Phoeca groenlandica piece of meat upernavik 2007-06-26

Greenlandic cuisine is traditionally based on meat from marine mammals, birds, and fish, and normally contains high levels of protein. Since colonization and the arrival of international trade, the cuisine has been increasingly influenced by Danish,

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

, American and

Canadian cuisine Canadian cuisine consists of the cooking traditions and practices of Canada, with regional variances around the country. First Nations and Inuit have practiced their own culinary traditions in what is now Canada since time immemorial. The adve ...

."Greenlandic cuisine."
''Official Greenland Tourism Guide.'' (retrieved 30 Oct 2010) During the summer when the weather is milder, meals are often eaten outdoors."Traditional Greenlandic food."
''Official Greenland Tourism Guide.'' (retrieved 30 Oct 2010)

National dish

The national dish of

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

is '' suaasat'', a traditional Greenlandic soup. It is often made from seal, or from whale, reindeer, or seabirds. The soup often includes onions and potatoes, and is simply seasoned with salt and pepper, or bay leaf. The soup is often thickened with rice, or by soaking barley in the water overnight so that the starches leach into the water. It is also a traditional

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

food.

Seafood

Because the majority of Greenland is covered by permanent glaciers, the sea is the source for most food.Kleivan, "Greenland Eskimo," 522 Seafood dishes include various fishes (often smoked),

mussels Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which ...

, and shrimp. ''Ammassat'' or

capelin The capelin or caplin (''Mallotus villosus'') is a small forage fish of the smelt family found in the North Atlantic, North Pacific and Arctic oceans. In summer, it grazes on dense swarms of plankton at the edge of the ice shelf. Larger capelin ...

is commonly eaten and can easily be dried. Atlantic halibut,

redfish Redfish is a common name for several species of fish. It is most commonly applied to certain deep-sea rockfish in the genus ''Sebastes'', red drum from the genus '' Sciaenops'' or the reef dwelling snappers in the genus '' Lutjanus''. It is also a ...

, deepwater redfish,

Greenland halibut The Greenland halibut or Greenland turbot (''Reinhardtius hippoglossoides'') belongs to the family Pleuronectidae (the right-eye flounders), and is the only species of the genus ''Reinhardtius''. It is a predatory fish that mostly ranges at dept ...

, and lumpfish are fished from the west coast, as are

Greenland cod The Greenland cod (''Gadus ogac''), commonly known also as ogac, is a species of ray-finned fish in the cod family, Gadidae. Genetic analysis has shown that it may be the same species as the Pacific cod (''Gadus macrocephalus''). It is a bottom-dw ...

(''Gadus ogac'') and

shorthorn sculpin ''Myoxocephalus scorpius'', typically known as the shorthorn sculpin or bull-rout, is a species of fish in the family Cottidae. It is a demersal species of the Northern Atlantic and adjacent subarctic and Arctic seas.

(''Myoxocephalus scorpius''), but these two are eaten only as a last resort.Kleivan, "West Greenland," 608

Arctic char The Arctic char or Arctic charr (''Salvelinus alpinus'') is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae, native to alpine lakes and arctic and subarctic coastal waters. Its distribution is Circumpolar North. It spawns in freshwater and populat ...

is fished off the east coast. The

Greenland shark The Greenland shark (''Somniosus microcephalus''), also known as the gurry shark, grey shark, or by the Kalaallisut name ''eqalussuaq'', is a large shark of the family Somniosidae ("sleeper sharks"), closely related to the Pacific and souther ...

(''Somniosus microcephalus'') is rarely eaten because it is poisonous but can be edible after a complicated preparationPetersen 631 of either boiling the meat repeatedly or fermenting the meat.

Global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

has shifted the migration of

Atlantic cod The Atlantic cod (''Gadus morhua'') is a benthopelagic fish of the family Gadidae, widely consumed by humans. It is also commercially known as cod or codling.Kleivan, "Greenland Eskimo," 523 There are a couple of large-scale fish and shrimp processing factories in Greenland. Sea mammals provide important staples to Greenlandic diets. A traditional

specialty is '' mattak'', a Greenlandic term for the raw hide of narwhal or

white whale The beluga whale () (''Delphinapterus leucas'') is an Arctic and sub-Arctic cetacean. It is one of two members of the family Monodontidae, along with the narwhal, and the only member of the genus ''Delphinapterus''. It is also known as the wh ...

. ''Mattak'' can be prepared with blubber, and occasionally dried reindeer meat. When eaten raw, ''mattak'' is an important source of

vitamin C Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits and vegetables, also sold as a dietary supplement and as a topical 'serum' ingredient to treat melasma (dark pigment spots) ...

. Hunting hooded seals were traditionally an important annual social event as well as subsistence activity, which included men, women, and children. Also popular is ''arfivik'', or bowhead whale, smoked whale meat served with onions and potato. Dried cod and whale with

whale blubber Blubber is a thick layer of vascularized adipose tissue under the skin of all cetaceans, pinnipeds, penguins, and sirenians. Description Lipid-rich, collagen fiber-laced blubber comprises the hypodermis and covers the whole body, except for ...

is a popular lunch and snack food. Bearded and

ringed seal The ringed seal (''Pusa hispida'') is an earless seal inhabiting the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. The ringed seal is a relatively small seal, rarely greater than 1.5 m in length, with a distinctive patterning of dark spots surrounded by light ...

s are hunted year round, especially by Polar Inuit, while narwhals and white whales are hunted during the summer.Gilberg 582 Subsistence whale hunting by indigenous peoples is legal, but some animal rights organizations are concerned about commercial whale hunting in Greenland, with one company, Arctic Green Food freezing and distributing a quarter of Greenland's whale meat.

Meat

Land-based dishes include caribou,

lamb Lamb or The Lamb may refer to: * A young sheep * Lamb and mutton, the meat of sheep Arts and media Film, television, and theatre * ''The Lamb'' (1915 film), a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in his screen debut * ''The Lamb'' (1918 ...

, mutton, and musk-ox, which can be served tartare."Extreme Eating in Greenland."
''creators.com'' (retrieved 10 Mar 2015) Sheep farming and cattle ranching were introduced to Greenland by the Norse. Caribou are hunted in the fall, foxes and hares year round, musk-oxen in the spring, and polar bear are hunted in the spring and fall. Meats can be boiled, dried, frozen, fermented, or occasionally eaten raw. Caribou livers are consumed raw, immediately after the hunt.

Birds

There are 21 species of birds that legally can be hunted in Greenland, although there are various restrictions (region, period, numbers or method) for several of them. Spring to fall is the primary season for hunting birds. Among others, the Greenlandic Inuit hunt dovekie, common and

king eider The king eider (pronounced ) (''Somateria spectabilis'') is a large sea duck that breeds along Northern Hemisphere Arctic coasts of northeast Europe, North America and Asia. The birds spend most of the year in coastal marine ecosystems at high la ...

ptarmigan ''Lagopus'' is a small genus of birds in the grouse subfamily commonly known as ptarmigans (). The genus contains three living species with numerous described subspecies, all living in tundra or cold upland areas. Taxonomy and etymology The ge ...

, thick-billed murre, and a variety of sea gulls. Additionally,

kittiwake The kittiwakes (genus ''Rissa'') are two closely related seabird species in the gull family Laridae, the black-legged kittiwake (''Rissa tridactyla'') and the red-legged kittiwake (''Rissa brevirostris''). The epithets "black-legged" and "red-l ...

and ptarmigan are hunted on the east coast. Sometimes wild eggs are gathered by hunters.

Plants

Blueberries and crowberries (''Empetrum nigrum''), harvested in the autumn, often garnish cakes and other desserts. Berry compotes accompany meat dishes. Seaweed is stored as a reserve food for winter. During the summer, roseroot ('' Sedum rosea''),

fireweed ''Chamaenerion angustifolium'' is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the willowherb family Onagraceae. It is known in North America as fireweed, in some parts of Canada as great willowherb, in Britain and Ireland as rosebay willowherb. ...

(''

Epilobium ''Epilobium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Onagraceae, containing about 197 species. The genus has a worldwide distribution. It is most prevalent in the subarctic, temperate and subantarctic regions, whereas in the subtropics an ...

'') leaves, and Greenland lousewort (''Pedicularis groenlandica'') are gathered. Green vegetables are scarce but global climate change has slightly extended the growing season, so Greenlandic farmers are experimenting with new crops, such as broccoli. Rice and potatoes are common starches in meals. Onions are commonly found in meals.

Beverages

Greenlandic coffee is a popular after-dinner drink. It typically features hot coffee, whiskey,

Kahlúa Kahlúa () is a brand of coffee liqueur owned by the Pernod Ricard company and produced in Veracruz, Mexico. The drink contains rum, sugar, and arabica coffee. History Pedro Domecq began producing Kahlúa in 1936. It was named Kahlúa, mean ...

Grand Marnier Grand Marnier () is a French brand of liqueurs. The brand's best-known product is Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge, an orange-flavored liqueur created in 1880 by Alexandre Marnier-Lapostolle. It is made from a blend of Cognac brandy, distilled esse ...

, and whipped cream. Served in a bordeaux glass, the coffee is set on fire before drinking. Ice beer, that features 2000-year-old natural Arctic ice harvested from glaciers, was pioneered by the Greenland Brewhouse in

Narsaq Narsaq is a town in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland. The name ''Narsaq'' is Kalaallisut for "Plain", referring to the shore of Tunulliarfik Fjord where the town is located. History People have lived in the area for thousands o ...

. Currently, the Godthaab Bryghus, in

Nuuk Nuuk (; da, Nuuk, formerly ) is the capital and largest city of Greenland, a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark. Nuuk is the seat of government and the country's largest cultural and economic centre. The major cities from other coun ...

, and Icefiord Bryghus, in Ilulissat,"Icefiord Bryggeri: Øltper."
''Hotel Icefiord.'' (retrieved 30 Oct 2010) brew with glacial water. Both crowberries and angelica are brewed into ales at the Icefiord Brewery. Until 1954, alcohol sales were heavily restricted in Greenland, so

homebrewing Homebrewing is the brewing of beer or other alcoholic beverages on a small scale for personal, non-commercial purposes. Supplies, such as kits and fermentation tanks, can be purchased locally at specialty stores or online. Beer was brewed dom ...

is widely popular.Kleivan, "West Greenland," 609

Markets

Vegetables and fruit section Pilersuisoq upernavik 2007-06-26

Animal foods comprised most of the Greenland Inuit diet until around 1980 (and still do today in some regions), but grocery stores now provide coffee, tea, biscuits, potato chips, and other foods. Depending on location, the diversity of fresh fruit and vegetables varies greatly during the year. In the capital

, the diversity is considerably higher and more consistent year-round than in smaller, more isolated places further north. In more isolated regions, supplies depend on ice cover and can typically be delivered by ship during the summer (approximately May through November, but varies depending on exact location) where the diversity is mostly better than in the winter period, where vegetables and fruit only can be delivered by plane.

References

Sources

* Gilberg, Rolf. "Polar Eskimo." David Damas, volume ed. ''Handbook of North American Indians: Volume 5, Arctic.'' Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1984: 577–594. . * Kleivan, Helge. "Greenland Eskimo: Introduction." David Damas, volume ed. ''Handbook of North American Indians: Volume 5, Arctic.'' Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1984: 522–527. . * Kleivan, Helge. "West Greenland Before 1950." David Damas, volume ed. ''Handbook of North American Indians: Volume 5, Arctic.'' Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1984: 595–621. . * Petersen, Robert. "East Greenland Before 1950. David Damas, volume ed. ''Handbook of North American Indians: Volume 5, Arctic.'' Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1984: 622–639. . {{Authority control Indigenous cuisine of the Americas * North American cuisine Arctic cuisine