Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (July 01/02) - Meat is a big part of life in Nunavut. Whether it's eaten raw, frozen, boiled or fried, it makes an appearance at just about every meal.

And now, with most of the snow gone and the ice melting more every day -- and this week marking the summer's first holiday -- Nunavummiut are starting to turn off their stoves and turn on their barbecues.

There's nothing more pleasing to the palate than a pile of muskox chops done medium-rare or a marinated rack-of-caribou roasting away on the briquettes.

It's enough to start mouths watering and minds wandering about the evening's approaching feast.

Kane Tologanak is what some might call an enthusiast at the grill. Kicking off the barbecue season in Cambridge Bay nearly four weeks ago, Tologanak is cooking in style these days on a stainless-steel barbecue -- the stuff which dreams are made of.

"For many years, I wanted a half-decent barbecue that would last more than a couple of seasons," says Tologanak. "Now I think I got one."

The unit boasts a main rack, a roaster, a warmer, a stove-like burner on the side and a condiment rack -- all for the (relatively) low price of around $500.

But, as these things go, it's not the barbecue that turns out a good meal as much as it is the flair of the cook at the grill.

"You name it, I've tried it," says Tologanak.

Almost.

If he had just one meal left and he could cook it on the barbecue, Tologanak said he'd go for a 16-ounce moose steak -- a meat he's yet to try on the coals.

In the meantime, until he manages to save enough moose from the winter to cut into steaks for the summer, Tologanak is content to barbecue char, Atlantic seafood when the price is right, steaks, pork chops, wieners and caribou meat.

With more than enough food to go around for the folks who regularly drop by -- Tologanak has a reputation at the grill -- he said the trick was to get to know your barbecue and the characteristics of the meat.

"You have to plan what you're going to start with and end with so everything is ready at the same time," he says.

"But sooner or later it all becomes routine."

Keith Peterson, also a resident of Cambridge Bay, isn't as picky about having the food done at the same time. In fact, he prefers his specialty -- burgers -- to finish early.

"That way you can eat a burger while you're cooking everyone else's food," laughs Peterson.

He says the key to a good burger is its preparation, a task he leaves to his wife's expertise.

"She puts lots of spices and onions and bread and then when they're done, we put onions and ketchup, relish, cheese, tomato. It's pretty good," he says.

But not everyone prefers to stand behind a fancy, manufactured barbecue. Leena Evic-Twerdin prefers to cook out in a more traditional way.

"One way we used to do it that we still use it to use three rocks of the same height to build a stand and then you place a pot on top of that," she explains.

"Then you gather enough heather (qijuttaat) to cook a meal or make tea. You keep that going until you're done," she says. "It's very easy."

As for her meat of choice while sitting outside her tent and watching the Sylvia Grinnell River flow by, Evic-Twerdin says she chooses caribou every time.

"It gets such a wonderful flavour from the fire. When we're camping out, we eat it on its own, boiled, or put it into a stew type of meal with vegetables."

The only problem as far as she knows is finding the time to be at the river's edge as much as she'd like.

"The river is just lovely. I wish I could be there most of the time."