Bidarki......or.......Malarkey

This post is not for the weak at heart or weak stomached!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was taken on another adventure last Sunday by a Native woman rich in Alaskan culture, heritage and knowledge. Sherry is from near Illiama and is working with me for a little more than a month. She has enlightened me about traditional culture and accepted my constant questions and not disregarded me as some curious white girl on a mission. She laughs openly at my naivety and probably internally at my gullibility. Like I'm sure she did when she took me bidarki picking Sunday morning.

Bidarki is the Native Indian name for a chiton found on rocky shores in the Aleutian Islands. These chitons are also known as Gumboot chiton...to me they were like slugs on the half shell.

Sorry Sherry, nothing personal.

To pick bidarki, you have to pull the seaweed back off rocks and use a tool or sharp object and pry them loose, drop them in a bag. Sounds easy enough doesn't it? Well it wasn't quite that simple....especially since I don't even touch anything slimey and had to wear work gloves to even touch the seaweed part. And of course we both forgot a knife so we ended up using a tire iron and a long sharp screw to do the dirty work. Even though my gloves got soaked within minutes, I am proud to say I did not touch one bit of slime the whole time!!All was going well and we were picking away and then all of a sudden Sherry picked one up and ate it RAW RIGHT THERE ON THE BEACH!!!

Sushi at it's finest!!! I said NO THANK YOU, I will take mine paid for and wrapped in fake seaweed, dipped in soy sauce and wasabli please!!

When we got back to my place, I found a recipe on line to cook them that came with a warning: If you are not Native Alaskan, do not attempt to pick or cook these as they may have Red Tide....a respiratory paralyzing toxin that can kill you before dessert is even served.

Okay, so there wasn't any Red Tide warnings out at this time, so after cleaning and blanching them, I got brave and tried a tiny, tiny, sliver raw...I chewed once and swallowed and it tasted a whole lot like a rubber band..I also noted the time on the kitchen clock hoping I would feel my lips go numb before I was to die of respiratory paralysis.

Obviously my fears were short lived because here it is Saturday and I've had dessert every day since then....

Anyway, I sauteed them in garlic and butter and they were so tough, I ended up sucking the butter off and spitting them out....not even the dog would eat them...

Oh well, another Alaska adventure served up on a platter....bidarki or a whole lot of malarkey!