The Inuit country food — seal, muktuk, caribou, Arctic char, and cloudberries — plus the small Iqaluit restaurant scene doing modern northern cuisine.
Nunavut's food culture is the Inuit food of the Arctic — the traditional 'country food' of seal, whale, caribou, and fish that has sustained people here for thousands of years, plus the southern imports that come by sealift and air. It's the most remote and most traditional food culture in Canada. Here's what to know.
Country food The Inuit traditional food — the seal (ringed and bearded), the whale (beluga and narwhal muktuk, the skin and blubber), the walrus, the caribou, and the Arctic char. Eaten raw, frozen, dried ('pituq' — the dried meat), boiled, or aged; the food is central to Inuit culture and the winter diet. The community feasts and the hunting are the source.
Arctic char The fish — Arctic char, the rich orange salmonid that runs the rivers and the sea. Grilled, smoked, cured, or raw; the char is the Nunavut table fish and the one visitors are most likely to try (in Iqaluit restaurants and the lodges). World-class.
Caribou and muskox The land-meat — caribou, the great herds and the migration, and muskox from the mainland and the islands. Lean, rich, and central to the diet. The dried caribou ('pituq') is the travel and winter food.
The foraged The brief summer produces the berries — cloudberries (the 'bakeapple' or 'aqpik'), blueberries, and crowberries, all wild-picked. The bannock (the frybread, introduced and now adopted) is the base of the non-traditional meal. The qulliq (the traditional seal-oil lamp) is the cultural and cooking fire.
Iqaluit restaurants The small scene — the Storehouse Bar and Grill, the Frobisher Inn dining room, and the Grind & Brew do modern northern cuisine: Arctic char, caribou, muskox, and the local berries. The country food is mostly at home and at community feasts; ask and a local may share.
Good to know The food is expensive — almost everything is flown or sealifted in. Eat the Arctic char where it's caught; try the caribou and the muskox. And respect the country food — it's the Inuit tradition and the cultural foundation, not a curiosity. The community feasts are the real experience.
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