Proximity to nature - a major theme of Finnish EU cuisine

Promoters of Finnish food culture help prepare for EU Presidency

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By Anna Paljakka
     
      Advocates of Finnish food and Finnish food culture have joined forces with the help of the Finnish Food information Service Finfood as Finland prepares to take on the EU Presidency in July.
      "The presence of nature is reflected in the planning of menus, the way the table is set, in after dinner speeches, and in food items that are given as gifts", states a booklet for organisers of meetings and caterers.
     
Hopefully an incident of the kind that took place in the Presidential Palace some years ago will not be repeated. At that time there was a butler at the palace who emphasised the importance of the proximity to nature. The table decorations contained moss and lichens from the Finnish forest. Eyewitnesses say that In the middle of the state dinner, large insects started crawling out from the decorations, onto the table cloth.
      "A typical characteristic for us Finns, which distinguishes us from others, is that by European standards we have much nature, and we are close to it", write Tiina Lampisjärvi and Mirja Hellstedt.
      Nor is there any denying that the Finnish food and drink culture has had influences from both east and west.
      There has even been a greater international trend, with Finns applying international elements to their tastes. Finnish cooks are successful abroad, and Michelin starts have been granted to Helsinki restaurants. EU membership has freed Finland's food market, and more than one fifth of the turnover of the Finnish food industry comes from outside the country.
      Food in Finland can be praised for its purity, and for the nature of the north that one can - possibly - taste in it. Even the cows give the purest milk in Europe.
     
The booklet also tells about menu planning, which naturally will be applicable even after the Finnish EU Presidency.
      "As lactose intolerance is so common, a decision can be made in meal planning that all foods are either completely lactose-free, or low in lactose", writes chef Jaakko Nuutila.
      A safe solution is to serve international cuisine made out of Finnish seasonal raw materials.
      Nuutila's sample dinner involves whitefish and wild mushroom salad, roast lamb, farm cheese, apple pie, and cinnamon ice cream brought to a stylishly set table.
      Attention also needs to be paid to the setting of the table, the themes of the service, and to food offered during meetings and breaks.
     
Food can also be presented with the help of a story. Leena Packalen gives this advice on how to describe the backgrounds of some of the courses.
      "From the kitchen of the wife of our national poet, a favourite of Sibelius, the gift of Karelian evacuees to the rest of Finland, the favourite a ski jumper, the grill favourite of a car racer, the discovery that the chef made during an Inter Rail trip, something from the kitchen of the Russian Imperial court."
      In addition to Finfood, contributors to the publication include the Finnish Federation of the Food and Drink Industry, The Finnish Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK), the Finnish Chefs Association, the Association of Culinary Writers, along with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and the secretariat of the Finnish EU Presidency.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 11.5.2006

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ANNA PALJAKKA / Helsingin Sanomat
anna.paljakka@kaapeli.fi