Exploring Greenland: Indigenous Heritage, Musk Ox Cuisine, and Fjord Adventures with Quark Expeditions

1. Introduction

On board the 199-passenger Ultramarine, one travel writer found an enriching education in Inuit traditions and flavors.

2. Culinary Experiences in the Arctic

During dinner, Peter Berthelsen described his first hunt, which took place when he was nine years old. Accompanied by his father and uncles, he walked six hours into the mountains above Sermilik Fjord, in eastern Greenland. “We saw a herd of musk oxen, and my father said to me, ‘If you catch one, you must carry it yourself,’” Berthelsen remembered. “So I aimed for one of the calves, which was still bigger than me. I saw the opportunity to shoot, and the calf fell. I hit the heart. I was so happy.”

Berthelsen and fellow Greenlandic Inuit chef Miki Siegstad had cooked a special dinner on board the 199-passenger expedition ship Ultramarine, and I was one of the lucky few to enjoy it. When Berthelsen came by the table, we’d just savored a dish of surprisingly tender musk ox in cream sauce. However, we didn’t just taste it; thanks to the chefs, who sat down with us for an intimate chat between courses, we connected with the culture that had brought this locally harvested meat to our plates.

3. Indigenous Food and Cultural Insights

Icebergs; endless tundra; the chance to see polar bears, whales, and rarely observed seabirds; and the history of exploration in the Northwest Passage—these are elements that typically draw cruisers to far-north itineraries, usually running during August and September, as the weather cooperates. I was on Quark Expeditions’ 17-day adventure to northern Canada and western Greenland to gain insight into the people who live in the permafrost. Additionally, I wanted to check out the American company’s new Tundra to Table program, designed to enhance Indigenous food experiences and cultural elements in the Arctic.

Both Berthelsen and Siegstad have worked in top restaurants in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, which is home to about a third of the country’s primarily Inuit population of 57,000. Nevertheless, restaurant owners were often Continental Danes—or foreigners with financial resources that Greenlandic chefs tend to lack. This led Siegstad and a fellow chef, Salik Parbst Frederiksen, to establish a cooperative called Igapall (“cook fast”), serving Indigenous cuisine at pop-ups throughout the country.

4. Culinary Innovation at Sea

Quark took notice and signed a deal to bring members along on select sailings; Igapall aims to attract chefs from Nunavut, Canada, to join them in the ship’s galley, encouraging communication between the Inuit people of Greenland and Canada. Tundra to Table dinners, which debuted on my sailing with two separate four-course menus, are limited to 20 guests each evening and cost $125 per person. Consequently, profits fund food-focused initiatives in Greenland and Nunavut. Future itineraries will feature chef-led foraging hikes and increased interaction with Indigenous hunters and fishermen.

The chefs’ creations were far from rustic, even when they involved locally hunted, fished, and foraged ingredients, such as wild mushrooms and antioxidant-rich crowberries. Moreover, some imported items, like onions, were necessary since they cannot be grown in Greenland’s permafrost. Every dish was carefully plated, garnished with edible flowers and fresh herbs applied with precision. Sweet snow crab, rolled into the shape of a log, was presented dramatically on a slab of ice; hearty cured and stir-fried reindeer was served atop a large rock. Dessert was rich in both flavor and tradition: Greenlandic cakes, butter-fried sweet breads made by generations of Inuit grandmothers, paired with a thyme granita made from glacier ice—a fact that astounded some guests, who had spent the day exploring icebergs in Zodiacs.

5. Engaging Discussions and Insights

Dinners were not the only opportunity to connect with Inuit culture. As part of the ship’s extensive lecture series, the chefs also discussed food insecurity in Greenland and touched on sensitive topics, such as Indigenous communities’ rights to hunt marine mammals. “Seals and whales have been a winter survival source for the last twelve thousand years,” Berthelsen explained. “We eat those things. It’s special for many people, but it’s what we grew up with.” Some guests expressed interest in trying these ingredients, prompting Quark to explore ways to incorporate them into excursions.

On an expedition itinerary—determined by sea and ice conditions—visits with remote Indigenous communities are typically limited to a few hours, allowing for only fleeting interactions. With very few, if any, restaurants on shore, opportunities to taste traditional cuisine are scarce. Nonetheless, food remained a source of connection and conversation. When we arrived in Qaanaaq, Greenland’s northernmost town, with around 600 residents, meat was drying on racks near the pier. At the sports hall, hunter and musician Aleqatsiaq Peary recounted a vivid walrus hunt on the winter ice. Peary expressed concern that traditional hunting methods were disappearing due to climate change, despite the icebergs still floating in the harbor.

During an earlier stop in Qikiqtarjuaq, a small hamlet in Nunavut hardly visited by cruise passengers, a gathering at the community center featured a local politician’s speech, storytelling by an elder, and a snack of Tetley tea and bannock, a type of quick bread. One man inquired if Berthelsen and Siegstad liked mattak, the skin and fat from a whale, commonly eaten raw. The chefs replied with an enthusiastic yes.

This man generously offered them three kilos, worth about $100, from a narwhal being shared among several families. The chefs attempted to compensate him, but he declined. “I was almost crying, it was so beautiful,” Siegstad shared afterward. “He said, ‘Us Inuit have to stick together.’”

quarkexpeditions.com; from $15,390 per person for a similar 17-day itinerary; Tundra to Table is available on five voyages in 2023.

A version of this story first appeared in the July 2023 issue of iBestTravel under the headline “Cool Hunting.”