Arctic Char Tacos from Nirjutit Imaani Cookbook

This recipe for Arctic Char Tacos is adapted from the recipe for Iqaluk Tacos (contributed by Jean Fisk and Edward Atkinson) from the cookbook, Nirjutit Imaani – Edible Animals of the Sea.  The cookbook was published by Nunavut Arctic College Media in 2021 and my friends Sheila Flaherty, Lindsay Anderson, and Dana VanVeller were contributors. Like most of the recipes in this cookbook, the ingredient might be traditional, but the recipe reflects the contemporary life in Northern Canada.

Chef Sheila Flaherty

Sheila Flaherty is the chef/founder of Sijjakkut, an Inuit culinary tourism venture, and she’s also the Nunavut Director of the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada. I did not get to meet Sheila when I visited Nunavut in 2023 but, through a dear mutual friend, we exchanged cookbooks and now keep in touch through social media. 

I think Nirjutit Imaani is one of the most important books ever written to keep cultural knowledge intact. The recipes for seal, Arctic char, and turbot come from over 40 community members living in the 25 Nunavut communities. These foods are known as country food or Inuksiutit. As Sheila says, “In Nunavut, food is so much more than sustenance. It holds a history of tradition, survival, medicine, storytelling, taste, place, and of providing for loved ones and neighbours.”

Reclaiming a culture

Sharing is the dominant cultural value I experienced on my brief visit. When someone returns from a hunt, the food is shared and people are grateful. People were very keen to share Narwhal, Beluga, and Arctic char with me on my visit. Maybe sometimes it was just to see my reaction to a new taste and texture and have a chuckle at my facial expressions, but they still shared and we all laughed together. 

With colonization values imposed upon them, the people of the North, have lost much of their traditional diet and all the health benefits that went with it. This cookbook shares vital skills for living off the sea. The Inuit tools needed are included as are methods for how to harvest and cook seal, and how to filet, clean, and cook and smoke fish. Each skill is broken down with step-by-step photos and carefully drawn illustrations. The book is also written in English, Inuktitut, and the local dialect for the region the recipe came from. 

A group of community leaders were away presenting a policy to the United Nations when I visited. They want the Canadian government to take the money they spend on food subsidies for Nunavut and instead pay hunters to hunt and feed communities the traditional foods that better suit their health and food security. I’ll write more about food sovereignty for the Inuit of Nunavut in another post. For now, let me say, how much I love this cookbook.

Traditional methods; Contemporary recipes

Though traditional methods for harvesting and preparing these traditional foods are included, the recipes are thoroughly contemporary. Some of my favourites include a Sweet and Sour Seal Stir-Fry, Turbot Coconut Curry, Turbot Biryani, Arctic Char Sushi, Arctic Char Creole and the very approachable and highly shareable, Arctic Char Tacos included here.

I am sure I will use and treasure this cookbook my entire life. Thank you Sheila for sharing this beautiful reflection of your culture’s way of being. I promise to savour it all. 

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