pipparkakuja in Italy

Violette · Post by **Violette** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 6:34 pm

I just had to laugh at some of the posts in here. I won't specify which ones exactly, but it surprises me that people in this forum are so helpful in finding "things". If I ever go out to a restaurant I want something Finnish or Scandinavian for sure. I suppose I will get tired of that eventually. Nice to see so many Middle eastern restaurants ie. Morrocan, Turkish etc. which we don't have alot of except maybe in Toronto.
It also reminds me of the time we spent in Italy. It was Christmas and I just had to bake some pipparkakuja. Imagine the hassle I had trying to find corn syrup in small town Caravaggio. I did find it eventually...
...or the time I was searching for simple "mustard". The lady showed me something called "mostarda" which was some sort of pickled vegetable in a yellow sauce (yikes). Italy was great for finding any and all Italian ingredients one needed for a recipe and so we ate well in that respect.
One thing is for sure I'll be doing alot of home cooking using my trusty Finnish cookbooks. Still, I'm very eager to try some reindeer and smoked fish (prepared by someone else who knows how) when I get to Finland.
One question...is the coffee served in most restaurants or coffee houses really that bad? Frankly, I'm shocked... a country like Finland where coffee is an absolute staple in most homes? Damn !

**Sponsor:**

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 6:41 pm

Its not "bad" if you've been used to it the past 20 years - you think those foreign fizzly coffee condom machines stuff tastes weird... and its a stretch to find "Finnish cuisine" except in a few interesting off-the-beat places. Like not some fancy-pancy gourmet place selling ptarmigan marinated in reindeer piss or whatever they pass as "Finnish cuisine"... I know a village Shell with a truckstop cafe which has a formidiable old granny selling "lunch" that is whatever the days fare is but its "local food for local people" and they don't take anything peculiar onto the menu. The modern "Finnish cuisine" is mostly a meld of Swedish & Russian tradition, a bit of local peculiarities, some imported delicacies, and then more and more fusion kitchen that works with local ingredients and is eventually made into "Finnish taste"... so like pizza that was something special in the 1970's is now a staple food - made by turkish guys as is kebab - made by bangladeshis... (we got a few interesting lunch places near the office).

Oh yeah, your piparkakku story reminds me of my sister trying to make christmas casseroles in France. No swedes... turnips and a dozen other but no swedes... then we found some small and tiny and the outcome looked like baby poo... taste was OK but should've used some coloring...

onkko · Post by **onkko** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 6:48 pm

Violette wrote: ... smoked fish (prepared by someone else who knows how) ...

Not my dad or atleast you cant own lawnmover and forget gasoline near smoking thing

http://users.pelikaista.net/~onkko/IMG_0076

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 6:50 pm

so there is a slight difference between savustettu & hiillostettu

Violette · Post by **Violette** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 1:45 am

Do you know what the English translation is for "porkkana laatikko" ? yep you guessed it...carrot box..laffs.
and while I'm at it why do they call peruna muusia...potato mousse over there...shoot it's mashed potatoes don't cha know. or am I out of the loop completely ?

BTW I would love to know what those little "out of the way places" you are speaking of P. cause those are exactly the kinds of places I want to eat at.

I have fond memories of a juicy "nakki makkara" bought at one of those filling stations.

MagicJ · Post by **MagicJ** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 10:46 am

onkko wrote:Not my dad or atleast you cant own lawnmover and forget gasoline near smoking thing

http://users.pelikaista.net/~onkko/IMG_0076

Is that a remote control he's using to turn the fire up?

onkko · Post by **onkko** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 2:07 pm

MagicJ wrote: Is that a remote control he's using to turn the fire up?

No, thats magical piece of wood he uses to launch fireballs

Violette · Post by **Violette** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 4:16 pm

onkko wrote:
Violette wrote: ... smoked fish (prepared by someone else who knows how) ...
Not my dad or atleast you cant own lawnmover and forget gasoline near smoking thing

http://users.pelikaista.net/~onkko/IMG_0076

Great shot BTW
Well how did things go after the fire went out? Those fish fillets look too good to throw into a pan.
(Out of the frying pan and into the fire or was that the other way around?)

onkko · Post by **onkko** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 4:32 pm

Violette wrote:
onkko wrote:
Violette wrote: ... smoked fish (prepared by someone else who knows how) ...
Not my dad or atleast you cant own lawnmover and forget gasoline near smoking thing

http://users.pelikaista.net/~onkko/IMG_0076
Great shot BTW
Well how did things go after the fire went out? Those fish fillets look too good to throw into a pan.
(Out of the frying pan and into the fire or was that the other way around?)

IIRC fish was good as always, it was just some gasoline what burned and we had time to wait fumes go away and lot of booze

We had lot of other stuff to eat too so fish wasnt so urgent and no frying pans when you smoke fish!
Picture was taken in June 25, 2004 10:07:29PM, too bad exif info dont register your alcohol level

AldenG · Post by **AldenG** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 5:24 pm

onkko wrote:too bad exif info dont register your alcohol level

I hear Brussels is working on a law to correct that oversight.

New cameras will have to comply by 2016 while old cameras will be given until 2020 to come into compliance.

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