A Northern Cooking Experience

As a First Generation Canadian settler raised in an immigrant home with a storm-in-the-kitchen mom, moving to tiny Northern communities with little variety has been quite an experience.

No, I am not starving.

I am thriving!

And let me tell you why.

Hi, I am your average lactose intolerant, gluten sensitive, allergic to random nonsense, Canadian young adult. Okay, maybe having allergic reactions to papaya and protein bars (among many other things) isn't the most "average", but I eat just fine. That is all thanks to my fantastic chef of a mother, who loves to cook cuisines from all around the world. Ironically though, she doesn't usually cook most of the cuisines I fell in love with, but we'll get into that later.

In her youth, my mother trained in French cuisine, but she was raised in an Israeli home where hummus and falafel were staples. In her twenties, she immigrated to Canada with my father where she continued to grow her cooking and my dad's taste palate. From a young age, I was exposed to flavourful dishes and many spices. Food is essential, but good food is positive growth!

Don't ask me why I developed a bunch of random allergies, but it happened. Allergies to citrus, sensitivities to gluten and lactose, all piled on but that never stopped my mom. Soups, salads (my dad's department), entrees, and dairy-free desserts blessed our kitchen table without hesitation. None of us went hungry thankfully. I am always grateful for that.

Now, three years ago I left the nest that is my parents' home and set off to the Arctic to teach in an Inuit community. All the spices I packed were probably the heaviest part of my suitcase. I've also shipped up rice milk multiple times. Because in the North... you won't quite find everything... There is no Walmart or Food Basics. There's the infamous Northern.

And by infamous, I mean 'meh' at best.

The thing is... food in the North is very expensive, usually not fresh, and quite selective... A carton of orange juice can go for $14. So I had a bit of a hard time finding the basics at times, especially when it came to vegetables.

Along with the spices I hauled up north, I also came equipped with a handful of my favorite recipes like: Puerto Rican spiced chicken, garlicy mashed potatoes, 'Plov' (a Russian rice pilaf), etc. etc.

But you can only make the same 3-4 dishes so many times... So in came handy Google and my partner's Mexican cuisine background. I started my own real cooking experience.

And boy was it DELICIOUS.

Indian Cuisine

My mother was never big on Indian cuisine because she doesn't do spicy, but my dad and I totally do. Our father-daughter lunch dates would always lead us to this small Indian buffet in an industrial area and we would gorge ourselves with no shame. Once I moved to the North, I had to use what I could find to make those Indian dishes that I sorely missed. Here are some of my favorites:

Non-Dairy Butter Chicken (butter chicken without butter??)

Thanks to my best friend for the recipe, and to the many dairy-free yogurts and/or soy milks out there- I've managed to make this work.

When I was in the city, I was able to substitute the creams for my favorite Chobani Peach Coconut yogurt. I know what you're thinking, PEACH?

YES! PEACH! It surprisingly added another layer of flavour (and I couldn't find plain flavoured at the store...)

But in the North.... it's not so easy to find these speciality items. So, how do you make cream without cream? You blend a random amount of soy milk and avocado and hope for the best!

And if the store doesn't have avocados?

You shake the container of soy milk like mad and get all your aggression out about the lack of avocados and the climate crisis.

Anyhow, check out the recipe I used here.

And feel free to substitute cauliflower for the chicken if you're actually vegan and don't just have a love-hate relationship with dairy.

Non-Dairy Tikka Masala

This recipe escapade is pretty similar to how I dealt with butter in a butter-less butter chicken, except it made a much bigger mess.

One of the things I didn't quite manage to fit in my suitcase when I moved up North was a grill. Sadly, it would probably be over the weight limit according to the airline.

So how do you grill chicken that's been marinated in goodness? You sacrifice your oven to the Goddesses and cover the bottom with tinfoil as you attempt to broil using the oven rack.

What did I say earlier? MESS.

Anyhow, add some avocado or soy milk or peach coconut yogurt into the mix and enjoy! Thank goodness I brought my suitcase full of spices...

Find the recipe for this deliciousness here.

Middle Eastern Cuisine

Shawarma

This is one of my favorites and it is extremely easy because my mother is amazing and mails me the spice mix.

While I don't have a rotating spit and slow cook fire, I do my quick and easy shawarma in a pan. I use boneless chicken thighs (with or without skin) and just add the shawarma spice mix and some garlic powder and I let it marinate for about an hour.

Once I heat up some oil in the pan, I add the chicken in and let it cook on medium temperature. It's okay if it gets crispy even though the inside isn't fully cooked. After both sides look nicely done and cooked, I remove the meat and slice it thin, and toss it back into the pan with some oil on medium-high heat to seal it.

After that, you can add your shawarma to a pita, laffa, rice, or even just on its own! I like some fresh cut onion and cilantro (because I don't have parsley) as garnish. Super easy and super flavourful!

Lubya (Afghan Bean Curry)

This is a really good dish I found when I wanted something new, needed to increase my bowel movements, and had super basic ingredients that I managed to find, even in the middle of nowhere.

Aside from the spices, all you need is a can of diced or stewed tomatoes, onions, and kidney beans. If you want to add any meat to it, that's totally up to you. And honestly, if you can't find the spices in your local gong-show of a "store", you can ask someone to mail it to you from civilization or even order it off Amazon (I got desperate for cumin once...)

I like to eat this dish with rice or even on toast for breakfast! You can eat it cold or warmed up, and I know that sounds crazy but sometimes when you lose power, you can't really use the stove to heat it up.

This dish is filling and healthy, and will definitely help you poop properly again!

Check out the recipe here.

Mexican Cuisine

Carnitas

First of all, bless the Taco Gods and Goddesses for their unlimited taco combinations and for honouring me with a Latina partner.

Second of all, make your own salsa and tortillas- if I can do it with limited store options, you can too!

Making tacos from scratch is a sacred cooking experience, especially when you are missing some essentials like a grill and fresh ingredients. That is why you must plant your own cilantro in some empty pop cans and ask (beg) your sweet dear mother to send you a bag of 20 jalapeños in the express mail every-so-often...

It also helps to have a wonderful Latina partner who can guide you through the process of getting chile out of your eyes - use your hair to rub your eyes to get rid of the hellish burn!

I love to put some music on and just get right into making everything. Usually I'll make the salsa first as I need to boil the tomato, onion, garlic, and jalapeño before I blend it. That way it has time to cool down in the fridge while I make everything else.

For the carnitas, I use a slow cooker I found deep in my cabinets that was probably left over from the last tenant. After it's cooked, I broil it in the oven and my house smells delicious all day long.

Check out the recipe I used here.

Mexican Rice

This is a great one pan dish that can last for a couple days, and you can add meat to it too if you want.

I love how vibrant and flavourful the rice turns out, and due to all the added veggies, it often won't come out too al-dente or too mushy. Though the recipe doesn't really call for broccoli or zucchini, if I have it, I'm adding it!

What I also like about this dish, is that it doesn't necessarily have to be spicy (though most Mexican food is). I find that this dish is very flexible and I can usually find all the ingredients at the store without too much trouble.

And to top it off, I add some of my homegrown cilantro for that extra freshness that I don't have in my actual veggies!

You can find the recipe I use here.

Straight-Up Arctic

Maqtaa (Raw Whale)

Okay so this one is not something you'd really find in the store...

Maqtaa/Whale or Beluga skin and blubber is a real treat! At first, you might think "NO WAY", but trust me, you'll crave it.

The first time I had it, I was surprised at how un-fishy-like it tasted. Sure, it had the marine animal flavour to it, but I wouldn't say it tasted like fish. And it was definitely CHEWY.

People cut it into small pieces using their ulu, which is a traditional Inuit knife. Then you can eat it plain, with salt, or soy sauce. But if it is your first time trying it, don't eat too much... or you'll have the runs...

Beluga hunting is an amazing whole community experience. When a young hunter catches their first beluga, it's a real celebration- almost like a rite of passage in some places.

It is the women of the community's job to clean and chop it up after, as well as their job to distribute it out to the community members. It's quite a touching and bonding event and I am super honoured to have been there for it last year.

Now, before I move on to the last item on the menu...

I do want to mention that if you're not into eat a raw beluga, you can cook it with some veggie noodle stir-fry and it will be super tender and juicy. Fair warning though, it will SMELL.

Tuktu (Caribou)

Last but not least, Tuktu!

Tuktu, or known as caribou in English, is a delicious and well-craved for meat in the North. Besides muskox (which is found more in the Southern mainland of Nunavut), caribou is the only real land animal that is harvested. And due to wanting to maintain population growth and not decline, they are monitored and you can only harvest a limited amount per community.

Yay for not mass-slaughtering animals for mass-profit!

I love to eat tuktu raw or frozen, it has such a gentle taste, and the consistency is quite tender as well. The hind is my favorite, though the heart is also very delicious when fried with onions. Yum!

Another way to eat tuktu is in stews, just like adding beef. This is a great way to fill a lot of bellies with some warm comforting food. You can toss in carrots, onions, tomatoes, noodles, anything really. I promise you that you'll come back for seconds and thirds.

The last way to eat tuktu that I want to mention (as there are many other ways), is my second favorite.

Jerky!

In Inuktitut, you would call caribou jerky 'Mikku' or 'Nikpu'. You slice off thin pieces of raw meat and then leave it to dry on a metal rack for 2-3 days and then you're done. You can decide if you want to add seasoning or marinate it before drying, but it is delicious when plain too. It disappears very quickly though so keep yours eyes open... it's just too yummy!

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I hope you enjoyed reading about my international kitchen in my little arctic home. Maybe I gave you some ideas about substitutions, or new flavours. Maybe I've opened your mind and palate to some raw natural food.

Either way, bon appetit and nakurmiik!

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This post is part of the Vocal Cooks Collaborative! This is a great new way to share recipes through stories and experiences.

Click here for an index of all story-recipes.

Previous posts in this series include:

The Scotch Egg by Tom Bradbury

Mulled Ribena by Natasja Rose

Enjoy!