Once a frontier for the most adventurous travelers only, Greenland It is quickly becoming a hot topic. Nuuk’s airport, the capital of the island, is now more accessible thanks to the opening of this long-anticipated international terminal. (Travel + Leisure Greenland is one of those places. best places to travel in 2025.)
As more visitors arrive, so too do the usual questions about how best to grow tourism while not diluting the unique qualities of a location. Local communities, businesses and tour operators are treading carefully. Adventure cruise company HX Expeditions It is one of those who are taking a more deliberate approach. Its collaboration with Greenlandic Chef Inunnguaq Hegelund Highlights the country’s culinary traditions, which are often overlooked.
David J. McDonald Greves is HX’s senior corporate executive chef. He calls Hegelund an innovator of New Arctic cuisine. McDonald Greves said, “As an experienced hunter, chef and fisherman, he has a wealth of knowledge about local practices and is passionate about showcasing the best that the Arctic offers.” His belief in the use of locally caught and farmed fish and ingredients that are sustainably sourced is perfectly aligned with HX’s mission. This partnership allows us tell Greenland’s culinary story using authentic voices while supporting a larger movement that is putting Arctic Cuisine on the map.
Meet Chef Inunnguaq Hegelund
Hegelund was just 5 years old when he hauled in his first catch—a hefty cod pulled from the waters off Paamiut, a southwestern Greenland town where he was born and raised. He was 9 when he began learning how to hunt with a gun under the supervision of his uncle. Wild flavors dominated his childhood: eating seabirds’ brains, crisping fish over open flames, or plucking berries right from the tundra. The most surprising turn in his culinary journey didn’t take place in the wilderness, but in his mother’s kitchen.
Around the age 10 he would pester his mother to bake cakes. She finally gave in to the pressure and handed him a recipe. That moment ignited a passion for cooking that lasted a lifetime. Ironically, baking didn’t stick—today, it’s one of his least favorite things to do. The early experiment did open a new door. At 14, he began washing dishes at local restaurants. A few years later he enrolled in culinary schools.
Hegelund, today, is at forefront of the industry. New Arctic Kitchen—a growing movement that blends Indigenous knowledge with modern techniques to spotlight the culinary heritage of Greenland and the wider Arctic region.
His personal philosophy is based on sustainability, food sovereignty and cultural preservation. He told T+L, “I want to help people understand our food culture and tradition.” Many people cannot understand it, because they live a highly industrialized life where they can get everything in one bag. Greenlanders are still connected to nature—something you don’t see in many places. Here, there are other values we need to take care. “Our world is becoming more and more modernized, so it’s dangerous to our food culture and tradition.”
HX Expeditions
Hegelund calls his homeland “the wildest kitchen in the world”—and for good reason. There is no farming. Nothing is farmed. To get halibut in winter, you may have to brave -40 degrees, go on a dog-sled out onto frozen ice fields and manually haul up the fish. Hegelund stated that “if I want musk, I’ll have to trek for days into the mountains in order to get it.” “And this is with everything. We do not have any cultivated shellfish or fish. “Everything is wild, and you don’t find that very often anymore.”
The respect for nature and hunting culture begins at an early age. Newborns join elders on trips into the wild—it’s an early introduction to a way of life where self-sufficiency is passed down like a language. When children reach their teens they often embark on their very first hunt. This is celebrated with a kaffemik—a gathering of family, friends, and neighbors to feast on whatever the new hunter brings home.
David J. McDonald Greves
In Greenland sustainability is a way to live. The people of Greenland have always lived in harmony with nature. They respect the elements, and are committed to passing a healthy environment on to future generations.
— David J. McDonald Greves
Hegelund said that hunting is so commonplace in Greenland that it’s often sold alongside bread and candy in stores. In Greenland hunting is essential to life, unlike in many other parts of the globe. For example, whaling remains an important part of cultural heritage as well as food security for those living in remoter parts of the island. Hunters must hold a licence and adhere to strict quotas. This keeps the ecosystem balanced while still allowing Indigenous Communities to maintain their lifestyle.
“We respect animals and nature so much.” Hegelund stated that Greenland has only one boss: nature. He added that animals were never taken for granted. “We use the entire animal, from skin to bone.”
Hegelund, who has been in the kitchen for two decades, still considers himself a student of Nature. “There’s something new every day.” Although I am very knowledgeable, I still have much more to learn.
HX Greenlandic Menu
HX Expeditions
Hegelund’s partnership allows him to bring his culinary philosophy to seas. The menu is more New Arctic and uses Greenlandic ingredients, he said. When you cook traditional Greenlandic cuisine, you’ll need fermented raw foods and other ingredients that aren’t allowed on ships, he told T+L.
HX Expedition’s cultural ambassador Niels Sanimuinaq Rasmussen—a native of Ittoqqortoormiit, a remote town in East Greenland—sees the cruise line’s culinary program as an opportunity to ease guests into Greenlandic cuisine, one plate at a time. Rasmussen stated that food is the best way to understand one another. The new menu is a drip-feed, introducing you to new flavors at a controlled rate. The menu is a progression of Greenlandic cuisine.”
What is Chef Hegelund’s best advice to visitors? Eat local. Greenland’s culture can only be understood by embracing its native ingredients, whether it’s whale sashimi, snow crab or musk-ox. But equally important is understanding the culture of Greenland. What is the best way to get in touch with you? Eat is How to get started You eat it. Greenland’s mealtimes are quiet rituals. Rasmussen stated that when we eat it is a quiet moment where we enjoy every flavor of the food and each other’s company. But we don’t need to talk. The rest of the day is ours to talk to each other. Enjoy the food, and enjoy each other’s company.”
HX’s four courses tasting menu debuts aboard the MS Fridtjof Nansen Hegelund is expected to take the helm in 2025. Throughout the sailing season, a rotating roster of local guest chefs—Laasi Biilmann, Jørgine Tobiassen, and Eli Nuka Johansson—is joining Hegelund, who said the group represents the present and future of Greenlandic cuisine.
The meal opens with scallop terrine—delicately topped with fennel crudités, sour onions, and apple—followed by a rich Greenlandic snow crab bisque. The main course is either a lamb dish made with South Greenlandic Lamb or a beef dish prepared with beetroots, salt-baked onions, and emulsion of herb butter. The meal concludes with a Greenlandic Apple Cake, accompanied by a salted-caramel sauce, vanilla icecream, and cocoa crackers.
Each course has a unique story. The apple cake pays homage to the way local cuisine has evolved over time. Hegelund stated that Greenlandic cuisine did not historically include desserts. Early sweets were a mixture of berries and Angelica, an aromatic herb. Or even seaweed with animal fat. Dry cakes were introduced to Greenland with the introduction of flour, while applesauce was only available in the early 1970s.
Even the inclusion on the menu of beef is a landmark. Musk ox, which has been a Greenlandic favorite for years, is now available on the ship, and it comes from Narsaq in the south, where the only cattle farmer of the country lives. “It is all new.” Hegelund told guests that they were among the first in the world who had eaten Greenlandic cattle.
Sustainability and local cooperation are the key elements of the program. 30 percent of ingredients are sourced from Greenlandic producers. “At HX, we see sustainability as long-term optimization—strengthening local economies, fostering community engagement, and minimizing environmental and cultural impact,” McDonald Greves told T+L. Sustainability is not just a buzzword in Greenland; it’s an everyday way of living. “People have always lived with nature in harmony, with a deep respect for elements and a dedication to pass on a healthy environmental environment to future generation.”
HX’s program, which is part cultural immersion and part culinary experience enhances the bond between travelers, the land, they have come to discover, and the place. McDonald Greves said, “I hope that guests will leave Greenland with a greater appreciation of the flavors and ingredients as well as a better understanding of its culture and culinary tradition.” Greenlandic chefs are on hand to prepare, teach and tell the stories behind the dishes. The goal is an unforgettable culinary adventure that highlights Greenland’s rich food history.
