Seal oil with cracklings — crunchy seal fat — reminds Joe Nelson of early fall mornings growing up in Yakutat.<\/p>\n
Nelson, Board Chair of Sealaska Corporation, was a judge in the Celebration 2018 Food Contest held at Centennial Hall Thursday afternoon. Nelson said he did not know he was going to be asked to be a judge in the contest but was happy it turned out that way.<\/p>\n
“It is a great privilege to me,” Nelson said of his first experience as a judge at the event. “We would have the seal oil with cracklings, which I always call ‘bubblegum,’ in the morning before going fishing. It would keep us warm and give us energy for the day.”<\/p>\n
Along with the seal oil with cracklings, the judges also judged seal oil without cracklings and black seaweed. Judge Barbara Cadiente-Nelson said while some preferences may differ, finding the top choice in those categories had a lot to do with texture.<\/p>\n
“For the seal oil, you want to have the crackling really crunchy,” Cadiente-Nelson said. “Some of us like our seaweed chewier and some of us like it to dissolve in our mouth, but freshness was critical.”<\/p>\n
Cadiente-Nelson said when the judges, who tasted the food Thursday morning before the contest, were sampling the entries, she heard fellow judge Jodi Mitchell’s bite of seaweed. That snapping sound intrigued her.<\/p>\n
“I asked her what number that one was,” Cadiente-Nelson said.<\/p>\n
Donald Bolton, of Metlakatla, won the black seaweed and seal oil with crackling competitions. He also finished third in the seal oil without cracklings. RaCean Fredrickson, of Angoon, took home first in the seal oil without cracklings competition. None of the winners were available for comment at the event.<\/p>\n
Before the winners were announced, Rosita Worl, President of Sealaska Heritage Institute, spoke about the importance of the traditional foods.<\/p>\n
“We do know that subsistence really is the basis of our culture,” Worl said. “Whenever we use the land, we know that we are obligated to share the food with one another. It is that sharing of our food and resources that really bind us together as Native people.”<\/p>\n