HX Expeditions Partners With Chef Inunnguaq Hegelund to Bring Local Ingredients and New Arctic Cuisine on Its Sailings

Once a remote frontier reserved for only the most intrepid travelers, Greenland is quickly stepping into the spotlight. The opening of the long-anticipated international airport in Nuuk, the island’s capital, has made this vast, ice-covered territory more accessible than ever. (Travel + Leisure even named Greenland one of the best places to travel in 2025.)

As more travelers arrive, so do the familiar questions about how to grow tourism without diluting what makes a place special. Local communities, businesses, and, increasingly, tour operators, are treading with care. Adventure cruise company HX Expeditions is among those taking a more intentional approach. Its new collaboration with Greenlandic chef Inunnguaq Hegelund spotlights the country’s often-overlooked culinary traditions through an on board dining program featuring local ingredients and stories.

HX’s senior corporate operational executive chef David J. McDonald Greves calls Hegelund a pioneer of New Arctic cuisine. “As a skilled hunter, fisherman, and chef, he brings deep knowledge of local practices and a passion for showcasing what the Arctic has to offer,” McDonald Greves told T+L. “His belief in using sustainably sourced and locally caught and farmed ingredients aligns perfectly with our mission at HX. This partnership allows us to tell Greenland’s culinary story through authentic voices, while also supporting a broader movement that is putting Arctic cuisine on the global map.”

Meet Chef Inunnguaq Hegelund

Hegelund was just 5 years old when he hauled in his first catch—a hefty cod pulled from the waters off Paamiut, a southwestern Greenland town where he was born and raised. By 9, he was learning to hunt reindeer with a rifle under the watchful eye of his uncle. His childhood was defined by wild flavors: eating seabird brains, fish crisped over open flames, and plucking berries straight from the tundra. Yet the most unexpected turn in his early culinary story didn’t happen in the wilderness; it started in his mother’s kitchen.

Around the age of 10, he kept pestering his mom to bake cakes. Eventually worn down by the requests, she handed over a recipe and that moment sparked a lifelong interest in the kitchen. Ironically, baking didn’t stick—today, it’s one of his least favorite things to do. But that early experiment opened a door: by 14, he was washing dishes in a local restaurant, and a few years later, he was enrolled in culinary school.

Today, Hegelund stands at the forefront of New Arctic Kitchen—a growing movement that blends Indigenous knowledge with modern techniques to spotlight the culinary heritage of Greenland and the wider Arctic region.

His personal approach is rooted in sustainability, food sovereignty, and cultural preservation. “I hope to bring an understanding of our food culture and traditions,” he told T+L. “Many people can’t understand it because they live in a very industrialized world where they get everything in a bag. Greenlanders are still connected to nature—something you don’t see in many places. Here, we have other values that we have to really take care of. Our world is getting more and more modernized so, of course, it’s dangerous for our food culture and traditions.”

Hegelund calls his homeland “the wildest kitchen in the world”—and for good reason. Nothing is cultivated. Nothing is farmed. Even sourcing something as seemingly simple as halibut can mean braving -40 degree temperatures in the depths of winter, heading out by dog sled to frozen ice fields, and hauling up fish by hand. “If I need musk ox, I have to go into the mountains for days to get my meat,” Hegelund said. “And that’s with everything. We don’t have any cultivated fish or shellfish. Everything is wild and you don’t see that in many places anymore.”

That reverence for nature and the culture around hunting begins early. Newborns join elders on trips into the wild—it’s an early introduction to a way of life where self-sufficiency is passed down like a language. By the time children reach their teens, many embark on their first independent hunt, which is then celebrated with a kaffemik—a gathering of family, friends, and neighbors to feast on whatever the new hunter brings home.

Hegelund explained that hunting is such an everyday part of life that hunting rifles are often sold in shops alongside candy and bread. But unlike many parts of the world, hunting in Greenland is an essential lifeline. Whaling, for example, remains a cornerstone of both cultural heritage and food security for people living on more remote parts of the island. (Hunters are required to hold a license and follow strict quotas; the regulations keep the ecosystem in balance while still allowing Indigenous communities to maintain their way of life.)

“We have so much respect for animals and nature. We know there’s only one boss in Greenland: nature,” Hegelund said, adding that animals are never taken for granted. “We use all of the animal, from the skin to the bone.”

Even after two decades in the kitchen, Hegelund still sees himself as a student of nature. “There’s always something new. While I know a lot, I still have a lot to learn.”

HX’s Greenlandic Menu

Hegelund’s partnership with HX lets the chef take his food philosophy to the seas. He noted the menu leans more New Arctic with Greenlandic ingredients. “When you make traditional Greenlandic food, you need raw, fermented foods and ingredients that are not allowed on the ship,” he told T+L.

HX Expedition’s cultural ambassador Niels Sanimuinaq Rasmussen—a native of Ittoqqortoormiit, a remote town in East Greenland—sees the cruise line’s culinary program as an opportunity to ease guests into Greenlandic cuisine, one plate at a time. “Food is the one way we understand each other best,” Rasmussen said. “The new offerings are a small drip feed, as it introduces you to new flavors in a controlled level. The menu is an evolution of Greenlandic food.”

HX’s four-course tasting menu made its debut aboard the MS Fridtjof Nansen on May 24, 2025 under the helm of Hegelund. Throughout the sailing season, a rotating roster of local guest chefs—Laasi Biilmann, Jørgine Tobiassen, and Eli Nuka Johansson—is joining Hegelund, who said the group represents the present and future of Greenlandic cuisine.

The meal opens with scallop terrine—delicately topped with fennel crudités, sour onions, and apple—followed by a rich Greenlandic snow crab bisque. For the main course, diners choose between locally sourced South Greenlandic lamb or a beef dish served with beetroot, salt-baked onion, and an herb butter emulsion. Rounding out the meal is a Greenlandic apple cake accompanied with a salted caramel sauce, vanilla ice cream, and a cocoa cracker.

Each course tells a story. The apple cake, for example, pays homage to how the local cuisine has adapted over time. Hegelund said Greenlandic cuisine didn’t historically have desserts. Early sweet treats were often a mix of berries with Angelica (an aromatic herb), or even seaweed and animal fat. The introduction of flour brought dry cakes to Greenland, and applesauce arrived only in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Even the inclusion of beef on the menu marks a milestone. Musk ox has long been a staple in Greenlandic kitchens, but the beef on board is sourced from the only cattle farmer in the entire country, located in the southern town of Narsaq. “It’s all really new. You’re some of the first guests in the world to eat Greenlandic cow,” Hegelund said. 

Sustainability and local collaboration are at the core of the program, as 30 percent of the ingredients are sourced directly from Greenlandic producers. “At HX, we see sustainability as long-term optimization—strengthening local economies, fostering community engagement, and minimizing environmental and cultural impact,” McDonald Greves told T+L. “In Greenland, sustainability is not a trend; it’s a way of life. People have always lived in balance with nature, with deep respect for the elements and a commitment to passing on a healthy environment to future generations.”

Part cultural immersion, part culinary experience, HX’s program deepens the connection between travelers and the land they’ve come to explore. “I hope guests leave with a deeper appreciation for the unique flavors and ingredients of Greenland, along with a richer understanding of the country’s culture and culinary traditions,” McDonald Greves added. “With local Greenlandic chefs on board to cook, educate, and share the stories behind each dish, the goal is to deliver an unforgettable culinary journey that highlights Greenland’s rich food heritage.”