Abstract

In the second half of the 19th century, polar expeditions were sent to the Arctic from many European countries, as attempts were made to sail through the Northeast Passage and cross Greenland. Well-known explorers included A. E. Nordenskiöld from Sweden and Fridtjof Nansen from Norway. This chapter examines the travel meals of Nordic polar expeditors, using memoir literature written by them. Food had to be very high in energy, and its composition had to be carefully thought out in advance, but food was more than sustenance for the polar expeditors. Although they were often very fearless travellers, they associated food with a wide range of emotions. The chapter also takes into account the identities of the explorers as combined with food, i.e. the eating habits that reflect the food habits of their home countries. Nordic explorers felt proud of knowing how to survive in snow and ice. Bold and resourceful foodstuffs were one way to show national courage: according to Nansen, people hungry enough would eat even their own dogs. The flip side was that Nordic explorers were regarded as rather barbaric in other countries. For the British, resorting to dog meat would have been like eating a person.