The topic of salt...

Before I'll start writing about my first two weeks here in Nuuk, I would like to make a small input about the mineral salt. This mineral is really one of those small things in life that certainly makes a big difference. Something I've come to notice living here in Nuuk. The thing is I rarely think of salt in my daily life and I think this is because it's always there. So when it's not there anymore one truely sees the amazing things salt does to ones everyday life.

For some reason Greenland seems to have lost out on this wonder mineral, or at least their lacking a bit behind. Of course there's plenty of salt here in the North, otherwise there wouldn't be any people around, but that being said salt doesn't seem to have gained any ground in the more practical areas of its use.

F.ex. there are two places were I find the use of salt most valuable - on the road and in the food. However, here Greenland seems to disagree with me for neither on the road nor in the food does salt seemed to ever be used. Never ever.

Nuuk being placed where it is on the globe and weather being what it is in Febuary, roads up here tend be rather icy on some days. Especially in these days where it's warm during the day, resulting in the snow/ice to melt and nights being cold resulting in the snow/ice to freeze up again making the roads as slippery as skating rings. Here the use of salt would, at least in my opinion, be most advantageous. However for some reason it's never used. Nore is any other similar substance such as ruble used instead. No, every morning one has to slowly and carefully try to make ones way down to the nearest buststop without falling too many times on ones behind while at the same time trying not to look like bambi skating on, well, ice. The strage thing is that there are plenty of excavators and trator shovels out each morning clearing the roads from the non-exist snow but none of them spread salt behind them. They just drive and up and down the roads for no reason what so ever (expect of course to employ the people driving them...)and seem perfectly carefree of the fact that the roads are in fact covered in ice.

An even stranger thing is that the Greenlanders don't actually seem very fond of ice or anything connected to ice such as ice skating. So far I haven't seen a single person ice skating or enjoying walking on an icy road, and the one place were a laying of ice would be most appropriate, meaning the towns skating ring, there is none at all. It stands desolated and deserted without any ice, but has instead three old sofas placed in the middle. Sofas which do however seem to be much loved by the local dogs. It's all very odd...

Food, as I mentioned above, is another place where I find the use of salt most beneficial. At my work, we have a cantine which in my belief has a great potential of improvement. The food is not only poor in taste (due to the lack of salt obviously), the choice of courses are ancient. Among the choices this week were fried pork with parsley sauce (stegt flæsk m persillesovs), dumplings in curry (boller i karry), pork loin with red cabbage and potatos (flæskesteg m rødkål og kartofler) and lobscouse (skipperlabskovs). Even with a proper seasoning these dishs aren't really to my taste, but the complete lack of seasoning altogether certainly doesn't improve their quality, eventhough one might have thought so. I am quite sure that just a pinch of salt would make a world of difference. Unfortunately, salt is not avaliable at the tables or at the hand out of the food. So either, one has to bring ones own salt, which seems a bit overacted or one simply has to do without the posibility to taste what one is eating.

Looking on the bright side of this situation is of course that most days I don't have to time eat and is therefore not obliged to make that hard choice:-) And so, as I often say, there is no thing so bad that it's not good for something(Intet er så galt, at det ikke er godt for noget).

And now with that fact I will leave my computer in order to cook some nice, seasoned, food for dinner, and I will leave this input and wish you, the reader, a bon appétit for your next meal. And please, remember to season your food with salt:-)