top.

Bread loaves bake for 45 minutes.
Rolls bake for 30 minutes.

Once they are out of the oven, use the left over butter in the frying pan to coat the tops of the bread and rolls with butter.

Enjoy!
~