A giviak is an Inuit delicacy, made by stuffing a whole sealskin with whole raw auks, and letting it ferment underground.

First you need a dead seal with an undamaged hide. With your flensing knife, reach in through the seal's mouth and carefully separate the carcass from the skin and blubber. Pull the seal carcass out of the skin, through the mouth, without breaking the sealskin.

Then stuff the dead auks - feathers, feet, and all - into the sealskin. Sew up the mouth, and bury the bloated skin. During the summer months, the seal blubber on the inside liquifies, melting slowly into the dead birds. Fermentation occurs. Months later, dig it up.

Bring the giviak to a party. Guaranteed fun!

To eat one of the little birds from the giviak, hold it by its feet, and eat the feathers first by shucking them off with your teeth. Then crunch up the rest of the oily, delicious morsel -- bones included. The heart and the coagulated blood inside it are the best part, with a texture and taste reminiscent of the finest cheese -- according to Peter Freuchen in his book "My Life in the Frozen North".

Warning: In Inuit culture, refusing to eat what is offered you is very insulting to your hosts!


Thanks to [geeklizzard] for permission to quote this.