In Finland this delicacy is know as “lasimestarin silli”, direct translation being “glass master’s herring”. It is herring preserved in sugar and vinegar based liquid, and spiced with onions, carrots, horseradish and peppers. Pickled herring is enjoyed throughout the year, but especially during Christmas time. I’ve always loved pickled herring, especially ABBA kesäsilli (summer herring) [...]

If you are one of those tens of thousands of Finnish hunters who don’t know what to do with all that elk meat they’ve shot this season, read ahead. If you are like me and didn’t have the time to go hunting for the fifth year in a row, read ahead. If you just love [...]

Just back from a weeklong drive around Finland. Maitohorsma is in full bloom all over Finland, and the scenery is incredibly pretty, although a bit repetitive. Trees, trees and a whole lot more trees, dotted with lakes and more lakes. One of the biggest challenges to traveling in Nordic countries is that in most smaller [...]

For many people asparagus season is the culinary high point of spring, but I couldn’t care less. But come the new season potatoes, and you got my undivided attention! The spring is very late in Finland, so we have to wait still for domestic new season potatoes, which naturally are the best in the world [...]

1st of May – Vappu in Finnish – is workers’ and students’ festival, and the closest thing to a carnival we have in this land of quiet, polite people who like to mind their own business. I feel too old to celebrate Vappu with the students, and don’t really share the ideology with the labor [...]