Would you expect that life beyond the Arctic Circle also includes really exotic cuisine? It’s true and it’s not. You definitely won’t come across it in a normal store. “In food, the supply can sometimes get stuck. So if there is no chicken, you just buy something else,” says Mirka Beťková, who lives in Greenland, in the iReceptář do úho podcast.
You can find the podcast interview in the audio version here:
Life beyond the Arctic Circle is not only about long days and long nights, or proper clothes, but also about the animals that normally live here with humans. “When you go outside the city, you have to have a gun. That’s in case you happen to meet a polar bear,” explains Mirka Beťková in the iReceptář do úho podcast. However, much cuter specimens are also transformed here.
Shaggy visitors
You can meet this reindeer quite regularly on the street. “It’s magical because you just go for a walk and you usually meet a herd of reindeer,” describes an employee of an expedition agency who moved to Svalbard last summer. “They are protected and so you are not even allowed to go near them or maybe pet them. They do not see you as a threat and they ignore you to a certain extent. At least in the city.” According to her, she definitely won’t get tired of meeting these furry guys with big snouts.
Exotics in the restaurant
On the other hand, it is true that reindeer meat is traditionally part of the local menu. And so, from the permitted catch, you can treat yourself to it in a restaurant. “For example, you can order stewed reindeer meat, which is very similar to our venison,” says Mirka Beťková. “And you’ll come across a whale steak too, but everything is, of course, very carefully controlled.”
