Healthier US ingredients in Finland?

[Rob A.]

- Canola oil
= Rypsiöljy. Well, Canola is actually "rapsi", but it's more or less the same thing.

Here's an excerpt from wikipedia:

Canola was developed through conventional plant breeding from rapeseed, an oilseed plant with roots in ancient civilization. The word "rape" in rapeseed comes from the Latin word "rapum," meaning turnip. Turnip, rutabaga, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, mustard and many other vegetables are related to the two canola species commonly grown: Brassica napus and Brassica rapa. The negative associations with the word "rape" in North America resulted in the more marketing-friendly name "Canola", but also to distinguish it from regular rapeseed oil, which has much higher erucic acid content.

So there you have it...just another member of the cabbage family... And if you think the word, "rape", is a marketing nightmare, imagine trying to market it as "cabbage oil"...

Here's the wiki link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canola

[CH]

- Canola oil
= Rypsiöljy. Well, Canola is actually "rapsi" (rape) but it's more or less the same thing.

Yes but no. And there *is* rapsiöljy too...

I'm not sure to which part the yes but no refers to, so the long version...

Well, sure... Canola is rape seed oil (fi. rapsi) that has gone through a specific refining process (to make it actually edible!). I don't know if the refineries here use the same process or not, but I would guess so. Actually, both rape (fi. rapsi) and Brassica rapa (fi. rypsi) tend to be lumped together on the world market under the name rape, so Canola oil most probably contain both (dunno about that one though). And a bottle of rypsiöljy might actually be rapsi here too.

Rapsiöljy is just a very marginal product here, as most of the yellow fields you see is rypsi (I have always loved how the yellow rypsi (and rapsi) fields look, too bad they smell. ). Rapsi isn't really grown here due to our northern location, it grows only along the southern coastal areas. And although both rypsi and rapsi was grown when & where I was a kid (and I could never remember which one was which), I don't think many grow it anymore.

So, rypsiöljy here is used in the same way as Canola oil overseas, so I would just use rypsiöljy (or actually just whatever generic cooking oil is available) instead of Canola oil. The health benefits should be about the same, dunno about how they take cooking temperatures, but I would guess the same.

[mCowboy]

- nitrate free turkey bacon
I haven't seen turkey bacon, nitrate free or not, here. (Turkey bacon just doesn't sound right...)

well since I enjoy (way) too much American food, especially the breakfast, a low fat option would be nice.

- low carb tortillas
Low carb products haven't really hit Finland (other than the no sugar added ones). So I don't think there are any available here.

figured show

- Pam
Already mentioned. You could also try ordinary cooking oil in a spray bottle. There actually are spray bottles for this purpose, but dunno if they are sold here.

yes, there's these pressure bottles, where you pump the pressure and then spray it, but I don't like those. I'd like a working spray bottle and I bought one, but either the hole was too small or the oil too thick. If anyone has ideas about spray bottles with big enough holes for oil, please lemme know

- Splenda
Only Splenda I've seen here is the one in Coca-Cola light. Smile I'm sure it will come eventually here too, but unfortunately the sweetener market here seems to be pretty conservative. If you only want it to add sweetness, there are plenty of other sweeteners. If you want it for baking (it behaves as ordinary sugar, if I have understood correctly), then there really aren't any good substitutes. Btw, for a better sweet taste, mix different types of sweeteners.

figured that too, but thought that someone might seen it.

- sugar free Jello
I have actually bought some here. Either from Behnfords or Mr. Nibble, don't remember which one. But the K-Market at least in Kamppi had 4 different Jell-O flavors (sugar versions), so you could try requesting from them too. You can of course just use plain gelatin, and make your own jello.

thanks, I guess I need to start shopping there...

- Canola oil
= Rypsiöljy. Well, Canola is actually "rapsi", but it's more or less the same thing.

ok, I thought Canola was a brand... learned something new today..

- low fat Parmesan cheese
Now why would you want that. Smile I actually think I saw something like that not too long ago, but since I really don't like low fat cheese(products), I didn't look close enough.

well it's a great cheese for many foods like Chicken Parmesan, so it would be nice to have a low fat version of it. If you remember where you saw, lemme know, thanks.

- black beans
Which one? I assume you mean the bean bean, not the Chinese fermented soy bean, also known as black bean. The bean one was already mentioned, the fermented soy bean can be bought at least from the Chinese stores on Hämentie in Helsinki.

well what's the black bean used in Mexican food... that's what I'm after. I had killer chicken fajitas with black beans last time I was in Seattle...

Thanks for your help...

[karen]

The amount of parmesan that's needed in most recipes is small. Even
chicken parmesan has more mozzerella than parmesan. I use low fat
mozzarella (Lidl has the lowest fat and is often sold out) and don't really
worry about the parmesan.

Calories:
Parmesan Cheese, hard, 1 oz 111
Mozzarella Cheese, part skim milk, 1 oz 72
Parmesan Cheese, grated, 1 tbsp 23

[CH]

well since I enjoy (way) too much American food, especially the breakfast, a low fat option would be nice.

If you want bacon then one lower fat option would be the HK Filee pekoni. Or roasting the bacon in the oven (or in the microwave on a piece of paper) and letting the fat drip thoroughly off. Not really low fat, though.

ok, I thought Canola was a brand... learned something new today..

No, Canola is a brand. Hmm... now that I'm thinking, I might actually have seen it in Behnfords, but don't quote me on that. But I'm pretty sure that you are not going to start seeing it here in ordinary stores, as we already have rypsiöljy (and a huge campaign on how healthy it is).

well it's a great cheese for many foods like Chicken Parmesan, so it would be nice to have a low fat version of it. If you remember where you saw, lemme know, thanks.

I'll keep my eyes open.

well what's the black bean used in Mexican food... that's what I'm after. I had killer chicken fajitas with black beans last time I was in Seattle...

I'm not any expert on Mexican food, but I think that would be this one. Try the dried bean section (usually in the same place as the health foods) or the canned bean section (this varies). At least the K-stores now have quite a lot of different dried and canned beans, so I would be surprised if they didn't have black beans. Best places to find black beans would actually be "Ekokauppa" type of stores, like Ruohonjuuri.

[bzwika]

not from the internet

thanks

[mCowboy]

I'm not any expert on Mexican food, but I think that would be this one. Try the dried bean section (usually in the same place as the health foods) or the canned bean section (this varies). At least the K-stores now have quite a lot of different dried and canned beans, so I would be surprised if they didn't have black beans. Best places to find black beans would actually be "Ekokauppa" type of stores, like Ruohonjuuri.

I went to CM today and found two new cans in the beans shelf... organic chili beans and organic kik peas, never seen those before, so I picked up the chili beans and need to test them out... not black beans, but still.

[Desundial]

Try Prisma at jumbo or S-market in center (lots of bean choices there) for the black beans. I have some in the cupboard right now. They are that pricy brand (sold in boxes): go green (mustapavut). I also saw them dried at stockmann when I was hitting the american food madness.

Alternative for low-fat tortillas: ok, first off, any tortilla made with flour (rather than all corn) is made with lard or vegetable shortening. I.E. fat. They won't stay together otherwise! Corn, on the other hand (real corn tortillas not that trash they sell here) is only the treated ground corn masa. No fat.

Anyway you can go healthier with whole wheat tortillas. Lower glycemic index. I get them reliably from S-market near malminkartano. Also have seen them at one of the KKK or CM but don't remember which one.

[mCowboy]

Try Prisma at jumbo or S-market in center (lots of bean choices there) for the black beans. I have some in the cupboard right now. They are that pricy brand (sold in boxes): go green (mustapavut). I also saw them dried at stockmann when I was hitting the american food madness.

CM had couple of new GoGreen boxes in the beans shelves, but no black beans... I guess I need to start shopping somewhere else. Shame since it's a very convenient location right on my way home from work.

[Freddyb]

They have black beans at the larger S and K markets. I've bought them many a' time. They are in the "Tex Mex" section. There is one good brand, actually from mexico, that I usually bought....cant remeber the name though.

[skavoovie]

I don't have much to contribute, but since I found this interesting, some tips that might be helpful:

- turkey bacon
Even though I don't know why this product, excellent in it's own right, would be called bacon - it just makes me think of cross-breeding gone horribly wrong, you could ask Pajuniemi at Hakaniemen kauppahalli. They have cured meats and turkey, but I'm not sure if the demand for cured turkey is high enough, but they might know something at least.

- spray oil bottles
The things that are all the rage in cooking shows now are surely available in Finland, I know multiple people who have them. I can't think of any brand names, but Stockmann definitely will have some, and I think I even saw one at Ikea. I mean, in the cooking/dishware section they will have some that are specifically made for oil, I assume you have a generic one as it doesn't work.

- black beans
If you are not able to find GoGreen, Ekolo lists black beans AND the asian style black beans, so it could be the one you're looking for.

- low carb tortillas
I guess lowcarb tortillas usually are whole wheat things anyway? A quick googling would make me think that, with some weird stuff like soy fiber added.

- lowfat parmesan
How about mixing 50/50 real parmesan and breadcrumbs? I think that would work for things you put in the oven, and for pastas, well, the poor italians used to use breadcrumbs for fake cheese. Or, get a really good aged parmegiano reggiano from a cheese store, and just use less for the same amount of taste.

If anyone knows any sources for other mexican stuffs, I'd love to hear. Chilies especially.

[mCowboy]

- spray oil bottles
The things that are all the rage in cooking shows now are surely available in Finland, I know multiple people who have them. I can't think of any brand names, but Stockmann definitely will have some, and I think I even saw one at Ikea. I mean, in the cooking/dishware section they will have some that are specifically made for oil, I assume you have a generic one as it doesn't work.

well i do know about those pump bottles, where you pump the air in and then it'll spray, but i was looking for one of the likes of those you spray water on plants and stuff, if you know what i mean...

thanks for the info.

[ad]

- nitrate free turkey bacon
- low carb tortillas
- Pam
- Splenda
- sugar free Jello
- Canola oil
- low fat Parmesan cheese
- black beans

Plenty of time to eat that crap when you're old and in the nursing home. Eat the real stuff now and miss the vegetable years...

[JohnWatson]

Splenda goes thru a nasty hydroclorination process that pretty much assures it is a great candidate for being carcinogenic

Wise choosing stays away from all that phony stuff - just use real sugar and train your taste gradually 'south' - and you'll be using rather small amounts.