Inuvik (Dec 05/03) - Inuvik may now be known for an inventive recipe featuring Arctic cranberries.

The Cooking Ladies have logged a lot of miles cris-crossing North America in search of new recipes, but for these two ladies the road to Inuvik was the best trip.

Mobile chefs-extraordinaire Lamont Mackay (left) and Phyllis Hinz have included their sojourn in Inuvik in their "Recipes From the Road" travel/cookbook. - Jason Unrau/NNSL photo

In their new book Recipes from the Road -- part travelogue, part cookbook -- Phyllis Hinz and Lamont Mackay document their journeys and new dishes sampled and served throughout the pair's travels around the continent.

"It was wonderful," said Hinz of the trip to Inuvik. "Of all our journeys, the North country was definitely the most interesting."

While in Inuvik, the ladies hooked up with Judith Venaas, RWED regional tourism officer, an acquaintance they made during previous travels.

Venaas provided the gals some Arctic cranberries and voila, a cranberry, brie and scallop salad was born -- to be found on page 54 of their book, along with a nice write-up about Inuvik.

And, during a visit to Tuktoyaktuk they actually enjoyed muktuk -- something not very common among outsiders who sample the local cuisine for the first time.

"I enjoyed it very much," said Mackay. "It had a strange texture but tasted quite good."

Friends and business partners since 1979, the pair have owned and operated a variety of restaurants over the years. In 1998, they sold their businesses, their homes and pretty much everything else and bought a 40-foot motorhome.

Their mission: to create as many recipes using indigenous produce as they could and to collect a like-number of anecdotes.

Do they ever tire of each other's company, cooped up in their mobile home?

"We've got the biggest backyard in the world," said Mackay. "So, we can have our space if we want."

Now that backyard includes Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk and the Cooking Ladies hope to visit again sometime soon.

Maybe they should meet the Fruitman.