finnish cooking

[kima]

Hello again!
I have an acquaintance from Finalnd coming for a visit. I would like to serve her our local Pacific Northwest cuisine but would like to surprise her with A finnish dinner. Any suggestions -with locally avialable products.

[MaryH]

My first thought was where is Susann of "country of the month" fame. But when I searched using Finland, nothing came up. A search using "finnish" came across this (can't vouch for how authentic it is as I have never tried it and know nothing about Finnish food.)

FINNISH SALMON POTATO CHOWDER

1 tsp butter or stick margarine
3 cp chopped onion
½ tsp celery salt
¼ cp all purpose flour
1 8 oz bottle clam juice
4 cps cubed peeled baking potatoes
1 ½ cp thin sliced carrots
3 ½ cp 1% low fat milk
10 oz. Maple glazed roasted salmon (see recipe)
2 TBSP chopped fresh or 2 tsp. Dry dill
¼ tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1. Melt butter in dutch oven over medium heat. Add chopped onion, and saute for 5 min.
Sprinkle onion Mixture with celery salt. Stir in flour, and cook for 1 min. stirring constantly. Gradually add clam juice. Bring mixture to a boil, and cook 1 min. or until thick, stirring constantly. Add potato cubes and carrot and stir in milk. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 min. Break salmon into chunks; add salmon, chopped dill and worcestershire sauce to pan. Bring chowder to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 10 min. or until potato is tender. (6 serve - 1 ½ cp. - 311 cal)

[Susann]

Kima-I wish I could help you, but we haven't 'gone to' Finland yet. Sorry!

[Natasha]

Hi Kima,

Why not go to http://www.google.com and type in the words "Finnish cuisine" (or Finnish recipes", "Finnish cooking", etc.). You'll find many links to sites with recipes. Sorry I don't have any specific suggestions of recipes for you, but I hope this helps. Have fun with your guest!

[Beth H]

I have an old Finnish Cookbook at home. I'll try to look at it over lunch and see if there are any interesting recipes in it.

[Beth H]

The cookbook I have is a reprint of an older cookbook. It's called "The Finnish Cookbook" by Beatrice A. Ojakangas. Here are examples of a couple recipes (frankly, a lot of it doesn't sound too appealing):

Meat Cabbage Casserole (Lihakaalilaatikko)

1 small head cabbage, shredded
2 T butter
2 T dark corn syrup
2 t salt
1/4 t ground majoram
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten

Cook the cabbage (in enough boiling water to cover) for about 5 minutes or until tender-crisp. Drain. Add the butter, syrup, salt, and majoram. In another bowl, mix the beef, bread crumbs, milk, and eggs. Butter in a 2 quart casserole and layer the cabbage and meat mixture in it, beginning and ending w/the cabbage. Bake in a moderate oven (350) for 1 hour or until the meat is done. Serves 6 - 8.

Cucumber Salad (Kurkkusalatti) -- this is a great recipe that I make frequently --

Make this salad 2 hours before you plan to serve it to allow the flavors to blend.

4 medium cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced.
1 T chopped fresh or dried dill
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup water
3 T sugar
1 t salt
2 T vegatable oil
Arrange the cucumber slices in a chilled glass bowl and sprinkle with the dill. Combine the vinegar, sugar, salt, and salad oil, and pour over the cucumber slices. Serves about 6.

The book also includes a lot of bread and pastry recipes, including one for Pulla, which is a really traditional bread flavored with cardamom. It's delicious but complicated (my mom makes it -- she's of Finnish descent).

Hope this helps and that you can find the book!

[kima]

Thankyou to all for your suggestions. From what I can tell and no offense to Finns out there the cooking is not too exciting! As vegetarians I don't know how well I'd ffare there. The breads do look good so I will try one of those recipes. Thanks again. Yor really are a helpful bunch!