From the icy depths

The people of Greenland live on the world's biggest island - and it's full of rich, natural resources. But it's an ice-encrusted land, locked in frozen oceans for much of the year.

A respect for nature has been borne out of necessity. For thousands of years, Greenlanders relied utterly on what nature was willing to yield and, by the barrier of ice it created between man and fish, it seems nature wasn't that willing to give up much of its resources.

Fishing and hunting (reindeer, musk oxen, whales and seals) have been the life-blood of the Greenlandic Inuits through the centuries as they battled to live in one of the world's most inhospitable of climates where temperatures can plummet to -40°C.

This battle with nature means that when a seal is caught, every last bit of the carcass is used. The skin makes for the best cold-proof clothing around, and the meat and all the insides are eaten - raw, sliced kidneys and fried intestines are popular fare.

In the northern town of Ilulissat, whale bones were used to make the small turf dwellings that, until as recently as 1953, housed families as large as 12, and today you'll find whale carpaccio and curry on the menu. One delicacy will not be to the taste of all Europeans - fried balls of whale skin and blubber.

Much of Greendlandic folklore is based on the environment. Legend has it that if you catch more fish than you can eat, the mother of the sea, Saasuma, grows very angry. She'll gather her long black hair to round up all the fish and without fish the people will die. Only when the shaman Angukok has eventually been able to untangle all the hair, will the fish come back.

It could be that the Inuits have now made their peace with Saasuma, for Greenland's

biggest industry is fishing and accounts for 93% of all exports. The largest company is Royal Greenland and it prides itself on exporting some of the finest cold-water prawns and halibut in the world.

But such is the grip of Mother Nature that fishing during the winter months is practically unchanged since the island's first inhabitants walked across a frozen Arctic Ocean from Canada around 2,500 BC.

A fisherman will cross over mountains and travel to the middle of a frozen fjord by dog sled, dig a hole in the ice, drop his line and camp out for several days with only his dogs and the fantastically mysterious northern lights for company.

The aurora borealis are said to be the gods playing Greenlandic football in the sky with the head of a walrus.

Should they ever get a team in to the world cup, the likes of Rooney, Beckham and Owen would have more than a little broken bone in their foot to worry about, as the game is played to the death.

Where frozen food is standard fare

Chef Kim Pederson moved from Denmark to the "international gateway" of Greenland 10 years ago.

The tourists in Kangerlussaq, a town in the west of the country with a population of 500, come for the polar ice cap and the hunting. They'll stay in the town's one hotel, which doubles up as the airport terminal, or in the hostels 2km down the road. But, after a day outdoors, it's often Kim's Rowing Club where they'll head for their supper.

The Rowing Club is also a popular spot for the locals and midweek a bus is laid on to bring customers in for theme nights, such as Mexican or Japanese nights.

But it's dealing with the local produce that excites Kim. After serving up a lunch of musk ox burgers and reindeer meatballs, served with pickled cucumber, Kim takes us to the kitchen to show why he so enjoys the Greenlandic life.

One of his team is busy butchering a reindeer carcass that has been newly shot and delivered by one of the town's many hunters. The musk ox comes delivered by the same route.

"Because there are so few germs in Greendland because of the cold, we are able to do everything here in the kitchen. You could never butcher like this in Europe," explains Kim.

"I do try to do the same classic French cuisine I was trained in, but adapted to local ingredients. Some of my favourite dishes are simple things such as shrimp from Royal Greenland with olive oil and basil, fried Greenlandic red fish or scallops baked in Baracello ham. The local crab is also fantastic."

Dishes on the menu at the Rowing Club include whale carpaccio, home-cured reindeer and Greenlandic blackberry tart with crème fraîche and lime.

But he struggles with the lack of freshness. "It is very hard to work here as you cannot get everything fresh and when you want it. I have a freezer full of meat - it's delivered to us fresh and we will cut it and freeze it ourselves. Vegetables come in by plane twice a week and for special ingredients, I have an agent who comes from the capital, Nuuk, twice a year with a catalogue. Although I can still get lighter fruit and vegetables by plane from January to March, I have to order most of the ingredients I need before the ice freezes over. The first ship comes through again at Easter."

Greenland by numbers

2

The number of traffic lights on Greenland

16

The number of cows in Greenland

85

The percentage of Greenland

covered in ice

93

The percentage of all exports from Greenland derived from fish products

1979

The year Greenland acquired home rule from the Danes (although Greenland remains part of the Danish Realm) and adopted its own national flag

2,500 BC

The year (roughly), when Inuits from northern Canada crossed the ice-covered Arctic to become Greenland's first dwellers

4,211

The total number of vehicles in Greenland, including 2,974 cars, 224 taxis, 37 ambulances and four motorcycles

56,969

The number of people living on the world's biggest island (it's bigger than western Europe) - an equivalent population to that of Essex holiday town Clacton-on-Sea

Arctic by name...

The Arctic Hotel in Ilulissat on the north west coast of Greenland is situated in one of the most spectacular locations. The sea view is marked with gloriously large icebergs that have calved off the polar ice cap and made their way down the packed Icefiord on the start of their journey south. And it is this view that ties Micael Mortensen to his adopted country.

Micael is from Denmark and has worked in Michelin-starred restaurants, such as the Kommandanten, in Copenhagen, but four years ago made the move to Greenland. "Every day I come to work and look out over the icebergs - it's a view I could never get tired of. I work in one of the best-equipped kitchens I have ever worked in. But, while I am 43 and can no longer work 13 to 14 hours in the kitchen like I did five years ago, I still have the heart for the food."

Micael says that the standard of fish he works with at the Arctic is second to none. "The quality of fish here is world class. You get the best halibut, catfish and red fish you could imagine. My favourite is the trout in summer time - it's superb - and the snow crab."

Although Ilulissat is Greenland's third-biggest city, it only has a population of 5,000. The men fish and Michael has a close relationship with his suppliers, living as they do on his doorstep.

He also deals with the hunters who deliver to the back door of the hotel. Micael says that he could not ask for better reindeer, musk ox and lamb, but one big problem is the availability of vegetables as well as the fact that he has to use frozen meat.

"I would say 70% of my customers are from Greenland so I will make normal restaurant food for them. But the tourists want to see reindeer, musk ox, halibut and other Greenlandic fish on the menu."

His dishes include: oven-baked halibut grated with snow crab; fish soup with red fish served with Greenlandic shrimps baked in filo; fillet of reindeer with beans and almonds served with mustard potatoes and blackberry sauce, and chocolate cake and vanilla pears served with granita of plums.

Recipe from Royal Greenland

Fillet of halibut with beurre blanc and prawn kebab with red sauce (Serves 4)

600g/1lb 5oz filleted halibu