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Shark’s fin soup remains on menus world-wide — but how good does it actually taste?

Whether it’s drowning a tiny ortolan in Armagnac, live-filleting fish for Japanese ikizukuri or dunking shrimps in alcohol before eating them alive for Shanghainese zui xia, the history of food is peppered with acts of cruelty. The idea of eating something esoteric or exotic has titillated diners since the beginnings of gastronomy – but are these delicacies really all about taste?

How skillfully does a bird need to be drowned to make crunching its bones and sucking its innards more delicious? Does watching a dying fish’s last throes make sashimi more succulent? Mankind has seen animals slaughtered, stuffed and mounted for sport, but we’re just as likely to find these trophies at the end of a fork or a pair of chopsticks. This kind of gourmet gore may have been more acceptable during society’s more brutal periods, but today many modern sensibilities abhor such practices.

In Asia, a region notorious for its indifference to the plight of conquered species, the tide may be turning. China has declared that shark’s fin will be off the menu at official state functions, and South Korea’s recent saber-rattling on whaling lasted little more than a week before it was shouted down in condemnation, both foreign and domestic.

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Whale sashimi: reminiscent of rancid beef?

These are volatile issues. The live finning of sharks is a sickening practice that sees sharks stripped of their fins and their writhing torsos tossed overboard to slowly sink and drown. “Scientific” whaling – where whale meat is often used for food – is divisive enough for its opponents to fleet their own navy in an undeclared war. But why are these so-called delicacies so prized in the first place? 

I was once served whale meat at a banquet. I didn’t know what I was eating at the time, but I would describe its taste as reminiscent of beef that’s been rancid for a week. Shark’s fin, on the other hand, has almost no flavor at all. It’s coveted in part for its gelatinous texture, but mostly for the idea that the diner is eating something that might have turned the tables if they had met under different circumstances.

I’ve always thought that groups like Sea Shepherd could go further toward achieving their goals by reminding younger people — from Japan to Norway — that whale meat simply tastes awful. Similarly, the campaign against shark’s fin would do well to question why anyone would bother to eat something so tasteless in the first place, let alone brag about it.

Greenpeace has reported a dramatic drop in Japan’s domestic consumption of whale meat from as early as the 1960s, with 95% of Japanese in 2006 saying that they rarely or never eat it. If consumption continues to decline, Japan’s scientist-whalers would have little reason to sample-harvest data-food that nobody has any interest in research-eating.

These are foods that straddle a blurry line between delicacy and absurdity. The very idea of an edible delicacy as being something rarefied and uncommon is fairly at odds with the concepts of sustainability and ethical eating. Isn’t it time we abandoned the belief that something rare, dangerous or expensive must be inherently delicious? And with that fraud exposed, what would compel us to eat those things other than our own fragile egos?

Of course, ethical eating is a matter of perspective. Most of us greedily gobble natural oysters while they are alive, and would rage against any ban on eating them just so. It’s a shame for those delicious molluscs that they never evolved little blinky eyes with which to plead for mercy. As a species, we humans are far most likely to champion the wellbeing of animals we can readily anthropomorphize.

However, with oysters and many other foods, the sensations of taste remain king. For better or worse, the feeling of a fat oyster slipping down our throats can distract us sufficiently from wondering whether or not they feel pain, just as the melting decadence of foie gras – for which I must confess a weakness – may romance some to the point of indifference to the perceived brutality of gavage.

But the fishy, bloody stench of whale meat? Bland, gooey strips from a mutilated shark? There’s no accounting for personal preference, but I find it hard to imagine that these are really flavors we crave.

One of the central tenets of the natural world is that a plant or animal species may avoid being eaten just by tasting terrible, but nature never bargained on man’s insatiable desire to show off in front of his friends. Let’s let our food choices be informed by what’s good, right and delicious to eat — and let’s save the bravado for deciding who picks up the bill.

Around the Table is Adam Liaw’s column for Scene on Asian food and culture. 

Adam is a cook, author, television presenter and winner of MasterChef Australia 2010. He has lived, worked and eaten around the world, including Australia, Malaysia, China, India and most recently, spent seven years in Tokyo, Japan. He is perpetually hungry.  

Follow Adam Liaw on Twitter @AdamLiaw