Something Else Saturday - That Tastes Like Crap!

Ambergris is a hard, waxy, inflammable material. It is dark gray or black I color. It is created in the digestive system and, simply put, the excrement of sperm whales. Wikipedia states that freshly produced ambergris has a marine, fecal odor. As it ages, the substance takes on a sweet, earthy scent not unlike rubbing alcohol – but without the fumes and chemical acidity.

And it's one of the most sought-after whale-related substances in the world today. According to a Bloomberg Business Week article about ambergris, it sells for $20 per gram - just ten dollars per gram less than gold. Moby-Dick author Herman Melville described it as, "an essence found in the inglorious bowels of a sick whale." He went on to say that it was, "largely used in perfumery, in pastiles, precious candles, hair powders, and pomatum."

AMBERGRIS
Throughout history it's always been the big poo.

It’s completely true. Ambergris is the only "crap" that throughout history has been used as an ingredient for perfumes, cocktails, medicines, and sherbets. Someone told Casanova that it was an aphrodisiac and he added it to chocolate mousse. (Okay, if I weren’t allergic to chocolate mousse and someone else was buying, I’d probably try that last one, if I had enough drinks in me first.)

Ambergris has plenty of modern-day uses, primarily in Europe and Asia. "In 2005, a 200-year-old fragrance originally made for Marine Antoinette, which featured ambergris as a main ingredient, was reproduced in limited quantities for $11,000 per bottle," the Bloomberg article claims. It also remarks that ambergris was used by Andrew Stellitano, a UK food designer, to create a mince pie that sold for $4,700. Here are some other tasty uses for ambergris, according to a recent Smithsonian Magazine article about ambergris:

•           Tonic of chocolate, sugar, and ambergris
•           Pastries that included melted butter, ambergris, and roasted game
•           Folded into eggs, as tried by molecular biologist Christopher Kemp

Kemp claims that ambergris has an unmistakable smell that fills his sinuses. “The smell reminds me of leaf litter on a forest floor and of the delicate, frilly undersides of mushrooms that grow in damp and shaded places.” Right now in the United States it’s illegal to possess ambergris or any other part of a whale, much less cook with it (Thanks, Marine Mammal Protection Act!) which is good. I agree with my husband whose initial concern was for the whales being slaughtered for their much-desired ambergris, "If you've gone through your whole life without eating what crap, it's probably not something you're missing out on." I have eaten a few things in my lifetime that even not-picky eaters would consider adventurous, but whale excrement? No thanks!