Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Sep 09/02) - A love of country food and an interest in teaching cooking skills landed Mary Ekho Wilman one of the most interesting jobs in the North in the 1970s.

A lifelong resident of the Iqaluit area, Mary grew up watching her mother prepare seal, caribou, fish and a variety birds.

Mary's roasted seal meat Ingredients 1 good sized piece seal meat (about 1 kilogram or 2 pounds) 1 can cream of mushroom soup 1 package of onion soup mix Procedure Place seal meat in piece of aluminum foil. Spread can of mushroom soup over the top of the seal meat. Sprinkle onion soup mix on top. Seal the foil. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes depending on how well done diners prefer their meat. The meat and soup mix will make their own gravy. Serve with freshly baked palaugaaq (bannock).

The family would eat the animals raw or frozen or after they were boiled.

"Inuit traditionally have a very basic diet, nothing like English foods," said Mary.

At school in Churchill, Man., she learned more Southern ways of food preparation.

When she returned home to Iqaluit and landed a job with the Department of Education teaching home management. That position gave her the opportunity to combine both methods of cooking, blending the two cultures.

"It was at the time when the federal government was introducing modern housing. People were moving out of their huts or shacks and were being exposed to electric stoves for the first time," said Mary.

She travelled to hamlets around the Baffin region to teach people selected by the community how to cook in modern kitchens.

The idea was that the students -- or leaders as they were called -- would teach the rest of the community what they had learned.

"We trained them to hold their own classes. It was all conducted in Inuktitut."

Mary said people showed an immediate interest in the courses and in collecting and trading recipes.

The interest was so high, she said she would cut recipes out of magazines and translate them into Inuktitut.

"We used as much of our own food as possible. We taught how to make a pot roast from seal meat and caribou meat."

Decades after the job ended and her own culinary tastes broadened, Mary still returns to her roots when the food cravings hit.

In fact, by sampling the fare other cultures have to offer, Mary said she's gained a much stronger appreciation for traditional Inuit food.

"It wasn't until I had other varieties of food to compare country food to that I even developed a favourite," said Mary.

"When you're around it so much, it's just there, part of your diet. Now, I really long for seal meat. It's the richest food."