Foraging in the arctic summer

…”But isn’t the selections of food in Greenland ridiculously limited?”… Is something that I am asked pretty often. And yeah, perhaps if you are super picky or only eat by a very specific diet, you might get very hungry in Greenland. If not, you will (like myself) love the chance to go foraging for delicacies in the arctic summer.

This weekend I spend a lot of time out in the fields, searching for a very specific mushroom. The Leccinum rotundifoliae or Arctic Bolethe as this mushroom is called, is quite common in areas with dwarf birch and is easy to recognize with its big light-brown hat. However, whenever foraging you can never be absolutely sure to actually find what you are looking for…is my experience. But we found so many, wuhuuu, makes it sooo much more fun!

I love to forage and I think it is such a pleasure to spend time in the nature, gathering ingredients to make a great meal for my friends and family. However, unless you are a super-experienced-mushroomfinding-expert there are things you should be aware of whenever you go foraging for mushrooms:

– Do some research on the different mushrooms, if possible bring descriptions or pictures for      your tour, maybe in a book or on your phone just to compare when you find the mushrooms.
– Find out which mushrooms are poisonous and which mushrooms look like them – avoid both.
– If you have ANY doubt in whether or not the mushroom is edible, just don’t pick it up. Better safe than sorry.

When we had found enough of these amazing mushrooms, we headed on home. Usually when I go foraging for mushrooms, I have this little special-made mushroom knife with a little brush attached to it #nerd. This makes it easier for me to clean the mushrooms right away. But I forgot it this time, which meant that the cleaning started once we got home. I removed any dirt, cut of bruised parts and then it was up to my imagination (and the contains of the fridge) to start cooking. 

I decided to make two dishes with the mushrooms. The first one is ideal for snacks/starters and is best served with a crispy cold white-wine, outside whilst enjoying the beautiful arctic summer (as a matter a fact I think most foods are better this way). 

In case you wanna try out my “snacks ala arctic”, the first thing you wanna do, is go out and find some delicious mushrooms in the greenlandic fields. Then chop up an onion and 1-2 garlic cloves and saute it in a bit of butter. Chop the clean mushrooms (both stem and top) into nice pieces and saute them along with the onions. Once the mushrooms have lost some of their water, burn some curry in the pan and add a bit of cream to it. Finish of by adding pepper and salt, and serve on which ever bread you prefer. And that’s pretty much it. 

Tadaaaaah and bon appetit. 

/C

Read more travel blogs from Christina Gamborg Holm

Christina Gamborg Holm

Hi and welcome to my Guide to Greenland travel blog. My name is Christina, I'm a danish anthropologist and business consultant with a huge passion for the arctic and nordic way of life. I have visited Greenland several times and here on my blog you can read about the everyday adventures and the unique way of living that Greenland offers. I do my best to tell stories with pictures more than words...but then again, I really do like writing. I specifically like writing about the inuit culture, the spectacular nature (and how it can become your playground), the arctic wildlife and about traditional food and drinks in Greenland. Most of all I just hope that this blog will make you too curious to stay at home, cuz really, you should come and experience it all for yourself.

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