Quark Expeditions Explores Inuit Culinary Traditions with “Tundra to Table”
The program allows guests to experience first-hand the culinary traditions of the Inuit in Greenland and Nunavut – the only polar operator to offer this kind of culinary collaboration with local Inuit chefs.
Solan Jensen, former Expedition Leader and current Director of Expedition Planning and Innovation.
Quark Expeditions has been operating for 30 years in Northern Canada and the company is boosting its immersive culinary offerings with the “Tundra to Table” program, available on select itineraries. The program allows guests to experience first-hand the culinary traditions of the Inuit in Greenland and Nunavut – the only polar operator to offer this kind of culinary collaboration with local Inuit chefs.
“The Tundra to Table program was co-founded with Igapall, a Greenlandic culinary project highlighting Greenlandic Chefs and Inuit cuisine. It was built to bring an intimate Inuit chef food experience on the ship,” Solan Jensen, former Expedition Leader and current Director of Expedition Planning and Innovation, told Travel Market Report Canada before their event in downtown Toronto at the AGO last Thursday.
“The tourism we do in the polar regions is all based off our ships, it’s the groundwork of our operations. We might go into a community in the Arctic to interact with the locals, or visit in their homes, or out on the land in various facilities.”
Jensen says the chefs source what they can from local producers and are on hand throughout the food experience to explain the process on things like traditional styles of harvesting and plant ecology.
“This is about, modern Greenlandic; chefs sharing their history and legacy of food now,” Jensen explains.
“Tundra to Table” was created in partnership with Igapall, a project highlighting Greenlandic chefs and Inuit Cuisine, whose chefs Iben Lange and Miki Siegstad created the dishes for the event. Proceeds from the program will support existing food-focused initiatives in the Arctic, as well as encourage the development of new, grassroots food-focused projects in Inuit Nunangat (Inuit homeland in Canada) and Greenland.
“The program was born out of our relationship with the founders of Igapall, whose goal is to share Greenlandic cuisine,” adds Jensen. “They do pop ups all over Greenland and elsewhere. Together we asked ourselves, could we bring Igapall to a Quark Expedition ship?
“At a basic level The Tundra to Table program comes from building relationship with local people and thinking together about what we can do together,” says Jensen.
“Over these initial years the Chefs have developed this experience into a platform to share their history and tell their stories in a contemporary fine-dining context aboard Quark’s flagship the MV Ultramarine. Ultimately, it is about sharing essential connection between land, food and culture as we travel the land and sea together.
This isn’t just a Quark program. This is Quark and Igapall together building Tundra to Table which has now taken on a life of its own. It’s amazing.“
*note: “Tundra to Table” is available on the following itineraries:
Arctic 2025
- West Greenland Ice Odyssey: Glaciers and Icebergs
- Northwest Passage: The Legendary Arctic Sea Route
- Canada’s Remote Arctic: Northwest Passage to Ellesmere and Axel Heiberg Islands
- Gems of West Greenland: Fjords, Icebergs, and Culture
- South Greenland Adventure: The Majestic Alpine Arctic
- Northwest Passage to Newfoundland: Glaciers, Mountains and Wildlife
Arctic 2026
