Strawberry fields and apple thieves

Written by Kari Tuomi

The strawberries are available everywhere from Midsummer to late July. The season is not very long and it ends as suddenly as it began. Finnish Strawberries are sweeter and smaller than the varieties you might know, so it’s really worth tasting them. Unless you are reading this in August, when they have gone. Or become too expensive to buy.

New potatoes and their popularity in Finland is somewhat of a puzzle. The French would hardly describe them as the ”delicacy worthy of best asparagus”, but that’s exactly what they say of new potatoes in Finland. The traditional diet of millions of Finns from 1960’s through 1980’s was potatoes with a simple meat sauce. I belong to a generation extremely bored of the tuber during rest of the year, but the appearance of those small beautiful potatoes at Midsummer is still a miracle. It’s all about how long you cook them and what you eat them with. Start with a dab of fresh butter and lots of fragrant local dill in the cooking water.

Plain ordinary fresh peas are a popular vegetable, which is eaten in an unordinary way. Finns enjoy them uncooked, straight from the pod. We are one of the few nations in the world that enjoy sweet peas without cooking. Remember to pay attention to the technique! You can do everything with your lips, teeth, thumbs, using one hand or two hands. Advanced pea-eaters can casually eat hundreds of peas in a minute, without even looking at the vegetable. An art in itself. Strawberry Fields What do Finns eat during high summer and early autumn? Besides the usual, new potatoes, cauliflower, French beans, broccoli, salads and smoked fish, there are many hugely popular local sweet delicacies. Colourful berries are always a favourite, especially the different varieties of open field strawberries and small blue bilberries from the forests. They are sweet yet healthy and highly tongue staining.

ADVANCED PEA-EATERS CAN CASUALLY EAT HUNDREDS OF PEAS IN A MINUTE, WITHOUT EVEN LOOKING AT THE VEGETABLE.

and Apple Thieves

Wild mushrooms slowly start to come out during summer months (after a brief appearance of False morels in the late spring) and the season peaks during autumn. Just like grapes, we are at the mercy of weather, dry weather being less than ideal, rain a bit better. Finns talk about good bilberry years, good lingonberry years and good mushrooms vintages just like any serious wine producer.

One thing tourists are always amazed at is the act of mushrooming itself. There’s nothing to it. You can just step into any forest and pick some. No training required, no licences or permits from the landowner. You need a basic knowledge of the poisonous mushrooms (most people use a reverse tactic and know the three tastiest types) and an hour or two. On a good mushroom year, it’s amazing what you can find in half an hour. Bucketloads of funnel chanterelles or ceps. Believe me, there can be such a thing as too many mushrooms to pick. Hundreds millions of euro’s worth of nature’s goodies, including berries, rot in the forests every year. A fact our media is keen to remind us about every autumn: we have become lazy. The first delicious heirloom apples appear during early autumn. You cannot find any in your local supermarket and the best ones are never sold at the market place either. You need to go to your own garden or “borrow” some from your neighbours overhanging branches. The varieties have been around for centuries and some of the most succulent ones are only found here in Finland. On a really warm summer, the abundance of juicy apples can be amazing.

The taste of these local fruit can be so unique and deeply tied to your childhood memories, that finding a substitute abroad is practically impossible. Of all the foods a Finn might miss abroad: rye bread, salty liquorice or pea soup, apples can be the most difficult ones to substitute. s FINNS TALK ABOUT GOOD BILBERRY YEARS, GOOD LINGONBERRY YEARS AND GOOD MUSHROOMS VINTAGES JUST LIKE ANY SERIOUS WINE PRODUCER.