Classics Die Hard

The sun is making my eyes squint, the air stands still. I hear people laughing; talking about how we should enjoy the nice weather while it last – very Finnish. I’m about to walk into the marketplace in my little hometown, Porvoo. I can’t remeber the last time I’ve been here. It was probably years ago when I used to sweat my ass of selling ice cream in a tiny kiosk that felt like an over-heated sauna. All that feels light years away now, but everything has remained the same somehow. The same Thai-food tent, the same fisherman, the same jolly old woman selling strawberries, home baked bread and pastry… Some things are better just the way they’ve always been. It’s kind of soothing in a way.

As I make my way through what seems like a crowd on a Finnish-scale, I find myself overwhelmed with nostalgia. In some unexplainable way everything smells and tastes so perfect. I can’t tell whether it’s the sun, the heath or the simple fact of being so close to my roots that make me so utterly sentimental. As I try to interpret and make sense of my emotional roller coaster, I suddenly understand the elderly people’s ritual of sitting at the torikahvila – the market place café – even better .

As a matter of fact, the torikahvila is something special to me too.  The fondest memory related to it is that of me being 19 years old, newly enrolled at Helsinki University and commuting every darn day between Porvoo and Helsinki (1h car ride) with my Dad. My Dad worked in the capital region at that time so it was pretty convenient to ride back and forth with him. The only down side to it was that my Dad is a funny creature, who starts his day even before the birds start singing. He had nothing against dropping me of at the campus, but I was obligated to abide with his daily routine. There are only a few things that I love more than lazy, slow paced mornings, so my Dad and I had to come up with a tempting enough carrot to make me get out of bed in time.

My Dad had a suggestion that suited both parties like a glove. Not horribly off track of his normal route to the office and a reasonably short walk to Helsinki University’s main campus there’s a very nice torikahvila. According to my Dad, this market café offers the best sweet (possumunkki) and savory  (lihapiirakka) Finnish style doughnuts in Helsinki. The coffee itself is nothing to brag about, but it’s more about the ritual, the location and the idea than about the actual quality of the "sock juice" a.k.a Finnish filtered coffee. Sitting there in a cozy tent, having it together with a delicious possumunkki when the majority of the inhabitants of the hectic city are still sound asleep. The possumunkki – literally "pig monk" – is a typically Finnish, slightly pig shaped sweet yeast dough fritter, most often filled with apple jam and topped with sugar. In my opinion, it’s at open-air markets that you get the freshest and the best possumunkki.

…

At first, seeing the legendary torikahvila or more truthfully, an old bus turned into a torikahvila on Porvoo Market Square made me extremely happy. In a minute though, a deep sadness tore me apart. I realized that there was no way I could relive those sweet memories of going in and buying the best possumunkki I know, eating it like a pig and washing it down with "sock juice". It made me realize that it had been a while since I had been there the last time – I haven’t had wheat or sugar in almost five years now. Luckily, I was accompanied by a loyal friend and my eager doughnut eating Dad, both of whom wouldn’t protest me making them eat a couple for me. Problem solved!

Maybe you think I’m lying, but I’ve seriously learned to enjoy food through others, watching them relish something my intolerances prevent me from eating. So I sat back, relaxed and indulged myself with the Finnish coffee. It actually wasn’t nearly as bad as I had recalled. And with the fresh possumunkki smell softly tingling my appetite, I could – after all – relive the grand torikahvila classics.

Long live "sock juice",possumunkki and Porvoo Market Square's bus café!

Catch the Whiff

Summer time is the time when the air is filled with special vibes. Love is in the air, sex is in the air, people are smiling and radiant, it smells of sunscreen and sunburned skin. My personal favorite and probably the number one most obvious sign of summer is the luring, finger-licking smell of grilled food. Barbecues are everywhere. And people get amazingly creative fixing one up. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve got a huge terrace by a lake or whether you live in a studio apartment in the very core of a city, there’s a barbecue solution for everyone and every circumstance.

For Finns, barbecues are a real summer time must. Even if pours, Finns will stubbornly light up a barbecue and stand there in the rain with rubber boots and an umbrella. Anything for a delicious grilled sausage! I think I’ve already expressed my love for sausages very explicitly, so I don’t need to tell you how much I enjoy them grilled in the summer. However, I’m very open for new grilled treats. Veggies-wise I’d say that only your imagination is the limit. Grilled summer vegetables is something so simple and so delicious that there are no words to describe it. Enjoyed with or without some nice grilled meat – doesn't matter, I love them either way.

This summer I was introduced to a very interesting and quite funny way to grill chicken. In Finland a whole grilled chicken is usually something you buy at your local super market. It’s perfect for a quick fix summer picnic or alternatively, the best remedy for a summery Sunday hangover. The greasy crispy skin just does the trick better than anything else! It was a happy surprise that my American friend and housemate Sean suggested to grill a whole chicken at home unrelated to either of the two aforementioned situations.

Two hours to go until dinnertime and I nervously walked in and out of the kitchen glancing at the whole chicken that was resting in salt brine. My inner child took over me and I found myself playing with the wings, making silly sounds. Sean stepped in to the kitchen and told me to not play with food. I apologized for my silly manners and curiously asked him how he had planned to prepare the bird. He gave me an answer that didn’t really make me any wiser: trailer park grilled chicken. I guess he was able to tell from my facial expression that what he just said made no sense to me at all, so he kindly explained that he would sit the chicken on a beer can; literally cramming a beer can up the bird’s butt. Nice! I got the trailer park association. I had to look away when he performed the procedure, not out of disgust but out of courtesy to the birdie.

A few minutes later the chicken sat perfectly upright on the grill with the beer can up the booty. What a funny sight, I have to say! I was very eager to try the juicy meat. The beer keeps the otherwise dryish grilled chicken nice and moist I learned. Pretty straightforward, no rocket science there. The lovely smell of grilled chicken filled the air. The neighbor dogs seemed to enjoy it too. They started frenetically running around barking at the fence. Barbecuing is the perfect way to make the whole neighborhood hungry. I bet no one can just walk by without wishing they could pop by for a little grilled snack.

I sure was happy to have an American in the house when Sean started cutting the sizzling grilled chicken. I had to give it to him, Yankees seriously know how to barbecue! The bird was grilled to perfection. I also felt better when the can finally was removed. Boiling grilled beer anyone? I expected Sean to tell me about some outrageous custom of drinking the nasty thing, but he had nothing of the sort to tell. Maybe for the better.

Of course the meat tasted divine and it seriously was the juiciest grilled chicken I’ve ever tasted! I couldn’t wait to introduce the trailer park grilled chicken to my fellow countrymen. I’m sure Finns will enjoy it and crack some suitable jokes about the poor chicken with a beer can up its rectum. Sounds very Finnish indeed.

White Hearted Divas

In a country like Finland where seasonality dictates nature’s supply to the highest degree, some raw materials become very rare and special visitors. For three quarters of the year there’s no sign of them, and then suddenly, they’re everywhere. But they only enchant us with their presence for a very short while. Finnish strawberries are like that. True divas, what can I say.

The first strawberries can be spotted at open-air markets usually as early as May. The overly big and hard, suspiciously shiny and red, often Spanish antecedents are nothing but phony wannabes compared to the real thing.

My birthday is in the beginning or July and my Mum used to always make me a strawberry cream cake for my birthday. In July, these luscious fruits reach climax in Finland. This year, like the year before, I was away on my birthday and grieving. I missed my Mum’s special birthday delight. Luckily, I wasn’t that far from my native country this year, no further that on the other side of the Baltic Sea where my dear friend Julia took care of my strawberry needs on my birthday.

After a tiresome day at work, she took me to an exquisite location, an old manor by the sea and ordered us a bottle of perfectly chilled Riesling. Two glasses of Riesling later, I had almost forgot about my red cravings. We were lost in bubbly laughter and utter joy, as Julia suddenly excused herself. She was a way for a while and I got a bit worried. But knowing her, I simple poured myself another glass of the heavenly wine, sat back and relaxed. She would return eventually.

Julia returned all right, but not alone. With her hands behind her back she told my to close my eyes, open my mouth and promise to not peak. I couldn't help but obey her commands.

What a sensational oral explosion! I cried out of exuberance and all the while Julia was taking my picture. She knew my expression would be priceless! She couldn’t have possibly made me happier in that very moment.

…

A week later, I was back in Finland busy around another strawberry related activity. Like every year until this day, approximately one week after my birthday, my Mum and I go to an organic strawberry farm to pick a stash for the upcoming fall and winter. Sure, there’s nothing better than the freshest of the freshest strawberries eaten only seconds after picking, but boy does home made strawberry mash taste divine on oatmeal porridge on a rainy October morning… the stash is a must.

This time though, I couldn’t join her picking, so I promised to do the cleaning, sorting, cutting, mashing etc. The strawberry massacre, as I like to call it. Old habits die hard, mash a few, eat a few, one in my mouth, one into a Tupperware. No wonder I end up feeling sick if half of the 7-10 kg of strawberries we pick each summer end up in my stomach…

As I was doing my job, I realized how special each single strawberry is, even on the outside, but most of all on the inside. I found myself utterly mesmerized by their beauty. As I cut the fruit in half, I realized that I cut into something very delicate.  Each diva had its own distinctively shaped white heart on the inside. Sure, I already knew exactly how strawberries look on the inside, but never had I really studied them to detail.

This epiphany simply proved an important point I often wish to highlight: When you take the time to stop for those crucial couple of seconds while doing something that you’ve done a million times, you almost always surprise yourself sensing something completely new. It’s so worth it and it make you so happy. A simple everyday thing revealing it’s special potential.

Yeah Baby I like it Raw

A beloved child has many names as we say in Finland. Raw beef meat eaten as such  – raw – is called in various ways depending on the country and the way of preparation, the cutting and the way of serving. Whether you eat beef carpaccio, tartar steak, råbiff, carne cruda, crudos kibbe nayyeh or çiğ köfte, you’ll find yourself lusting for beautiful, red, raw meat. I don’t know about you but it sure awakes the barbarian in me.

Raw meat is one of those things that people usually either have a mad obsession for or then avoid totally. I’ve never really understood the ones who spoil perfectly good meat by overcooking it into a hard and dry gum-like thing. I belong to the ones who order a steak as raw as possible. As a matter of fact, my obsession for raw meat is quite compelling from time to time. However, I haven’t always enjoyed sinking my teeth into raw, bloody meat. It’s a love that hit me only four five years ago but has since then only grown on me.

I started thinking about my lust for raw meat. Sometimes, I swear that I can feel that my body needs just that. Probably some of you have already heard about the blood group diets. It’s nothing new and I’m sure some scientists have already proven it completely bogus. But still, in a nutshell, what your system needs, craves for and digests the best depends on your blood type. It’s pretty straightforward and follows the general course of human evolution. Why this is connected to raw meat and red meat especially, is because according to the philosophy behind this diet, the most ancient blood group – the 0 blood – is most adapted to red (raw) meat and least adapted to agrarian products, such as cereals and white sugar for example.  My blood type is 0. No wonder I like my steak “blue” like they call it in France.

On a warm and sunny day not so long ago, my Belgian friend Caroline hosted me for a few days. Caroline is one of those people who don’t think much of their cooking skills, even though they manage to make perfectly tasty food. She might not be an enthusiastic foodie, but she sure knows how to please my stomach. Any way, I had heard her talk about one of her favorite Belgian dishes, fillet Américan. This was something she missed while studying abroad, this and real Belgian fries, of course. Not necessarily eaten together though. I wasn’t familiar with the dish so I asked her to enlighten me. She started by explaining that it’s some type of marinated meat and that it’s usually eaten in the summer time. A special mixture of spices and some sauce is used in preparation. Of some reason she left out the part of it being uncooked meat. Or maybe she mentioned it, but this essential detail just slipped my mind completely. She was happy explaining it because she had just received a package containing all the needed ingredients (minus the meat of course) from her boyfriend in Belgium.

A couple of days later Caroline invited me for lunch. She was going to make fillet Américan! Finally I’d get to try this mystery dish. I arrived to her house and she started cooking. All ingredients were set on the table: Capers, mustard, onion, Worchester sauce and egg yoke. It looked awfully familiar and I got excited immediately. There might just be raw meat on the menu for lunch! I asked Caroline whether this Belgian dish could possibly be anything like tartar steak. “That’s the other name for it that I was looking for the other day!” she answered. Yes! Caroline told me that in Belgium it’s also common to eat fillet Américan as a spread on bread. Gotta try that sometime.

A thing that I love about raw meat dishes what ever you want to call it, is that it’s super easy to make and it always tastes amazing. The only thing that can go wrong is that you buy crappy meat. What comes to seasoning and serving, you can basically do whatever you feel like. Use lemon, lime, onion, mustard, mustard seeds, salt, pepper, paprika, cinnamon, herbs… simply listen to your taste and trust your imagination.

The Belgian version was delicious indeed. The Worchester sauce was a first one for me. I usually call my raw meat dish “carne cruda”, literally “raw meat”. It’s the (north) Italian version most often made of minced beef meat and seasoned with salt, pepper, olive oil, lemon, chopped celery and topped with parmiggiano cheese. That’s the version that I fell for five years ago and it’s still the one I prefer.

Some of you might have guessed which song inspired me for the title of this post. Shimmy Shimmy Ya by Ol’ Dirty Bastard. Good memories, thanks to both the dish and the song.

P.S. Forget about getting sick or catching a nasty worm when eating raw beef meat. As long as the meat is fresh, you’re good to go!

Epicurean Flashbacks

We all know how it feels to have a flashback when hearing a particular song. For a brief instant the melody combined with the lyrics make you travel back in time to a precious place. You stay there for a minute or two, recall the beautiful moment and smile. Memories connected to music are extremely moving; even the coldest hearts heat up reminiscing about good old times. For some people, smells and tastes work the same way.  A perfume, a shampoo, a detergent, or particular food can take you on a trip down memory lane reminding you about a person, a summer vacation or even a period in your life.

Personally speaking, both sounds and smells have huge impact on me, but the latter even more so. It’s almost a bit freaky but yet so lovely. A smell can teleport me to a very specific place in my mind, making me remember precisely how I felt when I first encountered it. In fact, I often find myself seeking distinctive smells that I can later use as points of reference in order to relive a particular moment over and over again.

I witnessed such an amazing flashback the other day, no thanks to a smell rather a specific sound when cooking. Maybe it was the combination of the smell and the sound, but it was certainly the sound that moved me the most. Let me elaborate.

I never considered myself as someone who’d enjoy camping. My idea of the activity is not very good; hubs of caravans, drunken people stuffing their faces with bad food, mosquito bites, dreadful public toilets and showers… no thank you. Luckily, a good old friend proved me wrong and introduced me to a whole new way of camping. Obviously, this story has a twist – the part related to cooking and I’ll get to it in a second.

A week ago, my Spanish friend Cami picked me up at Barcelona airport. We hadn’t seen each other for five whole years and the reunions was ebullient! After the tenth “Is that really you!?” we crammed my huge back pack into the trunk of Cami’s car. I had no idea what to expect of the trip ahead. Cami had planned a whole week of outdoor food and sport related activities, but refused to reveal the details. I was psyched. I love surprises. However, I’m incurably curious and I simply couldn’t resist having a sneak peak into the big box I saw in the trunk. I didn’t see much of it's content but what I did see pleased me very much: a bottle of Rioja Reserva 2007, a big fat chorizo, Spanish goat’s cheese and, as a cherry on top, gluten free bread just for me. I didn’t need to see more. I had full faith that my dear friend had the situation fully under control. While Cami was busy arranging stuff in the car, I performed a short and silent happy dance.

Now back to my story on sounds. It was the second day of my Spanish surprise vacation when Cami informed me at breakfast that we’d head up to the Spanish Pyrenees. In addition to being a passionate foodie like myself, Cami loves climbing, hiking, canyoning and other such mountain related activities. Direction: wilderness. Even though I’m a total rookie in this domain, I was very excited. And my excitement only grew while Cami was preparing the little “survival kit” that contained yummy treats.

Before I knew it, I was walking up a mountain with no people or civilization in sight. With sweat dripping down my forehead, I started feeling the vertigo kick in, but I remained focused. I inhaled the hot air that smelled of thyme and rosemary and kept my eyes on the narrow rocky path. “We’ll definitely earn our lunch today” Cami said with a smile and passed me the bottle of ice-cold spring water. I swear it was the most delicious water ever. ¡Vamos! Two hours later, I was starving. I had been so consumed by the breathtaking view over the Rodellar that I hadn’t felt the hunger before. “Are you hungry?” Cami read my mind right on time. I answer with my favorite Spanish sentence: “¡Claro que si hombre!”

We made camp in a canyon with the river flowing a meter away. Cami opened his backpack. The moment I had been waiting for had come. My mouth was watering. I was ready to dig in to whatever he had in there. As I was reaching for the food, Cami stopped me; “First we need to get refreshed” and jumped into the crystal clear water. I followed the leader. It was perfect.

After the dip I was totally awake. By now my hunger had taken a life of its own, I had to feed it or else… But in no time Cami set up a whole camping kitchen! Aluminum plates that also work as frying pans, aluminum cups, fork/spoons, pocketknives, a butane cooker… the whole deal. I was impressed. As he was preparing our lunch, he made a sound that instantly transported me to my childhood. It felt like one specific sound combined with all the other surrounding elements creating a very familiar whole. The sound was the fork against the aluminum plate! Yes! That was it! For me, that sound makes my mouth water. It’s like whatever's cooking can only be delicious, something “stewy”, rich and scrumptious. It reminded me of times when we used to go on boat trips to the Finnish archipelago in the summer with my parents. On the boat we only had a little camping kitchenette and all kitchenware were made of aluminum. My favorite dish back then was white beans in tomato sauce with grilled sausages and boiled Finnish new potatoes!

“Edith where are you? Earth calling. It’s time to eat.” Cami handed me the hot aluminum plate with steaming food on it. I’m sure I looked like I was having a spiritual connection with some high and mighty force or something.

I took the plate in my hands and gently scraped the plate with the fork. There it was again, that sound! I burst into laughter! What a moment of sheer happiness. There I was, in the heart of the Spanish Pyrenees with a good old friend, but at the same time I was back in the early 90’s on an island in the Gulf of Finland. I was deeply touched. A flashback of my very first epicurean memory! I couldn’t resist licking the plate clean.

Dinner in Brazil

When speaking about food, there are always new things to discover and endless possibilities. Just when you think you pretty much know it all, nothing no longer surprises you and you even think that you've tried just about everything considered edible in your understanding of the term, new tastes and new ways of cooking appear. Sometimes simply combining raw materials in an unusual way is enough to make your taste palate go wild. As for myself, I recently experienced a very lovely surprise. I went on a scrumptious culinary trip to the Brazilian world of tastes.  Unfortunately, my private jet was out of order so I didn't get to travel across the Atlantic Ocean, but in my mind my taste buds and I had a very pleasant holiday indeed.

Two days ago I arrived to Strasbourg to visit my former flatmates Tif and Sophie. If you read my post on cheese in January you might remember them. Any way, all three of us love eating, love food and love cooking. All three of us also got graduated this week! Needless to say, we needed to do some serious celebrating. As I stuck the corkscrew into the first bottle of Bordeaux the girls had reserved for the occasion, there were some serious decisions to be made. A glass of wine is always good before making any major decisions by the way. And boy did we have a major decision to make. Where to eat and what to eat for on this very special day. "I don't fee like cooking today" Tif said whisking a cake dough with one hand and holding a wine glass in the other. We just can't help the cooking urge, it's probably genetic.

The cake was all I was willing to let her do though. The evening would be kitchen free. Tif had a suggestion and told us about this little Brazilian restaurant. The only problem was that she had eaten there already a couple of times this week. Still, the more she talked about it the more I seriously wanted to try it. She sold her idea to us without an effort and the decision was unanimous. Brazil here we come!

We arrived to the restaurant and got the warmest welcome. A gorgeous Brazilian man with a beautiful smile showed us to our table. I was fond of Brazil immediately. I couldn't wait to get my hands on...the menu. As I opened the menu a second later a whole new culinary world of opened up in front my eyes. The menu was full of new and exciting dishes I had never heard of before: caruru, feijoada, moqueca capixaba, salgadinho just to name a few. What on earth was I about to experience!? What became clear was that dried shrimp, toasted nuts, palm oil, bean pastes, cassava/manioc flour, fresh cilantro and mildly spiced sauces were essential. The ingredients all rang a bell, but the way they were combined to form a dish was unknown and new to me. I was thrilled! A detail that particularly enchanted me was the grilled plantains. My love for bananas of any kind is somewhat exaggerated, I do admit...

We wanted to try everything and choosing seemed impossible. In the end we managed to make up our minds. Xinxim de carne with a side of grilled plantain for me please. This creamy beef stew with ginger, peanuts, coconut milk and spices was served with beautiful rice spiced with cumin. On the side, my beloved plantain and a little spicy sauce made of cilantro, onions, green peppers and tomatos. I think I forgot to breathe for a while. Only the smell of the dish got me high. I decided to wait and observe my friends' faces when they had the first bite. Man was I happy to have my camera! I had to film it. The power good and delicious food has will never cease to amaze me. My goodness! It was a perfect moment. Just perfect. A warm summer night, amazing friends, good vibes and explosions of deliciouness Brazilian style.

Restaurant Acerola - 8, rue du Renard Préchant - 67000 Strasbourg - France.

A Hole of Deliciousness

It has been a while since I’ve been this delighted to praise a restaurant. Unfortunately often the experience of eating out in my city leaves me lukewarm. Boy do I hate to say “I could’ve done that so much better myself” after having eaten a mediocre meal and paid a fortune for it.

This time though, I wanted to French kiss the chef! The restaurant called Kolo is a relatively new addition to the current, ever so vibrant restaurant scene in Helsinki. Literally, “The Hole” is worthy of its name. It’s a tiny joint with only five tables or so and ‘cosy’ just wouldn’t be enough to describe the lovely atmosphere. It’s well planned to be unorganized and spontaneous; nothing in the décor really matches but still the idea it seems so natural and perfect. From old school cotton napkins all in different styles, to delicate vintage porcelain coffee cups sets… The only thing that rubbed my circles was the African style masques that stared at me the whole time.

On a Friday, at lunchtime only one table was free – we got lucky. “It’s a slow day today”, said the waiter. I could only imagine. Hyped small places like Kolo are usually always packed and you end up asking yourself how it’s possible, where do all the people come from? And it doesn’t matter what day of the week or at which hour it is… Personally, I think it’s a big turn off, as waiting and breathing in other diners’ necks, sighing of discomfort is not my idea of a nice start to a delicious meal.

Like I said, this time my Mother and I got lucky. As the purpose of the treat was to celebrate me handing in the draft of the final version of my thesis, it would’ve been a bummer to be rejected with a “Sorry, we’re full”.  Since I had done four months worth of research on Finnish culinary culture, I was particularly excited to try the food in Kolo. I must admit that there were notable expectations and a certain intuition guiding my judgement. I was about to be reassured regarding the conclusion I made for the purpose of my thesis of Helsinki being the hot spot for new exiting culinary experiences, I just didn’t know it yet.

Helsinki, being a small capital on a European scale, can’t seem to keep secrets when it comes to new bars, cafés, restaurants and other trendy hangouts. Even though many businesses pop up in total silence without any fuss around them, people talk. And when people talk, people like. It’s just a matter of seconds before the hype is unleashed. The funniest thing is that many people simply go on repeating what they hear from a friend of a friend without making sure the rumours have a solid basis. That’s Helsinki for you. When it’s hot, it’s hot, even if it’s not.

Kolo is one of these places. I don’t even remember how many people assured me: “I’ve heard it’s awesome”. I happen to be very critical when it comes to such claims, especially when they’re about new restaurants and food related happenings.  Also, I’m not the easiest person to impress when it comes to restaurant food, even though I love all kind of food and tastes. I consider myself extremely lucky to be surrounded by so many amazing kitchen-talents that most often the best food is made in a group of food loving friends sipping on some nice wine. It’s just not worth it to pay for mediocrity. When it comes to food, I hate to be disappointed. What I hate even more is ending up paying for it. So in order to avoid bad mood, I usually play it safe and cook at home. Then again, I do love to be catered for and do nothing else than relish in flavours brought to me by a lovely waiter. What is more heavenly than taking the first bite of a dish prepared with care, love, know-how and good judgement all in accordance to your choice?!

Kolo’s lunch menu was simple but luring, at least to my taste: Three choices among which I found the one that tingled my taste buds the most – a risotto verde and  blue mussels. Actually, I took a risk. I think I’ve never had such perfect risotto as I had during my three month stay in Italy a while ago. So let’s say that the stakes were high. I wanted to see if the claims about Kolo were true. If the kitchen was to wow me with a risotto, I’d be extremely enchanted. You got to bet high to win high.

The thing about a risotto is that it’s a relatively simple dish. It’s pretty easy to make a decent risotto. The problem is that too many ignorant chefs rely on the simplicity and end up ruining the whole thing thinking who could possibly mess up a risotto. Well, most performances are poor. It’s always either too solid or too liquid, either tasteless or tasting only wine. And don’t even get me started on the right meaning of “risotto all’onda”! (When talking about risotto, one shouldn’t say ‘al dente’ but ‘all’onda’. The first one is reserved for arguments over cooking pasta  )

Any way… to my surprise the risotto verde at Kolo was close to perfection! I’m pretty sure I heard angels singing as I was licking the fork after the first mouth full. Simply delicious! And the foodgasm just got better when I tasted the blue mussels… I wanted to bathe in the plate. When I washed it all down with a sip of white wine from the culinary region of Langhe, I found myself in the most divine state of mind.

I rest my case. Helsinki indeed is blooming when it comes to culinary experiences. You just have to know what you want and be lucky enough to find a free table. I can certainly recommend Kolo with a clean consciousness when saying I KNOW it’s good. And you know what, it's even totally affordable!