Top of the morning to ya!

Porridge- the champion of breakfasts.

Ever since I moved to Finland, more than a decade ago, my attitude towards porridge has changed dramatically. To put it simply, I went from never trying it to eating it regularly ;) So much so that I actually enjoy it as breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

Semolina porridge with blueberries,
 strawberries and juice of berries.

There is, however, one tiny detail. I only like a specific type of porridge. When I started tasting different types of porridge I noticed a few things. Texture matters to me, so I was unable to actually enjoy porridge that had chunks in it. A smoother texture was always a better experience for me. The best one is semolina porridge (Mannapuuro/mannasuurimo/Σιμιγδάλι). In the shops here in Finland, one can find dark wheat or white wheat. After having tried both, I lean towards the dark wheat semolina.

All porridge types are a great nutrition treasure. Wheat and grains are rich in calcium, magnesium, iron and, of course, fiber. Therefore, the dish has nutritional value, the intake of calories is low and it is a dish which will not leave you hungry.

Wheat

Some people might enjoy adding some sugar to porridge but there are other ways of jazzing the dish up. I gave up the consumption of sweets, candy, and baking goods 9 months ago so I have been avoiding sugar as much as possible. To give a kick to my porridge I am adding blueberries, strawberries, kisel (sweetened juice of berries), or honey. I prefer honey as it is a more natural sweetener to processed juice of berries.

Grains which are used to make porridge are semolina,rice, buckwheat, barley, corn, polenta etc. In Finland, I am used to the rice porridge, wheat (all types of wheat) porridge, and semolina porridge. 

As a kid, growing up in Greece, I was not used to eating porridge. However, I noticed one similarity with the rice porridge. The Finns make rice porridge by boiling it in milk and eating it warm by adding a mixture of cinnamon and sugar on top. It is a dish which I have seen more being consumed over Christmas but rice porridge is also a common breakfast dish. In Greece, we have something similar, called rizogalo/ ριζόγαλο (rice milk) only we eat it cold and only with cinnamon on top. So, we let the rice mixture set in the fridge overnight first before we add some cinnamon on it. It is considered more of a dessert dish rather than a breakfast dish. 

Go on! Give porridge a go. I promise you will enjoy it and feel better about your healthier start to your day.

Dangerously delicious

Rhubarb - Strawberry Pie

Rhubarb. How much do we know about this beautiful plant? Well, I didn't really know much about this plant until recently. I was lucky enough to receive a hefty bunch of flesh long stalks a few days ago.

Not knowing what to do with them, I started looking into recipes and cooking ideas online. In my venture, I discovered some pretty interesting facts about this plant.

Rhubarb can come in a variety of colors like the familiar to most of us red, green and white. Also, the reason why we only see its stems sold in markets is due to the high toxicity of the plant's leaves. Although only consumption of a large portion of the leaves can kill, it has been suggested that even a small bite of the rhubarb leave can make one very sick!

Despite this fact, rhubarb is used in medicine and it is considered a dieting product due to its laxative qualities. It doesn't offer large amounts of many vitamins but it is rich in vitamin C. It has a sour taste and therefore in recipes it is usually combined with cinnamon, lots of sugar, ginger and, when baked, it is typically offered with vanilla cream or vanilla ice-cream.

My quick internet search did not really satisfy me so I opted for a look in my favorite baking site. Bingo! A lovely and relatively easy Rhubarb-Strawberry Pie recipe was there ready to be tested. I thought that preparing rhubarb would have been time consuming but I soon realized that I was wrong. Depending on whether one wishes to do the pie crust from scratch or not the preparation of the filling i.e. the rhubarb-strawberry-spices filling, is actually a matter of minutes. Otherwise, preparing the pie crust from scratch is what adds more time to this recipe. I tried it and the result was excellent and pleasing not only to the eyes but to our taste-buds as well.

I am now a bit more confident to handle rhubarb and have at least one recipe to keep perfecting. My next step though will be to try out rhubarb jam :) You know, something that can last and be enjoyed longer!

May Day Breather

Cooking in my kitchen is absolutely amazing and I enjoy it enormously. However, this mother has to take a breather and hang her apron for a day ;)

What a better day than May Day! According to tradition, people here in Finland take to the parks to

May Day 2013 _ Vantaankoski River

enjoy a picnic and some drinks (well...more than some ;) ). I have myself enjoyed a few May Day celebrations in the main park of the City of Helsinki in the past. However, the weather in Finland is very unpredictable in May. Some years we had a wonderful summer's day and some, like today, a cold autumn-like weather.

Taking to the parks may sound great and some people might actually enjoy doing that every single year. For us, a family of four, this tradition belongs more to our youth. Somehow, we slowly shifted our habit of picnic in a park by the sea to a more classy May Day meal in a villa or mansion. Having small kids to drag about played a big part towards this shift.

So, our tradition for May Day changed. It was more practical and intimate to enjoy a cozy meal with each other and take the time to really enjoy each others company. After a couple of years of trying out meals in various villas and mansions, we came across the Kuninkaan Lohet (King's Salmon) Old File Factory by the river Vantaankoski in Vantaa.

Kuninkaan Lohet _ Viilatehfas

This year was the third time we booked a traditional May Day meal at Kuninkaan Lohet. The place is just beautiful. The Old Factory is right next to the river and the view can be enjoyed through the large windows in the dinning hall. The dinning hall, which features an old fireplace (below), used to be a factory where they crafted files. Moreover, one can clearly see the history emerging from the walls as the hall is covered with red brick walls and ceilings supported by iron bars and wooden beams.


The booking can be done online by filling in a form, via phone or email. The menu is a set buffet of traditional
May Day treats with starters, main dishes, desserts and coffee. Included is also Finland's traditional May Day drink called 'sima'. 'Sima' is a drink that can be brewed at home and resembles a bubbly lemonade.

May Day 2014 _ Menu

In the menu one can find all sorts of salads, new potatoes, variety of cheeses, breads, lamb, salmon and wonderful "typical" children's buffet treats like sausages and fries. At the dessert buffet one can savor traditional May Day treats like doughnuts and fruit of the month cakes.



We have enjoyed our May Day meals every year here and we strongly recommend this place. You can visit their pages Kuninkaan Lohet (English version coming soon) to view their offers. Special occasion lunches are organised all year round and their spaces can also be used for other gatherings like personal celebrations, business meetings and even culinary courses.