For English Speaking Readers

"I enjoy traditional Finnish food. You know, the simple, more or less healthy, tasty and precious Finnish cuisine.

Since I started to write this blog I noticed there were some people visiting it from outside Finland. I came to think that, among practising my cooking skills, I might also use the blog for practising my English skills. From now on I will be translating the recipes to English as well, and later on possibly try to update my previous posts in English, too. I will not write perfect English (which would take much more time especially with all the grammar checking since I’m not a native speaker) but rather try to convey my thoughts and feelings throughout my writing.

To briefly tell you something about my interests in cooking: I enjoy traditional Finnish food. You know, the simple, more or less healthy, tasty and precious Finnish cuisine. Until now the problem has been that I haven’t mastered the recipes myself. I love “multichanneling” food: the kind that activates more than your sense of taste and makes eating a larger experience than just nourishing you on-the-go. I like to pay attention to the scent and sound while cooking; find different tasting areas and colours in the dish; feel different textures in food. That is why I use varying ingredients in pastry (Such as rye, oat or spelt) and, on the other hand, give space to the ingredients’ characteristic taste instead of adding too many spices (Traditionally spices are in a minor role in Finnish food).

My speciality has always been baking, but as my studies and/or work life got more and more time consuming, I didn’t even keep my baking skills up to date anymore. Therefore I am now exploring little by little everything there possibly could be in the large field of traditional food in Finland. I am not trying to be the next Master Chef. I simply want to reach out to my roots as a Finn and see the viewpoint of a layman. Some dishes are exotic even to native Finns, as there are many differences, might I even say, estrangements between different parts of Finland. The names of dishes vary depending on the area in Finland a person lives in or the dialect one speaks. I will try to translate them but most likely I will often have to rely on descriptive naming.

So, you are most welcome to read my experiences and explore the dishes yourself as we go deeper into the intriguing traditions.

Yours truly, 

Genie in the kitchen (Kodin hengetär)