Editor-in-chief of the website Hiiu Leht Raul Vinni said the idea to cook with cormorants has been in his head for a long time. Islanders in the Åland archipelago already do so.

At first, Mihkel Heinmets, chef at iiUmekk restaurant on the island of Hiiumaa, did not take the idea seriously. But now he's pleased Vinni suggested it to him: "Actually, it is a highly valuable bird — it is very tasty."

Heinmets said the cormorant has a very specific smell. "The first time, I was a bit startled myself, but now I'm used to it," the chef told Ringvaade.

There is a large colony of seabirds on Hiiumaa – and they eat a lot of fish.

"There is a national control plan in place, so there must be a lot of them. When we go to Hiiumaa, to Orjaku in Käina Bay, and look at the islets where they live, it is quite a disturbing sight," Vinni said. "The first time we ate them, the hunter who brought us eight cormorants said that thanks to this, one and a half tons of fish stayed in the sea that year."

"It's like any other meat, nothing special," said Heinmets but it has a strong red color. "It might take a bit longer to cook if you're making a stew, but the fillet cooks about as quickly as duck."

The chef prepared several dishes for presenter Marko Reikop to try on the show.

First, Reikop tried a cormorant fillet. "It is like wild game bird meat; there is a lot of flavor here. It is completely edible and not tough at all," he described, adding the taste does take some getting used to.

"It feels like duck, but a more intense version — like a duck that has lived a wilder life," he said.

Next up was a pate made from liver and heart. "It is excellent, very delicate. You can definitely tell it is a pate made from bird meat," the presenter said.

The host also enjoyed cured meat, saying it had "a very neutral, easily palatable flavor."

Vinni there are only three slaughterhouses in Estonia that have a license to handle small game. "Mihkel is now trying to find a way to get it on the menu," he added.

Cormorants have been "called fish thieves, riverbank wreckers and alien invaders," the New Scientists reported, while asking if it was "the world's most hated bird?" They also stand accused of killing trees with their droppings. However, some conservationists argue their bad reputation is not deserved.

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