The taste of Finnish culture

Tourists, traveling to another countries, by all means want to see something that will allow them to feel features of the country in which they are, to look, as there live people of this country, to note features of national traditions, signs of a national life, clothes, that is to comprehend a part of culture of other country and to feel it … And, certainly, tourists would like to try ethnic cuisine, after all for feeling the culture of other country through meal, its unforgettable taste too is comprehended.

Earlier traditional Finnish cuisine consisted, basically, from the dishes prepared from grain, of fish, meat, berries and dairy products. Cheese and sausages were used only in the west of Finland, in Lapland ate lappish cheese with cloudberries which was a usual meal …

Finnish cuisine developed under the influence of, first of all, western culture and, out of doubt, under the influence of Russian culture, having the national roots of northern people. But still Voltaire said that taste of the nation was historically changeable and quite often spoiled. Concerning the Finnish culinary culture, it is absolutely fair, and gastronomic taste of modern Finland develops today of a combination of the various cultures sometimes absolutely not peculiar to the national one.

Why are our tastes so different? Someone prefers meat, another will choose fish, and third something from products of the sea of a phytogenesis … And the reasons of such different choice are both in a heredity, and in features of a food in his/her family since childhood, and even in features of each separate character that, however, is also connected with genes. Anyhow, flavoring preferences depend on education, habits, character, life experience, dialogue of the person and environment.

For example, Finns always loved fish and meat of wild animals, than pork, and wood berries more than southern fruit. It is natural to the people living among woods, bogs and lakes.

Children, and this is out of doubt, inherit flavoring predilections from the senior generation, and today in the Finnish family you will often see the child with a banana in a hand because parents buy bananas.

Whatever you may say, but to simulate the future predilection for those or other products parents who traditionally define help that children will eat for a breakfast, a dinner and a supper. Also you see, how a young Finnish family, going to have dinner on Saturday, a beret in cafe a pizza, and small children together with parents eat this meal which is actually harmful to children, choking and is washed down with a Coca.

Taste has a congenital basis, however, it differs at people in that degree, sensuality how much different at the person and the judiciousness making a basis of bases of taste. And gastronomic taste is not an exception.

If the Finn never tried a borsch and to him/her have offered this dish prepared duly of culinary art, and a borsch was pleasant to him, he will know about a borsch from this first experience. So that to make correct representation about any national meal which for the first time you try, it is necessary to go to good restaurant or, at least, to be on a visit at the good mistress.

Flavoring sensitivity is a heredity, to try doesn’t mean always. At a word “sauerkraut” many people abroad wrinkle their faces, and this is true that sauerkraut which is on sale, for example, in the Finnish shops, it is difficult to allocate on flavoring qualities in its advantage when there is something with what to compare, such abundance of a choice of this sauerkraut most different and surprisingly tasty, somewhere in Tula market in average Russia here is involuntarily remembered that annoyingly becomes about this developed and deformed representation about useful and appetizing meal though Germans, for example, include sauerkraut in the diet as it is done also by many people of the east.

After all ways of ferment set: with apples, with fennel and with caraway seeds, with a cranberry and a mountain ash, garlic and with a celery … From here comes the huge flavoring variety of sauerkraut.

Today it is not surprising that fats are harmful, the question doesn’t arise any more about necessity of calories for the person on a physical activity, cars make a labor-consuming part, anyway in Finland, and much should break the genetic predilections for high-calorie food not to have all diseases connected with adiposity. Who used «the Finnish public catering”, knows that here they «watch fats».

In the Finnish family there is no predilection to sweet as in families of some other people, they don’t eat sweet daily, and desserts are moderately sweet. Especially it concerns older people as and in youth they didn’t have to it a preference at advanced age now it practically comes to naught. But a batch eat all. Finns love rolls, pies and cakes.

In a modern Finnish family soups are prepared seldom though earlier soups were popular. Most likely, it depends on the relation of the mistress of the house to the role on kitchen. Preparation of soup demands time, it is easier to prepare quickly, to eat something from semifinished products, to spend for it an hour, and even two, the Finnish mistress won’t be.

More often, fish soup from a salmon, seasoned with milk or cream and submitted with hot rye bread, or the meat soup more similar oto the second is cooked. Finns especially love pea soup with smoked products, and, it is also very dense. In general the preference in Finnish cuisine is given to peas, bright green peas — the frequent visitor on a dining table. Soups are not fat, as well as the second dishes.

But, traveling on the different countries, Finns “unburden the heart” and take all successively: fat portions with the Czech beer in Prague, high-calorie Russian pancakes with caviar in Moscow, Italian turkey under tomato sauce and cheese, in beer Bavaria — fried pork with a crisp and trickled pastries …

One Finn, leaving the Kiev small restaurant with very ridiculous name, near to a Kreschatik, has told that for all life he hadn’t eaten anything tastier, having forgotten about the predilection for a dietary food, he absorbed with pleasure all these fat meat dishes, heavy for a stomach pastries with sour cream, washing down all with cold beer. He also was in a fine arrangement!

Finns seldom eat fish during the travel, unless only any exotic type. Why? I think that is because of its maintenance before preparation, not everywhere, especially in tropical countries, it also will be fresh, as should be …

There is a taste as the standard, but there are also various tastes, good and bad, there is also an absence of taste in general. Hardly about it is safely possible to tell about kitchen and gastronomic predilections, here the tradition plays the hugest role.

At Finns exist the taste and it is connected with products of a wood and lake origin. This is fish, cancers, game, a venison, berries and mushrooms which make an ethnic cuisine basis as it was at all times, from here comes the adherence to their use in certain seasons (that as a matter of fact is very correct). Finns eat fish all year long, they have a scrupulous relation to it: correctly to clean, eat only fresh with what to submit … Preference to a salmon, a pike perch…

All tourists prefer a salmon and try all kinds of preparation of this fish, allocating especially smoked salmon though ряпушку, fried in a rye flour on repp and butter, it is not necessary to ignore.

To cancers Finns too take away the place of honor, and at gastronomic festival where cancers become the center of attention, it is possible to regale on especially prepared cancers to which bread and cheese well and, naturally, beer or white wine moves. By the way, their Finns “grow up”, that live cancers were always near at hand. In the big butt alive cancers poured by wheaten bran and moistened with water, worry winter, becoming more well-fad and more tasty.

The venison moves with the wiped cowberry, sometimes it is stuffed with mushrooms. Mushrooms are a component of dishes from a venison.

Cowberry submit to meat and, and, in the different kind, wiped, hardly rumpled, in the form of cowberry sauce. The cowberry is harmoniously entered in taste of bear’s flesh, wood game … — all that is in the north riched with gifts.

Finns prefer to fry mushrooms, do different salads and sauces of them…

From wood berries they prepare every possible drinks, berry juices, puddings, ice-cream … Different rolls, cakes and pies with berries are always on the Finnish table.

From especially national batch is a gate from the rye test with a stuffing from a potato and fig.

The Finnish cheeses aren’t similar to other cheeses. Many grades of cheese are used in salads, well and they, of course, eat it, as usual, with rye bread for a breakfast. All cheeses are made of the cow milk, including, there are cheeses in which cervine milk, for example, «Justoleipa» which moves with berries is added also. It is characteristic for the Finnish cheeses that with berry jam such cheese gets excellent taste.

Different baked puddings are the feature of Finnish cuisine. From carrot, from turnip …

Interesting dish is also “myami”», prepared of a rye flour, eaten with milk. The ancient recipe of preparation has remained, and many Finns love this dish and can buy it in shop. In Russia it was once also extended, its fur-trees with soya or milk, it was very useful in a long orthodox post.

Exotic dessert of Finnish cuisine is all that will collect in itself the taste of the Finnish wood, for example, lappish ice-cream in which it is possible to feel surprising aroma of the juicy cloudberries, unusual taste of a tart cowberry, absolutely incomparable taste soft fragrant “kumanik”, pleasant bitterness of cranberries, and all this being under a cloud of the whipped cream reminding the whitest snow on lappish hills.