Reijosfood is a great Finnish Food Blog which concentrates on Restaurant and Wine Reviews in Helsinki. It’s also in English, which is really useful for those of us who aren’t Finnish as most local blogs are in Finnish. The Blog has been running consistently since 2012 and there’s a great … Continue reading
Maximilian Maksolly (actually Feichter, the original spelling of his first name was Maksimilian) was an Estonian painter who is now possibly best remembered for his war art from the time of the Estonian War of Independence. I touch on him in this blog largely because of his series of war … Continue reading
My kids happen to like sausages, and in Fall and Winter they like soup as well – so how better to keep them happy on a cold Fall day than Nakkisoppa! Sausages AND Soup! The perfect weekend lunch! Now the recipes I was browsing through say wieners, but for myself … Continue reading
Here’s another Finnish recipe for a filling stew (Merimiespata – or Sailor`s Stew) that’s great for one of those winter evening’s that are fast approaching us up here in the frozen arctic wastes of Canada (well, OK, Toronto). Now historically, Finland’s harsh climate meant that fresh fruit and vegetables were … Continue reading
Valaam Monastery. Valamo Monastery. The heart of the Orthodox Church in Karelia and an outpost of Russia within the lands of the Finns. Mount Athos of the North – so was called this ancient monastic dwelling, which was founded a thousand years ago in the dawn of Christianity in Russia … Continue reading
The Valamo Monastery is an Orthodox monastery in what used to be Finnish Karelia but is now part of Russia, located on Valamo, the largest island and part of an island archipelago of the same name in Lake Laatoka (Ladoga), itself the largest lake in Europe. The archipelago consists of … Continue reading
FINNISH WINTER? NO PROBLEM 0°C / 32°F Distilled water freezes. The water in the Vantaa river gets a little thicker. -5°C / 23°F People in California almost freeze to death. The Finns have their final barbecue before winter. -10°C / 14°F The Brits start the heat in their houses. The … Continue reading
The content of this post is quoted in its entirety from Japan’s Relations with Finland 1919-1944, as Reflected by Japanese Source Materials and authored by Hiroshi Momose, published in 1973 by Hokkaido University, Japan. The original is available at http://hdl.handle.net/2115/5026. Please note that this article is more or less as written … Continue reading
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Duchy of Finland was part of the Russian Empire, ruled by the autocratic Tsar Nicholas. Finnish Nationalism had been on the rise since the 1830’s and by 1900, resistance to Russian rule was growing, aided by the policy of Russification which had resulted … Continue reading
There are several prominent candy factories in Finland. The biggest of these are: Fazer, Panda, Brunberg, and Halva. These are the big factories in Finland. But there’s many other yummy candies and snacks than the above – some of them, like Salmiakki in all its varieties, rather hard for the non-Finn … Continue reading
Wherever you stroll around Helsinki, you’ll run into reminders of one of Finland’s most famous citizen’s – Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim. Statues in bronze and stone, street signs, photographs and the like all serve to remind the visitor to the city of this quintessential European aristocrat who was over the course … Continue reading
Pinaattiletut, or Spinach Pancakes, is one of those Finnish recipes I’d never heard of until I started experimenting with tracking down and trying out Finnish food, more often than not using my kids as the guinea pigs. They can be a bit picky at times (and they’re definitely nor … Continue reading
