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The 15th country in our Eating Around the World Adventure is Greenland.
Now Greenland has a population of only 56000 people and I can honestly say before this, I had no idea what food is eaten in Greenland. Actually overall I know very little about Greenland, well except that Greenland is a part of Kingdom of Denmark, Princess Mary is Australian, so we see her visits there, and I know it's really cold there. But other than that, I knew very little.
Most of Greenland's interior is uninhabitable glacier. But Greenland has a coast where seal, whale and seafood are plentiful and the country is rich in reindeer, musk ox and wild hare as well as a variety of birds. They have a largely meat based diet, however, southern Greenland is actually green and its agriculture thrives with many farms growing mostly root vegetables. So food is plentiful, it's just simple ingredients and some that we don't normally eat.
Now if I ever visited, I would try local dishes, even though many of the animals that they eat, I would never consider eating here in Australia. But the indiginous people of Greenland, have always hunted their food and they ate what they caught around them. There is Croatian food that we eat that I know my friends would not eat.
So although there are not many recipes available for me to try from Greenland, I have found a few that I thought we'd like. Overall the food was nice, it was definitely simple. For instance suaasat, is not too different from a soup I have been making for years at home. Now I didn't make it with seal obviously, but I did try and get as close as I could to the traditional recipe. Greenland was more about trying to get the flavours and knowing what they eat, than being able to replica a meal.
Now Greenland has a population of only 56000 people and I can honestly say before this, I had no idea what food is eaten in Greenland. Actually overall I know very little about Greenland, well except that Greenland is a part of Kingdom of Denmark, Princess Mary is Australian, so we see her visits there, and I know it's really cold there. But other than that, I knew very little.
Most of Greenland's interior is uninhabitable glacier. But Greenland has a coast where seal, whale and seafood are plentiful and the country is rich in reindeer, musk ox and wild hare as well as a variety of birds. They have a largely meat based diet, however, southern Greenland is actually green and its agriculture thrives with many farms growing mostly root vegetables. So food is plentiful, it's just simple ingredients and some that we don't normally eat.
Now if I ever visited, I would try local dishes, even though many of the animals that they eat, I would never consider eating here in Australia. But the indiginous people of Greenland, have always hunted their food and they ate what they caught around them. There is Croatian food that we eat that I know my friends would not eat.
So although there are not many recipes available for me to try from Greenland, I have found a few that I thought we'd like. Overall the food was nice, it was definitely simple. For instance suaasat, is not too different from a soup I have been making for years at home. Now I didn't make it with seal obviously, but I did try and get as close as I could to the traditional recipe. Greenland was more about trying to get the flavours and knowing what they eat, than being able to replica a meal.
Here is the food I cooked from Greenland
Pan Fried White Fish with Roasted Vegetables
Suaasat
Chef's Dream Cake
Greenlandic Coffee
Pan Fried White Fish with Roasted Vegetables
Suaasat
Chef's Dream Cake
Greenlandic Coffee
Pan Fried White Fish with Roasted Vegetables: This was delicious, I truly loved this, my family loved this. My family loved this flavour combination. This was easy to make and we really enjoyed this for dinner.
Suaasat: Suaasat is considered the national dish of Greenland. It is a meat and barley soup traditionally made from seal meat, but also from whale, reindeer, musk ox or sea-birds, if seal was unavailable. It is traditionally served at Christmas, though it can be eaten at any time of year. Now I couldn't buy seal or whale, so I made it with beef today, The cherries for me were unnecessary, they didn't work for me. Overall we loved the soup, my kids loved the chewiness of the barley and they said they would happily eat this again, minus the cherries. The recipe called for wild mushrooms, as I couldn't find any, I added the porcini to give the stronger mushroom flavour. I also added fregola, a type of small pasta or some call it Italian cous cous, just because I wanted to.
Here is how I made it:
Serves 6
1kg chuck steak, cubed
1 onion, diced
5 sprigs fresh thyme
2 fresh or 1 dried bay leaf
1 1/2 cups barley, rinsed
1 large carrot, chopped, chunky
1 large potato, diced, chunky
1 turnip or parsnip, diced, chunky
200g mushrooms, halved or sliced
20g porcini mushrooms
1/2 cup dried cherries, optional
1 teaspoon vegeta, optional
1/3 cup fregola, optional
Salt and pepper, to taste
Place meat in a large saucepan with 2 litres water, bring to the boil. Remove any meat scum that has risen to the surface.
Add onion, thyme and bay leaf, simmer, covered, for 1 hour.
Place porcini mushrooms in a heatproof bowl, add boiling water to cover the mushrooms, soak for 30 minutes.
Add barley to the meat, add more water, if needed, simmer, cook for 20 minutes.
Add carrot, potato, turnip or parsnip, mushrooms, porcini and the soaking liquid, and the cherries, if using. Taste for seasoning, add vegeta, if using. Bring to the boil, simmer until the barley and vegetables are cooked, about 20 minutes, I taste the barley every now and then to see if it is cooked. If adding pasta, add it in the last 10 minutes of cooking time.
Enjoy!
1kg chuck steak, cubed
1 onion, diced
5 sprigs fresh thyme
2 fresh or 1 dried bay leaf
1 1/2 cups barley, rinsed
1 large carrot, chopped, chunky
1 large potato, diced, chunky
1 turnip or parsnip, diced, chunky
200g mushrooms, halved or sliced
20g porcini mushrooms
1/2 cup dried cherries, optional
1 teaspoon vegeta, optional
1/3 cup fregola, optional
Salt and pepper, to taste
Place meat in a large saucepan with 2 litres water, bring to the boil. Remove any meat scum that has risen to the surface.
Add onion, thyme and bay leaf, simmer, covered, for 1 hour.
Place porcini mushrooms in a heatproof bowl, add boiling water to cover the mushrooms, soak for 30 minutes.
Add barley to the meat, add more water, if needed, simmer, cook for 20 minutes.
Add carrot, potato, turnip or parsnip, mushrooms, porcini and the soaking liquid, and the cherries, if using. Taste for seasoning, add vegeta, if using. Bring to the boil, simmer until the barley and vegetables are cooked, about 20 minutes, I taste the barley every now and then to see if it is cooked. If adding pasta, add it in the last 10 minutes of cooking time.
Enjoy!
Chef's Dream Cake: This recipe makes for a pretty delicious cake. The sponge is not dry, it's light and fluffy and the crunchy sweet topping is delicious. I really liked how the cake isn't too sweet. This is a simple cake, but I really liked it.
Here's how I made it:
For the sponge cake:
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
57g unsalted butter
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 cups plain flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
For the topping:
115g butter
1/4 cup milk
1 1/8 cup desiccated coconut
1 1/8 cup brown sugar
Preheat oven to 200C/180C fan forced. Grease and line with baking paper a 22cm x 30cm baking dish.
Cream the eggs and sugar together for about 5 minutes until thick and pale.
Warm the butter and milk together in a small saucepan, just until the butter is melted. Add it to the batter with the vanilla essence. Beat until combined.
Sift in the flour and baking powder. Beat until just combined.
Pour the batter into your cake tin. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when poked into the cake.
While the cake is baking make your topping: Warm up the butter and milk just until the butter is melted. Then add the brown sugar and coconut. Mix together well.
When the cake is done, take it out of the oven, increase the oven temperature to 220C/200C fan forced. Spread the coconut mixture gently on the top of the cake and put it back in the oven for about 10 minutes, until nicely browned and set.
Enjoy!
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
57g unsalted butter
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 cups plain flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
For the topping:
115g butter
1/4 cup milk
1 1/8 cup desiccated coconut
1 1/8 cup brown sugar
Preheat oven to 200C/180C fan forced. Grease and line with baking paper a 22cm x 30cm baking dish.
Cream the eggs and sugar together for about 5 minutes until thick and pale.
Warm the butter and milk together in a small saucepan, just until the butter is melted. Add it to the batter with the vanilla essence. Beat until combined.
Sift in the flour and baking powder. Beat until just combined.
Pour the batter into your cake tin. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when poked into the cake.
While the cake is baking make your topping: Warm up the butter and milk just until the butter is melted. Then add the brown sugar and coconut. Mix together well.
When the cake is done, take it out of the oven, increase the oven temperature to 220C/200C fan forced. Spread the coconut mixture gently on the top of the cake and put it back in the oven for about 10 minutes, until nicely browned and set.
Enjoy!
Greenlandic Coffee: Hot coffee is mixed with whiskey, Kahlua and Grand Marnier then covered with heap of whipped cream. The drink is usually served after dinner. Well my husband and I had no problem drinking this, loved it, will make it again and again.
Here is how I made it:
Makes 1
10ml whiskey
10ml Kahlua
10ml Grand Marnier
100ml hot coffee, freshly brewed
2-3 tablespoons whipped cream, to taste
Pour a measure of whisky into a large glass with a stem (Bordeaux). Warm the whisky carefully over a candle or a spirit burner and set it alight.
Let it burn for a moment, after which the Kahlúa and hot coffee without sugar should be added.
Then carefully pour in a thick layer of gently whipped cream.
Finally, add burning Grand Marnier from a large sauce spoon lifted high above the glass – preferably in a dark room so that the blue Grand Marnier flame is clearly visible.
You can just add the three alcohols and coffee into a glass and top with whipped cream, still tastes good, just less dramatic.
Enjoy!
10ml whiskey
10ml Kahlua
10ml Grand Marnier
100ml hot coffee, freshly brewed
2-3 tablespoons whipped cream, to taste
Pour a measure of whisky into a large glass with a stem (Bordeaux). Warm the whisky carefully over a candle or a spirit burner and set it alight.
Let it burn for a moment, after which the Kahlúa and hot coffee without sugar should be added.
Then carefully pour in a thick layer of gently whipped cream.
Finally, add burning Grand Marnier from a large sauce spoon lifted high above the glass – preferably in a dark room so that the blue Grand Marnier flame is clearly visible.
You can just add the three alcohols and coffee into a glass and top with whipped cream, still tastes good, just less dramatic.
Enjoy!
Now to add another sticker to my world map.
Next Stop San Marino.
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