One of the first places I cooked for a bunch of people was at the annual reindeer round-up near Tuktoyaktuk, North West Territories. Every June the Nasogaluak family who owned the reindeer herd at that time, would bring in a crew to an old abandoned dew line station on the Beaufort Sea east of Tuktoyaktyuk. The area is Arctic tundra at its finest, no trees but hills and hummocks that could turn an ankle with ease. Later, in June this same barren, muddy tundra would be covered with paintbox coloured flowers with names I did not know.
For the 2 weeks the crew with the important assistance of helicopter and 3 wheelers would round up about 10,000 reindeer and bring them into a series of corrals to cut off their horns. The horns would be shipped fresh to primarily Asian countries where they were used medicinally.
My job was to cook for a crew of about 25 to 40 people who pretty much worked around the clock when the reindeer were in the pens. The old dew line base was a primitive facility with no running water or electricity. I had only a small stove whose oven door would not close properly and a coleman camp cooker.
It was here that I learned to make dried meat, reindeer stew and perfected my bannock making. The crew did not want or expect fancy food, just large quantities of hot, filling fare and endless pots of coffee and tea. What a blast it was!!
There is nothing like the site of several thousand reindeer coming toward you over the tundra.
It was here that I learned to make dried meat, reindeer stew and perfected my bannock making. The crew did not want or expect fancy food, just large quantities of hot, filling fare and endless pots of coffee and tea. What a blast it was!!
There is nothing like the site of several thousand reindeer coming toward you over the tundra.
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