ARCTIC MEAL
Course 2 // Graved ptarmigan with blueberry reduction, pickled chantarelle, Swedish capers and red beetroot crisps

Vegetarian or non-vegetarian?
One of the major challenges in the "Arctic Meal" project for me as a vegetarian was deciding, whether the dinner should be vegetarian or non-vegetarian. I usually always strongly advocate for food that is entirely vegan or vegetarian at events in Germany, but this time the aim was to understand the identity of a region. After many conversations in advance, including with the chef Jonathan, who by the way is himself a vegetarian, I then decided that the dinner would only work if it represented all facets of a culture shaped by fish and meat.

#PTARMIGAN is affected by shorter winters and an unstable snow cover which cause a mismatch between its white winter plumage and a dark, snow-free landscape, making the birds more vulnerable to predators. Warming temperatures also lead to shrub expansion across tundra and moorland, reducing suitable habitat and altering food availability.

#BERRIES in northern and Arctic regions (such as cloudberry, lingonberry, bilberry/blueberry, and crowberry) are also strongly threatened by climate change: The main threat is not warming alone, but disrupted seasons, disrupted flowering and pollination. Disrupted snow conditions, insects, and ecosystem shifts.

TRUMPET CHANTARELLES is not disappearing outright, but climate-driven instability is turning a once reliable late-autumn mushroom into an increasingly uncertain presence, a marker of a northern forest losing climatic consistency. We served BLUEBERRY wine with and without alcohol with this dish.

[I was an artist in residence at #Ricklundgården in #Saxnäs, #Sweden for the last weeks and created a conceptual meal ("Arctic Meal") in cooperation with the local chef Jonathan Johansson illustrating the impacts of the climate crisis on northern Sweden and the #Arctic].

#art #conceptualart #jonathanjohansson #climatecrisis #arcticmeal

A couple more ptarmigan pictures from last week up on Lochnagar. The ptarmigan name comes from the Scottish Gaelic ‘tarmachan’, which translates as ‘croaker’ #Ptarmigan #CairngormsNP #Scotland https://getmona.app/rich_text/590624072265

Das Alpenschneehuhn ist an kühle Lebensräume angepasst und kommt in Island auch in tieferen Lagen vor. Es wechselt im Jahresverlauf sein Gefieder von weiß im Winter zu gesprenkeltem Tarnkleid im Sommer.
10.06.2025 10.06.2025, #Iceland #Westfjords #ptarmigan #Alpenschneehuhn [1]

Das Alpenschneehuhn ist ein überraschender Bewohner Islands und zeigt sich hier im rauen, offenen Gelände des Þingvellir. Seine Tarnung schützt es vor Fressfeinden, während es ruhig durch die karge Landschaft streift.
18.05.2025, #Iceland #Thingvellir #ptarmigan #bird #Alpenschneehuhn [2]

New sona, he is a willow ptarmigan human thing and kind of stupid #art #oc #ptarmigan

Up on the tops today. The snow is leaving and the locals are getting their summer coats out #CairngormsNP #Scotland #Ptarmigan #MountainHare