Dried halibut and whale jerky: how a traditional Inuit diet fuelled an epic kayak adventure

Mike Keen kayaking – complete with reindeer antlers – in Nuuk fjord on his 3,000km trip along Greenland’s west coast. Photograph: Nomad Greenland

For a period of two months last year, a typical day for chef Mike Keen would see him skipping breakfast and lunch in favour of snacks such as dried capelin (a small bait fish), dried halibut, jerky-like dried whale and a local Greenlandic whale skin and blubber treat called mattak.

• Mike Keen eats fermented seal blood in Sermilik fjord, east Greenland. Photograph: Mike Keen