From the Baltic Sea to the Alps and back

While Mother Nature was punishing the citizens of Oulu with showers of hail and nightly frost we turned our car towards south. The waypoint at Hotel Katajanokka (bwkatajanokka.fi), a former county prison, proved to be an excellent choise. We dropped in at the preserved isolation cell to enjoy a special drink out of tin mugs. We hurried from the gloomy place to the restaurant Jailbird, which offers dishes like Cell for Four, Tower Guard or Bar File – we, though, had really good mutton in tagine. The atmosphere at the cellar restaurant was genuine and we felt like Bonnie and Clyde.

We got over the sea to Travemünde. In my spouse's former home area asparagus picked at the outskirt of the village was the most equal in quality I have ever seen. Enjoyed with beer at a Biergarten under a chestnut tree perfect! Our friend Maria had ripe currants and Jostabeeren (currant and gooseberry crossed) in June and we cooked jam. We invited Maria for dinner at Fortshaus in the shade of the forest in a 150-old ranger's house. There was liver, bovine tongue, kidneys and whatever on the menu. We ordered battered snails, fried liver, Mediterranean fruit chicken and mutton stew: they were all really tasty! The visit at Maria's place was over and we left her individuall garden with its bee hotel flourishing.

The holiday village Landal Heidenheuvel in Holland hides in the middle of the forest. Animals like wood pigeons, blackbirds, rabbits and squirrels became familiar during the week. The countryside in Holland is full of channels, cows, sheep and cyclists. The most succesful daily trips headed to the Hoge Veluwe National Park and the Cheese Market at Gouda. In the magniciant landscape of the national park we sporty hikers cycled to the Kröller-Müller Art Museum to see for example works by Vincent van Gogh. Gouda is an enchanting little old town where good cheese is present especially during the cheese market. We had cheese as salad and cheese plate accompanied with beer and herb liquor. We visited the seaside to smell the sea breeze and eat gebakkene mosselen.

We left Holland for Switzerland through Germany. It was obviously written in the stars that we won't pop in France, because the motorway was closed. When looking for a place to stay overnight we found Hotel Goldener Engel (goldener-engel.de) an once again a jackpot! Winzer Teller included saumagen (for the first time in my life!!), bratwurst, leberknödel, sauerkraut and spätzle. Saumagen is meat cooked in pig's tripe and cut in slices: resembles meat pasty. Chanterellen in cream sauce with Semmelknödel, fried dough balls, were also tasty. The wine waiter of the restaurant could recommend suitable wines: for the main course dry Spätlese-Rießling 05 and for the dessert  Gewürztraminer Auslese 02. Unfortunaltely the restaurant had bought the whole annual production of both wines.

In sunshine we continued towards Basel. Swiss food has influences from the neighbouring countries (rösti, ravioli, raclette...), but the price niveau is from Norway! A trip to Luzern by the mountain Pilatus with a cruise on a lake was a fine experience. In the evening in Basel a thunder shower made us go to the nearest restaurant. The Indian restaurant was of high quality and the service excellent. Water was running on the windows when we ate tandoori chicken and Indian cheese. It was hot in Basel and people swam in the Rhine by letting the stream carry them, with their clothes in a plastig bag on their heads, and landing at a suitable spot. The graziest of them jump down a 10-meter high bridge, which is actually forbidden! We dared only to watch from the river bank and cool ourselves with beer or spring water.

On the way to Travemünde we drove along smaller roads in eastern Germany watching the scenery. In the village of Vehra 20 km north of Ehrfuhrt we found a hotel and fish restaurant ”Am Staudamm”. It was unbelievable: the village has just a couple of streets crossing, but a fine fish restaurant and a cosy little hotel. The host-chef conjured us delicate plates out of catfish and pikeperch and Rote Grütze for dessert. This berry pudding is made of red berries of the season and their recipe came from the granny at the isle of Pöhl. The restaurant was filled with maritime decoration.

We drank dry Müller-Thurgau wine and with the dessert Huxelbrede Spätlese. For a starter the Finnish chef managed to drink a couple of big pints of Radeberger. The place suits people who look for excellent service and nice stories.

The journey was a variable culture and feast trip, on which we also met relatives and friends. At home we taste somewhat melancholic Maria's Jostabeeren jam and the wines we bought. We check the map in hope for new adventures... Enjoy with us by making Rote Grütze:

Rote Grütze

250 g strawberries

250 g cherries (if not available, 500 g strawberries)

250 g red currants (you can include black ones)

125 g rapsberries

 60 g starch

250 g sugar

Cook the currants and rapsberries soft in ½ liter water and let them cool. After that sieve the juice. Add genty the strawberried cut in pieces, the cherries in halves and ½ liter of water. Add the sugar, parboil and thicken with starch mixed with some cold water.

Serve cold with vanilla ice cream, vanilla sauce and other delicacies.

Madrid – symphony of tastes

Easter in Madrid isn't that bad an idea at all, especially when you at the same time have the opportunity to watch Real Madrid play against Valladolid at Sant Bernabey stadium and witness their victory 2-0! We experienced Spanish tastes every day. There was no need to search for restaurants, you could find them round every corner, enchanting tapas bars or refined restaurants where the waiters were better dressed than the customers. At the first night we came across a restaurant called  ”La cocina asturiana y del norte”, where we had sea bass and entecoté – delicious both. Fried garlic slices were nicely put on top of the fish and they were plentiful!

We aimed to eat at places where local people go to, but we didn't always fit their meal schedule. So we pitied the owner of a little restaurant, whose only customers we were at one in the afternoon. We ate a lot of tapas: ham, cheese, crispy garlic shrimps, mushrooms... The portions surprised us with their size: they weren't any small cups! Then after two o'clock the locals began to come for lunch: an old man with a newspaper under his arm, families, friends. Soon the place was stuffed full, so the owner wasn't  doing  bad at all.  Once having lunch the chef ordered from the Spanish menu the only food whose ingredients he hadn't the faintest idea of. A whole sheep's leg was carried to the table! The small sandwiches at the cafes were really nice snacks and there was a lot of choice: anchovy, cheese, ham, sausage, pepper. When we popped in for a drink, there was surely some salty snack along. We didn't stay hungry in this city!

At the hotel cafe we spent an afternoon reading books and sipping wine. When we got hungry suitable food was available. The service was really fast, just like in other restaurants. There seemed to be plenty of staff and nobody looked grumpy. The breakfast was quite ordinary and after having got used to cafe solo we didn't like coffee from the machine.

On a walking tour we found a local restaurant where there were no foreigners except us. We were called for dinner from the bar right away when the restaurant was opened, because we had asked for dinner. Delicious halibut was served in shellfish sauce. In the last evening the cirle was closed when we went for dinner to the same place where we had started. In Spain one has to eat paella, which was deliciously yellow and included a lot of tasty pieces. All the wines served suited the food, tasty red wines and fruity white ones. We also managed to invalidate the predudices that a catholic country would be closed on Good Friday: Nonsense, except small special shops almost all places wide open till late night! Graçias, Madrid!

Once upon a time in America

While the rain was beating the Finnish ground in July 2008 I was walking along the streets of New York with two young beautiful female accompanions. Among other experiences we had booked in advance a table at the Water Club (www.thewaterclub.com), which is situated by the East River so that you can watch the seaplanes or helicopters giving tourists a ride.

Inspired by the surroundings we ate seafood: for  starters New English crab cake, tartar fish with caviar and sour cream and lobster soup, for the main course braised scallops, local fish soup and tuna steak in orange sauce. The tastes were delicate and the spices didn't hide the aroma of the ingredients. A traditional cheese cake for dessert rounded the tastes nicely. After the meal we had drinks at the Crow's Nest bar on top of the building while the sun was setting behind the Manhattan skyline.

The holiday went on in the Pennsylvanian countryside in the village of Hawley where culinary pleasures were offered for example by Ehrharts Waterfront Restaurant (www.ehrhardts.com). In the cosy restaurant by a lake we had starters from a huge elegantly set salad bar and after that battered cod, gratinated tomato-cheddar soup and grilled scallops.

With a smile on our faces we felt the symphony of tastes, which was crowned by Californian white wine. The portions were decorated with fresh orchids that were edible. Did we eat only fish in America? Not at all, we also tried breakfast omelets, pancakes, pecan pies, tasty steaks and even hamburgers, but that is another story. As a whole the journey of tastes was vast and enjoyable

Pleasantly spicy country, Cambodia

In the middle of the cold winter I decided to have holiday in the Far East. I chose exotic Cambodia for destination. I expected new taste experiences, and I also got them! Spices were used a lot and my tastebuds recognized in almost every food coriander, lemongrass, chili and fish spice. A Cambodian fish salad flavored with these spices was an interesting acquintance.

There was half-ripe mango in thin slices. Also other vegetables like onion, cucumber and carrot were cut in thin slices. It was flavored with the spices mentioned before and nut oil. Coriander had been dosed plentifully. The salad was formed as a beautiful bed with a surface decorated with sun-dried fish strips. The fish is not totally replacable by Finnish ingredients. Closest to this would be to dry salted salmon strips crispy in the oven. It is the fish that gives the salad the suitable saltiness. Because of the composition it suited very well to be eaten with chopsticks.

Our Finnish guide tried to feed us even with deep-fried spiders. Some brave ones had the courage to taste them, but I skipped. Among the crunching sounds you could hear comment like ”the tail end is very tasty and the legs crispy”.

Snail snail show me your horns…

One of our favourite guests could remember me from ten years ago, when I won the special dish competition in the Oulu Garlic Night. When he saw me, he came to think about my winning dish, Burgundy snails. I promised him to bring the recipe on the site right away.

First I will tell a bit about the history of this great dish. While I was working in Iserlohn, in Germany, we were lucky to have a famous chef to work at the restaurant, who used to work in one of the best restaurants in Dortmund. The restaurant was famous also for the fact, that the players from Borussia Dortmund used to dine there after the game. It was the players that often chose this dish as a apetizer. This excellent chef brought the dish also to Iserlohn and later I presented it for the Oulu citizens for over ten years ago. And now I will reveal the recipe for all the food lovers.

Snails Burgundy

Approximately ½ kg chopped onions, carrots, parsnip and celery
300 g boiled snails
Chopped garlic, after taste
Butter
App. 2 dl cream
3 egg yolks
1 dl Pernod (liqueur with taste of anis)
3 dl red wine
Salt, pepper, parsley

Stir fry the vegetables in a big casserole. Don´t let them get too brown. Add the snails. Then add 1 dl Pernod and 3 dl of red wine. Let it simmer. Season with salt, pepper and parsley. Add 2 dl cream and let the mix simmer. Take the casserole away from the heat and add the egg yolks, one at the time, mixing continuously. Place the mix in the snail forms. You can also use a low, large form, just that the form don´t get too thick. You can also spread the mix on pieces of bread. Rost in the owen with grill function, untill the surface has obtained a nice color.

Matti`s earlier stories

Mamma mia!

Summer is about to be over and we are heading a new season. A new girl came to mix the soup with us, Katri, who is mixing mostly at the office. In the beginning of September, me and Katri found the good old pasta machine from the basement, and so was born the Trattoria Rauhala.

That´s right, we got hooked on Italy. The smell of olives and the sound of the wine leaves blowing in the wind is wonderful, specially when we didn`t get the swamps this summer in Finland. We invited some friends over to Rauhala to test some of the pasta recipies from the boot country. Making the pasta is not fast food, but a nice way to spend time and the result is delicious. Tagliatelle and ricotta and spinach filled raviolis were definetively worth the trouble. The sauces were done in many different variations; with Parma ham, creamy artichock sauce, traditional fresh pesto and exiting roasted aubergines with tomato and mozzarella sauce. This last one was really a hit, when I poared it over potato gnocchis and put it in the owen for a while. Focaccia bread was made in a second and succeeded so well, that there was nothing left. Alko had to offer some excellent Italian wines for our meal. Of course the wines were discussed , but that`s pretty normal in a Italian dinner table.

Stomachs full and mouths smiling we finished this meal with Tiramisú, that literary brought the spirit up ( means ”take me up”). I will happily share some of the Italian night`s joy and put here on the site the recipe of the focaccia bread. And if you would already feel fever for Italy, take a part in our Italian cooking course. Italian cooking – service can be requested from our sails department.

Focaccia bread

7 dl. wheat flower
App. 7 dl durum wheat flower
30 g. fresh yeast
2 sp. salt
2 sp.sugar
App. 6 dl water
Herbal oil:
1 sp. rosemary
Salt
2 mashed garlic cloves
3 sp. olive oil

Mix the yeast in water of hand temperature. Add the sugar and let it stay for a moment. Mix slowly the salt, both types of flower and rest of the water. Start to work with the dough untill is homogen, soft and elastic. Let the dough raise about ½ hour. Roll the dough to the 1, 5 cm thick plate. Place the dogh on the owen plate with high corners or on the owen paper and spread the herbal oil on the top with a soft brush. Then push some deep holes in the dough with your fingers in several places. Let the bread raise to double. Bake it in the owen in 200 degrees around 15 minutes. Take it out of the owen and spread some more oliveoil on the top. This recipe is for one owen plateful bread.

Pasta and pretty ladies in Seelari

We spent such a nice saturday evening in September in the Hietasaari Seelari. The hairdressers from Jörö-Jukka came to cook Italian specialities with us. Hilarious laughs and sticky dogh fingers made the chef smile. This evening I was really wondering, can working be this fun ! Great thanks to the staff of Jörö- Jukka for a great evening.

Highly requested Barbecue sauce

We have been asked several times the recipe for our barbecue sauce, that we have been offering with different meat and grill dishes. So, here it is:

Barbecuesauce

1 chopped onion
1 sp. of garlic
Seasoning:
1 sp. of chili
1 sp. of curry
1 sp. of paprika
1 sp. cumin
1 sp. salt or meat broth
1 ½ sp. timiam or/and oregano
3 kg crushed tomatoes
½ l water
App. ½ can of sirup

Stir fry the onion in a pan or a casserole. Add the garlic and herbs. Use the seasoning after your own taste. Fry further, don´t burn. Add the crushed tomatoes, water and sirup. Let it simmer at least one hour. The taste gets more “attitude” the longer your boil. If wanted, the sauce can be mixed fine. Serve cold or warm.

It´s all about mojo!

Now, in the early summer it´s wonderful to think about all the many barbecues, that the long summer has to offer. If you wish to spice up you chicken, meat or fish with little bit extra, try the mojo-marinade. I got to know this great marinade, when i was working in a boat in the Caribbean, during the `90s. In this marinade you can taste garlic and chili in a pleasant way and the caraway gives the marinade the final and funny touch. How long is the marinating time? I would say 3 hours for the fish (salmon filé). A smaller fish can of course have little less time. Chicken, turkey, pork or meat should stay in the marinade over the night. Those who have participated in Matti´s steak course, well remember, that the salt should be added first at the end of the barbecue. But who remembers why?
After the rainy summer, I´ll be waiting for the mushrooms. Hopefully we get a good harvest also this year. Before the mushroom period starts, my plan is to cruise a bit in Europe, and take home some inspiration from atleast the Balkan area. Good summer for everybody, many sunny days and great new taste-experiences! 

Mojo-marinade

This portion should be enough for 3 kg fish or 2 kg chicken or meat.

4 pieces of garlic
A small chili
½ handful of parsley
2 lime fruits (juice)   
2 spoonfuls of vinegar
1 spoonful of caraway
Pepper

- If you are worried about the hotness of the chili, remove the seeds before mixing.
- Mix all the ingredients and poar them on the top of the fish or meat to give taste.
- A good advice in home kitchen is to put everything in a plastic bag, press the air out, and close the bag firmly. In this way you can turn the bag upside down, so that the spices really get into every part of the fish or meat.
- Before the barbecue, you can poar away the unnecessary liquid and add some oil on the top of the fish or the meet.

Absolutely tasty, so far you like the chili :)