"Grate reindeer tallow into small pieces. Add seal oil slowly while beating with hand.  Continue adding seal oil and water until white and fluffy."

That's the recipe for Eskimo ice cream, but you probably won’t find it on the daily board at Baskin-Robbins.  

I suspect the teenagers behind the counter eat it all themselves and don't save any for the customers.  But if you make up a batch at home you can add berries of your choice.

  Or you can: "Boil ling cod in a pot with water and no salt.  Remove all the bones from the fish and break into small pieces.  Dry the pieces for a while and mix these with the Eskimo ice cream."

The recipe originated with Augustine Tocktoo.  And if he doesn't know how to make ling cod ice cream, who does?

Tocktoo was one of the contributing authors to "The Eskimo Cookbook," which was a project of the kids at the Shishmaret Day School in Alaska.  

It was sent to me by somebody who probably suspected I needed a new formula for soured seal liver.  

It involves plunking a few hunks of seal liver in an enamel pot, covering with blubber and putting in a warm place for a few days, or until sour.

"Most of the boys and girls don't like it," offers contributor Agnes Kiyuteluk who adds, "I don't like it, either."

Well, there are different strokes for different folks as Alma Nayokpuk points out while offering her family's favorite.  
"Cook ptarmigan small intestines about five minutes in boiling water.  Old men and women always like to eat them.
For several years I wrote an "Intermediate Eater" food column for The Post-Intelligencer.  

I received review copies from cookbook publishers, and purchased a lot of other recipe collections.  

Recently, noting that our bookshelves were beginning to sag badly, we contributed about 150 cookbooks to Friends of the Edmonds Library. It will be a few months before they are placed on sale at the Anderson Center.  If you're lucky you may snag the lone copy of The Eskimo Cookbook.

Unless scouts from the local Baskin-Robbins arrive there first.