It’s a good time to feast together, whether it’s Easter or Passover or Spring (or Fall!). Here we are sharing tea, fresh bread, salmon roe, marinated salmon, wild mushrooms, fresh lingonberry and pine nut cake (my fave), and plenty of butter. . This is Novoye Chaplino, a Yupik village in Russia’s Far East. We are…
I was pretty homesick by the time we got back to the apartment. It was Thanksgiving back home, and my mind kept traveling around the world to my friends and family in Canada. I gave myself a few minutes to sulk (not many, I promise), then put on some music, unpacked our bag of groceries,…
Some types of beauty can only grow in complete stillness. Any turbulence will disturb their symmetry. A breath is too much. I did not expect to find this perfection here, deep underground in a permafrost cave that preserves one community’s supply of whale and walrus meat. The walls are lined with ice blocks and the…
Breakfast on the tundra = boiled reindeer with salt, black tea with sugar, broth, and the ever present (ever delicious) fried bannock (кавкав). Food can always be a point of connection, no matter how deep the divide. So remember dear travelers: eat what you are given and sleep where you are told. There ain’t no…
A hungry kitty from our visit to Aasiaat, Greenland. Sorine Petersen prepares seal meat for dinner. We will eat the ribs with French’s mustard, and we will enjoy a thick stew full of meat and rice. If this kitty plays her cards right, she might get a little dish all to herself. Photo @eric_guth #meetthenorth…
Portrait of Climate Change. Home grown potatoes in Ilulissat, Greenland. Ole Gamst-Pedersen, the curator of the art museum grew them himself. “This wouldn’t have been possible ten years ago.” Not quite the gorgeous pastels of @zarialynn that help us see how precious ice is, but I’ve never met a potato that gave me so much…
Post 1 of 4 | The feast is almost ready. People are gathering around the community hall and choosing their spots for this special meal. Four long strips of plastic and then cardboard are laid out on the floor. Next, the frozen meat, cut with hand saws, is evenly spread out. You must bring…
Post 2 of 4 | The community of Pond Inlet prays and prepares for the feast laid out before them. Some of this food is local, some has been traded from other communities, and the tuktu (caribou) came from a special hunt that took almost two weeks. In a few moments, everyone will rush…
Post 3 of 4 | Suppertime. Bring your own knife. Norman prepares some food for us to try at the Pond Inlet community feast. His favourite combination is raw caribou and aged walrus blubber. He slices the pieces precisely and stacks them together. Norman shows his generosity by sharing just a small piece with…
Post 4 of 4 | Food is more than fuel; it’s culture. Alexandria Siakuluk’s father feeds her a piece of narwhal skin at the community feast in Pond Inlet. Another fabulous portrait by @eric_guth . Thank you to artist Greg Morgan for permission to use this photograph. #meetthenorth #lindbladexpeditions #feelthewarmth #countryfood #maktak #pondinlet #arctic #nunavut…