Well, Christmas and New year celebrations had gone, and most of the shops are having their Final sales for the past season, do you miss the Christmas food? Or are you same as me, thinking luckily no need to see those food till the end of this year…:P.
The food culture is just so different compare to China. Finnish food is quite healthy which is true. The ingredients are natural and clean. You will also find lots of fresh berries and vegetables in the Morning markets in summer time. When travelling with little kids it is pretty convenient and you do not need to worry about them eating in a restaurant.
However in China, we think food is a way to express our feelings and emotions, even our interpretations of life as an art. We value food from the way it looks, smells and taste.
The best way to experience a culture immediately is to taste its food. Finnish food is same simple as the life style living in this country. It is great most of the time. But sometimes, It is just too simple and lack of flavor. I get the feeling that eating is just to make you full. There aren’t much of “art” to appreciate. But perhaps if you want to get the art part of food, you wont probably get so full since the plate is as big as ocean for the little artistic food in the middle…you know what I mean:D!
Traditionally, people eat Christmas food for 3 days, or even longer. However, each year having 3 days same food really tortures my brain and stomach, even though I gradually get used to and start to learn to appreciate the culture part. I never feel so bored of eating in my life:P!!!Perhaps the best way to get rid of the feeling is not to think about it. Just try to appreciate the simplicity on a every day basis for E…v…e…r…y…t…h…i…n…g! At least I should feel proud that I finish always my plate, as many of my Chinese colleagues are still giving a definite answer “NO” when mentioning any of the “Laatikko”…:D
Here are the lists of Christmas food in Finland. I will just mention a few here:
Kinkku(ham)
Porkkanalaatikko( carrot casserole)
Perunalaatikko( Potato casserole)
Lanttulaatiko( Rutabaga casserole)
Graavilohi ( salted salmon)
How to cook them: Christmas cookbook
Still, haven’t gotten the answer for myself: how Finns can magically turns any food into purée?:)
Beautiful Moments in Finland 