Greenlandic
The hunt and the cold sea — where almost nothing grows.
Suaasat
Greenland's national dish — a simple, deeply savory soup of seal (or reindeer) simmered slowly with onion, potato, and a little rice or barley, seasoned with little more than salt and bay. The hunter's one-pot of the Arctic, where the meat's own richness carries the broth.
View page →Greenlandic cooking is the Kalaallit Inuit food of the world's largest island — built almost entirely on the hunt and the cold sea, with almost nothing that grows. The national dish is suaasat, a deeply savory soup of seal or reindeer. Halibut, cod, Arctic char, and Greenland's famously sweet cold-water shrimp come from the fjords; reindeer is the land game. Mattak and dried fish are traditional, cloudberries and crowberries foraged in the brief summer, and Danish influence brought coffee — and the flaming Greenlandic coffee. Seal, reindeer, Arctic fish, shrimp, and tundra berries — that is the Greenlandic pantry.
The Palate
Start Here
A deeply savory soup of seal (or reindeer) simmered with onion, potato, and rice, seasoned with little but salt and bay.
Why start here · Greenland's national dish — the hunter's one-pot where the meat is everything.
The prized cold-water fish grilled simply with butter and lemon, its flesh milder and more delicate than salmon.
Why start here · The simplest and finest expression of the Greenlandic catch.
Foraged golden cloudberries, honeyed and tart, spooned over barely-sweet whipped cream.
Why start here · The taste of the short, intense Arctic summer — Greenland's prized wild fruit.
The Pantry
On the Map
Where this cuisine is found
Regional Styles
Nuuk & the Fjords
The capital and the fjord catch — the national soup, the sweet cold-water shrimp, and grilled char.
The Hunt
The land game and preserved catch of the Arctic larder.
The Short Summer
The foraged berries and the Danish-café flaming coffee.
How They Cook
Techniques that define this cuisine
