Greenland: Fine coffee, bad vegan food, Queer literature and perception-changing film
“Greenland” is an early example of both fake news and dubious advertising. Despite being further north and icier than Iceland, Greenland was so-named by colour-loving Eric the Red, in an attempt to convince people to join him in the land he’d been exiled for murder. Another peculiarity is that this North American island country is a Danish colony and therefore part of the European Union!
England was also once part of the EU, and was, more importantly, also a colony of Denmark until 1035, ruled by the anagram-loving Cnut the Great. Learning about this shared history made me feel I real connection with Greenlanders and I started looking into how to visit… but then I tried the food! Initially I thought this week was going to be easy having found the Greenlander run website The Vegan Eskimo, but unfortunately it includes every possible recipe except Greenlandic food. I therefore focused instead on recreating Suaasat — Greenland’s national dish. I swapped out the reindeer meat for vegan steak, but other than that kept pretty close to the original — meaning I created a pearl barley and dried cherry stew. It was as nice as it sounds and I will NEVER make it again. Greenlandic sweet bread Kalaallit Kaagiat is, however, delicious, easy to make and highly recommended.
As usual, I cooked while listening to this week’s playlist which was surprisingly easy to make as there is a lot of Greenlandic music out there — from the heavy metal of Siissisoq to the alternative rock of Small Time Giants, to traditional Inuit music, to classical and rap music written about living in the snowy wastes. If you choose to listen to the playlist, I would strongly suggest doing so whilst trying perhaps the best drink I’ve found on the armchair travels — Greenlandic coffee. It is basically a mug full of caffeine and booze which includes Kahlua to represent the nice things of Greenland, whisky to represent the rough things, coffee to represent coming together to tell stories, whipped cream (I used coconut cream) to represent the glaciers, and burning Grand Marnier to represent the northern lights. I know you want to try it. You should.
I followed on from this hefty boozy drink with a shot of Greenlandic Isfjord Vodka, quite simply the nicest vodka I have ever had, smooth, clear and delicious. I got a real reminder of the problematic side of alcohol however by watching the film Inuk, which uses real Greenlanders — not actors. It is not a film to watch whilst sipping vodka as it is a strong reminder of the rampant alcoholism that affects many of Greenland’s Indigenous People. It is much more than Mike Leigh in Greenland though, especially once the protagonist starts returning to the ways of past generations. Making the time to find and watch things like this is one of the many benefits of armchair travel and I felt truly moved as I watched it sat in front of a roaring fire, as a pathetic dusting of snow fell outside.
Alcohol is also omnipresent in this week’s book — Last Night in Nuuk, by Niviaq Korneliussen. The novel’s titular pun is hard to explain, but I’ll give it a go! Nuuk is the capital of Greenland, and Inuk is one of the characters, Inuk is a name that can be used by both men and women and Inuk also means humankind. It is therefore the perfect title for a story of love, gender, coming-out and regret. It opened my eyes to the startlingly obvious fact that the battle for acceptance and understanding and freedom to live the life we are born to live is only just beginning, and that it is a battle that will take place in every city, in every community and many families. It is also a battle we will win.
OK that’s it, with great regret I leave Greenland behind and head instead to the bath warm waters of Grenada.
