Turns out there are no restaurants in Kulusuk, Greenland; like that could really stop the Prof'a from doing what she does best. Upon arriving at the little red house, decked out with a pimp icebox and actual running water, my German roommate and Kulusuk tour guide, Christoph offered me some seal jerky, both a local delicacy and the ONLY local cuisine (in fact, the only other option, meat-wise, is canned ham or polar bear. Kulusuk hunters had recently shot a polar bear, but the meat did not appear to be sold in the local shop. My guess is that it went directly to the families of the hunters.) Greenland´s national meat? seal. Greenland´s national vegetable? seal. Greenland´s national pasttime? seal hunting. I, a college-educated traveler, quickly saw the pattern.
The seal jerky tasted rather a lot like dried despair. Fortunately, Christoph was also given a bowl of seal oil by one of the women in town. Eureka! Of course I wasn´t experiencing the full array of flavors that the seal meat had to offer...I had not been dipping it in its traditional condiment. I cleansed my palate with some glacial tap water, carefully bathed the seal jerky in what I imagined to be the appropriate amount of seal oil, and gave it another try. Mmmmm...Seal jerky tasted rather a lot like dried despair dipped in despair oil.
A week´s worth of canned ham it is!
