Greenland: Food and the National Dish

Food from the hunt, not the farm

Greenland's Arctic climate makes farming nearly impossible across almost the entire country, so its food culture developed instead around hunting and fishing, a Kalaallit (Greenlandic Inuit) tradition going back thousands of years. Seal, whale, reindeer, muskox and a range of fish remain genuinely everyday food here, not a novelty kept for tourists.

The national dish: suaasat

Suaasat, a simple soup of meat, usually seal, whale, reindeer or seabird, simmered with onion and sometimes potatoes or barley, is Greenland's national dish. What counts as "correct" suaasat varies by household and by what's actually been caught, since the dish is built around adapting to the hunt rather than following one fixed recipe — a genuinely practical approach to a country where farming isn't an option.

Seal, whale and the Arctic pantry

Seal and whale meat remain central, legally regulated staples of the Greenlandic diet, alongside fish such as halibut and cod, and ammasat, a small fish similar to capelin that is traditionally dried whole on rocks in the sun. Reindeer and muskox, hunted inland, round out the country's meat supply, while almost all fruit and vegetables are imported given the climate.

History behind the hunt

Kalaallit hunting traditions predate Danish colonisation by thousands of years, and hunting rights for seal and whale remain protected and culturally significant today, regulated under international agreements that recognise Indigenous subsistence hunting specifically. Danish colonial rule, beginning in the 18th century, brought imported staples like flour, coffee and sugar into the diet, but never displaced hunted meat and fish as the everyday foundation.

Dishes to know

Five more to recognise across Greenland:

• Ammasat — small dried fish, similar to capelin, traditionally dried

whole on rocks in the sun.

• Mattak — raw whale skin and blubber, a traditional delicacy eaten

across Greenland and the wider Arctic.

• Kalaallit koorteqarfik — dried, wind-cured fish or meat, prepared for

long storage without refrigeration.

• Reindeer stew — reindeer meat slow-cooked with root vegetables,

common in the country's interior hunting communities.

• Rugbrød — dark Danish-style rye bread, an everyday reminder of

Greenland's historical ties to Denmark.

Drinks

Coffee, taken strong and often, is a daily habit carried over from Danish influence, and imports of beer, wine and soft drinks are common in towns. Traditional Greenlandic drinks are limited given the climate, so much of everyday drinking mirrors Danish and broader Nordic habits.

Eating as a traveller

Vegetarians will find options genuinely limited outside Nuuk and the larger towns, since so much of the traditional diet is built on hunted meat and fish; imported produce is available but often expensive. Tap water is safe and of very high quality throughout the country, drawn largely from glacial sources. Visiting a local market such as Nuuk's Kalaaliaraq is a direct, honest way to see what Greenlandic hunting and fishing actually supply, before deciding what to try.

What to take from the table

Suaasat, simple and shaped entirely by what the hunt provides, is the dish that best explains Greenlandic food — proof that a genuinely sustaining cuisine can be built almost entirely without agriculture, in one of the most demanding climates on Earth.