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Acquired Tastes

June 2016

A dash of bacteria is just what that meat needs need to taste delicious

By Francis Tessier-Burns

Beluga maktaaq contains vitamins that fight infection and keep your heart healthy. Photo by Hannah Eden/Up Here

Beluga maktaaq contains vitamins that fight infection and keep your heart healthy. Photo by Hannah Eden/Up Here

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Acquired Tastes

Eating the same meat day after day could grow boring without herbs and spices. So how did the Inuit traditionally keep their food interesting? They used (and still do) nature’s flavour-makers: bacteria. Some food could be prepared through controlled fermentation, like kiviaq: dead birds wrapped in seal skin. Hundreds of birds, usually auks, are stuffed—beaks, feet, feathers and all—into a seal skin. Then air is squeezed out and the skin was sewn shut then covered with fat to keep flies away, and the bag was then left for several months. The anaerobic conditions allow the birds to ferment without spoiling, making them extremely tender. Their bones turn to an almost liquid state, and everything is eaten except the feathers. These types of meals, which can be left on the land for months at a time, would double as food reserves if there was a shortage of available meat.

And what’s a good meal without dessert? Akutaq is "Inuit ice cream" made from grinding caribou fat, then adding liquefied seal fat and some water. The concoction is mixed and fluffed, then sweetened by adding different types of berries. Voilà! 

June 2016

One of the best selections of alcohol in the Arctic Archipelago. Photo by Scott Wight

A Nice Place For A Drink

Iqaluit's Storehouse is one of the best looking places to quench your thirst in town.

By Up Here

One of the best selections of alcohol in the Arctic Archipelago. Photo by Scott Wight

January 27th, 2023 January 27th, 2023

June 2016

 Can this man really extend a Northern summer? If you're a pepper, then, yes he can. Photo by Daren Gallo

The Man Who Extends The Summer

A Yukon greenhouse aficionado has given Northern green thumbs a leg-up on winter.

By Herb Mathisen

Can this man really extend a Northern summer? If you're a pepper, then, yes he can. Photo by Daren Gallo

January 27th, 2023 January 27th, 2023

Related Articles

January/February 2023

The Dakhká Khwáan Dancers

Where artists come together

The Yukon’s reputation as a thriving arts hub was only made possibly by the support of—and support within—the community.

January 27th, 2023 January 27th, 2023

Up Here Magazine - November/December 2022

Elijah Bekk playing his guitar

Won’t Back Down

Yukoner Elijah Bekk decided nothing was going to stand in the way of his music dreams—not even a life-altering injury.

January 27th, 2023 January 27th, 2023

Up Here Magazine - September/October 2022

Fish on Cambridge Bay pool.

Community pride, on display

What do the faces of ambitious youth in Mayo, Yukon; a friendly walrus in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut; and one of Yellowknife’s most generous residents all have in common? They are the subjects of giant murals that brighten up their Northern communities.

January 27th, 2023 January 27th, 2023

Up Here Magazine - September/October 2022

Hand using a sound board.

Raising the Volume

Every corner of the North is flush with musical talent. But what does it take to actually get these unique voices and new sounds out and into the world? We hit the grind with these crafty and collaborative record labels who are putting Northern artists front and centre.

January 27th, 2023 January 27th, 2023

Up Here Magazine - September/October 2022

Martha Kyak's collection hit Vancouver Fashion Week earlier this year.

A New Era of High Fashion

Defined by detailed embroidery, patient stitching, vibrant beading and hand-tanned hides, Indigenous designs in the North have always been couture—and the world is just starting to catch on.

January 27th, 2023 January 27th, 2023

Up Here Magazine - September/October 2022

Group working on moosehide.

A Revolutionary Resurgence

The revitalization of hide tanning throughout the North is more than the practice itself. It’s a reclamation of land, culture, connection—and it has the power to transform communities. 

January 27th, 2023 January 27th, 2023
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Up Here Publishing
4510-50th Ave., Ste. 102
Yellowknife, NT
X1A 1B9  Canada
Phone: 867.766.6710
Fax: 867.669.0626
Email: editor@uphere.ca

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