Sweet delights from Teemu and Markus

Some of you might already know Patisserie Teemu & Markus . This wonderful small bakery used to be at Kiseleffin Talo. A few weeks ago they reopened at Yriönkatu right opposite of Hotel Torni.

Patisserie Teemu & Markus has a small small but amazing selection of cakes, tarts and other tasty pastries. Try their wonderful macarons. Or go for a Finnish classic. I highly recommend the voisilmä pulla. They are probably the best in town.

This patisserie is open from Tuesday to Saturday and is always worth a visit. Drop by or check out their website to check out their sweet treats online.

Something new from 3 Kaveria

The ice cream company 3 Kaveria brought two new delicious flavors to the market.

After the immense success of their other products they now made Blackcurrant-Orange available. And if you are a fan of really basic flavors you can also now buy their vanilla ice cream in slightly bigger buckets.

To find out where you can get Kolmen Kaverin Jäätelö check out their website.

Enjoy! 

Have some tippaleipä

Vappu is one of the biggest celebrations in Finland. And of course every celebration call for its culinary specialty.

Around May 1 Finns traditionally eat the so called Tippaleipä. It is made of spaghetti shaped dough from flour, egg, sugar, lemon, salt and spices and deep fried in oil.

Tippaleipä is sold in shops everywhere in Finland at the moment. Go and get some as long as the shops are still open.

And don’t forget to head to Havis Amanda at Kauppatori around six today to watch Mantan Lakitu, the official beginning on Vappu.

Hauskaa vappua!

Tarts for the national poet

Today Finland celebrates one of its greatest writers: Johan Ludvig Runeberg. Every year on his birthday February 5^th the flags fly in honor of Finland’s national poet.

On this day it is a tradition to eat Runebergin torttu. It is a pastry flavored with almonds and topped with raspberry jam in a sugar ring. According to the legend Runeberg’s wife invented those tarts and made them for him every morning.

At the moment you get them in every supermarket. Enjoy!

Local and organic

If you want to get real Finnish delicacies and want to be sure you don’t buy and mass products but local food from the area then you should pay a visit to Eat & Joy Maatilatori. Here they sell fresh and organic products that mainly come from small farms in Finland. 

Of course you can also try some of the products. They have a nice range of products e.g. home made jam, freshly baked bread and delicious farmer’s cheese.

The shop is easy to find. It’s located in Lasipalatsi. They are open daily. The opening times and more information on Maatilatori can be found from their website.

Delicious Finland

 

You’d like to try food from all the different parts of Finland and like to find out what Finnish cuisine has to offer between Uusimaa and Lappland? Then you should head to Herkkujen Suomi (Delicacies of Finland) this weekend.

It is a food fair on Rautatientori where farmers and small companies present their products to the public. Every tent represents one area of Finland. You can try samples or buy whole meals. 

Take your time to wander around all the stands and try some of the delicious and mainly homemade food.  You also find a beer tent where several Finnish microbreweries have their best beers on tap.

Herkkujen Suomi is open today and tomorrow throughout the day and the entrance is free.

Enjoy!

The Finns and their ice cream

It finally feels like summer arrived in Helsinki. It’s time for ice cream! Well, in Finland it’s basically always time for ice cream. Did you know that Finns have the highest ice cream consumption per capita of whole Europe? In average every Finn eats around 17 liters of the cool dessert every year. That’s especially surprising when you think about the cold winter days here. 

One thing you have to get used to is, that in Finland you barely will find any of those ice cream café’s that are very popular in central Europe.

Pingviini Hot & Sour Mix

The affection for ice cream makes the Finns really creative though when it comes to coming up with new flavors. You can find ice cream with pop corn, licorice, salmiakki (salty licorice) and even tar taste (yes, I’m not joking).

This season e.g. Pingviini Hot & Sour Mix with salmiakki, chilli and sour berrys is new on the market.

Even if some of those flavors might sound quite extreme you – don’t worry, they are not poisonous. Just give it a try!