Welcome dinner, Sisimiut, Greenland

Jennifer Kingsley
August 17, 2015

(Post 1 of 6)

I was welcomed to Sisimiut with Greenlandic food prepared by Tukumminnguaq Olsen. She invited me to her family home to share caribou she brought home herself after a successful hunt on the weekend.

First, we ate tingulaat, a mix of cod livers (boiled), angelica (a robust green plant that grows locally), and crowberries (black and ripe from last year’s crop). The cod was caught just a couple of days before.

This picture shows tuttu-suppa (caribou soup), our main course. The caribou is cooked in the main pot but pulled out before it’s served. The soup is full of potatoes, carrots, peas, rice, angelica and other secret ingredients.

Sharing this country food (kalaalimineq) was very special for me.

We talked about hunting and how caribou taste different in different regions. Tuku’s parents, Makka and Axel, shared stories of their 20 years in Qaanaaq (Thule), Greenland’s northernmost community where Tuku was raised. Though her family is in Sisimiut now, Tuku says “I see myself as a Thule person.” Read the next posts for more on hunting and our dress up party.

Tuku has prepared a special meal of caribou soup