Kiviak

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Kiviak is a traditional Greenland Inuit winter food. It is made from little auks, small seabirds. Up to about 500 whole birds are packed into a seal skin. The air is removed and the skin is sealed with seal fat to keep flies out. The seal skin is hidden under stones with a heavy rock on top to keep air out. Over about three months, the birds ferment. They are then eaten during the Arctic winter, often at birthdays and weddings. Making kiviak has long been a community activity in Inughuit culture.

The process was featured in BBC's Human Planet in 2011. Some stories say polar explorer Knud Rasmussen died from food poisoning linked to kiviak. In 2013, several deaths in Siorapaluk were linked to kiviak made from eider instead of auk; eider does not ferment as well, and botulism can occur.