Ivaaq creates new dishes from its own catches

Turkish barbecue skewers with reindeer meat. A burger made from game birds. And Filipino-inspired dishes with rider.

Prisoner of leisure Ivaaq Kriegel loves to experiment with his own catches and combine them with international food traditions.

Turkish barbecue skewers with reindeer meat. A burger made from game birds. And Filipino-inspired dishes with rider.

Prisoner of leisure Ivaaq Kriegel loves to experiment with his own catches and combine them with international food traditions.

Since he was As a child, he followed his father, William Kriegel, hunting. Father and son, side by side side, in the same dinghy. They have always shared time at sea - even today, where they continue to sail out in their boat and search for catch together.

- All the knowledge I have about catching comes from my father, says Ivaaq Kriegel.

It has always been normal for him to see a seal, that gets flayed, a fish that gets split and a reindeer that stays ripped off.

- That's how I was brought up. I remember when I was a child that I loved to fish with a fishing rod. I collected fish hooks and had a large collection of them, he says.

Back then, it wasn't so much about the food, but the curiosity of the animal. It was about the catch, the adrenaline and the thrill.

- When I was growing up, I loved fishing and shooting et bytte. But today I go hunting, mostly because of the food. I can of course still like the hunt, but the motivation lies in the food, says Ivaaq Kriegel, who is the director of the cultural center Katuaq in Nuuk on a daily basis.

When asked what his favorite food is, his answer is simple: Something you have caught and prepared yourself.

- You know where the animal is caught, you know that it have lived in great freedom in nature, and then you have prepared the animal yourself. That is the best, he says.

This time is game bird season.

- Birds of the sea, such as loons and eiders some that I usually hunt at this time, also seals, he says.

Experience of a lifetime with aanaa

Although Ivaaq Kriegel loves to experiment with Greenlandic food, he also thinks a lot about what types of food that slowly will be forgotten.

Many traditional dishes risk being forgotten, especially in tandem with globalization and changes in eating habits. So Ivaaq Kriegel doesn't just look at food as something creative, but also as part of cultural heritage.

- How can they be preserved? Are there any types of food that is no longer 'normal' to eat and what can be done about it?, asks Ivaaq Kriegel.

He himself has had an experience with his grandmother whom he never forgot.

It is the Nuuk of the 1990s and Ivaaq goes with its aanaa (grandmother, ed.) to the board in the center of Nuuk. Aanaa buys reindeer liver, which has been semi-digested in the contents of the reindeer stomach. With the bag in hand, they go up a mountain knoll and sits down. Aanaa starts eating the liver and Ivaaq can see how much she enjoys it.

“Do you want to taste?” she asks.

Little Ivaaq, curious as ever, says yes. But the liver is falling not to his taste, it tastes bitter and strange. Then he sits there on the mountain tuber with an unpleasant taste in the mouth, while aanaa relishes every bite.

This little one experience Ivaaq Kriegel has never forgotten. As an adult, he has often thought about the liver and wondered: Did it really taste that bad? He decided to to try it again. Now he understands why aanaa loved it, it has an intense and powerful flavor that takes courage to appreciate.

See video below of Ivaaq's experiment on reindeer liver half-digested in the contents of the stomach.

Important to maintain the old eating habits

- It is very important to try to preserve the old ones eating habits, says Ivaaq Kriegel.

He uses the catch quotas as an example.

- On the whole, I don't mind catch quotas, at all, he emphasizes.

But Ivaaq Kriegel believes that it is also important to think about how much the quotas affect our old eating habits?

- There is a lack of focus on it. I'm not saying that we must drop the quotas. On the contrary. I just want people to considers the extent to which the quotas affect our food, he says.

Let's take riding as an example.

- For example, my aanaa has always said that the ride tastes best in spring. This is something we risk losing if we do not take care of the old habits. It's the small details that make the food something special. My point is that there lacks focus on the old eating habits, he says.

Ivaaq Kriegel trying to do something about it myself. Both out of desire and out of necessity, he shares small video clips and pictures of the catch. He has noticed how little knowledge that exists about our food and culture, especially outside of Greenland.

- When I started posting pictures of, for example, a flayed seal, I got decidedly death threats in my messages, he says.

- But that only made me even more motivated to show our food culture. And so it is after all, something that I myself think is fun to share, he says.

On to the children

An important part of the food culture is also to involve the children. Ivaaq Kriegel is the father of two children nine and eleven years old, and for him it is crucial that they grow up with understanding of where the food comes from.

- It is very important to teach the children about catching, as it is a big part of our culture. If our ancestors had not been catchers, we would not be standing here today, says Ivaaq Kriegel.

For him, it is important to teach the children everything starting with death.

- My children must learn that if they eat meat, so it starts with death. Catching is an important part of how we raise our children, he says.'

See video below of Ivaaq's daughter's first catch.

When the children have killed their first animal, it gives a huge joy at Ivaaq.

- It is almost a holiday for us. It gives one great joy and pride, both for the child and the adults, he says.

His daughter and son laid down their first snow hare and grouse here this spring.

- I have saved the animals, because I think that cook them together with a friend who is a chef and make some nice food out of them sometime in the future, says Ivaaq Kriegel.