From the composer Sibelius to the artist Tom of Finland, the Finns have always managed to stand out. Even in warfare: their brave fighting to keep Stalin out gave the country a special place in the history books. Later, it was through designers such as Alvar Aalto that Finland established itself as a powerful force in modern expression. It’s a country renowned for its originality and proud natives.

This transformation from a rather poor country on the outskirts of Europe to one of the most progressive in the world was made possible through the paper industries. It was an industry that produced an awful, smoky odour that couldn’t be ignored when the ships arrived from all over the world. “What is that awful smell?” a young sailor wondered. “The smell of money,” was the famous answer. That horrid fog from the chimneys created great wealth and built the foundation of modern Finland, and maybe there is something deeply profound within the Finns and their adoration of smoke. They love to be surrounded by it, sweating together in cramped cottages, enjoying a beer. And they love to smoke anything they can eat.

“When we were asked to create a dish for Eat Pilsner, it was obvious we wanted to do something that really felt Finnish. And for us, that was to smoke some ingredients the traditional way – in a cottage. Or as we call it, mökki,” says Antti Lappalainen at Fisken på Disken in Helsinki – the first restaurant in Finland to be chosen to spread the message of beer gastronomy.

Finnish cuisine has come a long way since the country was a rather rural province of Sweden and later Russia. As with other Nordic countries, this was not a place of plenty. Everything had to be used up thoughtfully. “For us Finns, simplicity is important,” says Lappalainen. “Nothing should be used if it’s not really needed. Just as in our design tradition. Less is… enough.”

Like many other countries, Finland has had to dispel some prejudices regarding its food culture. Just over a decade ago the French President Jacques Chirac claimed, “After Finland, [Britain] is the country with the worst food.” But just as in the British Isles, the restaurant culture in Finland has gone through a reformation. Helsinki and other Finnish cities are now regarded by many as the next destination for anyone who’s become hooked on Nordic cuisine. Somehow, gastronomy in Finland has preserved its own unique traditions better than others.

“In many ways, we have kept our ways up here,” says Lappalainen. “You have to remember that we have a very homogeneous population and therefore fewer imported food cultures than other Nordic countries. We hardly have any immigration. But naturally we have learnt from our history, being at the crossroad of so many different food traditions. And we’re curious people. We like to travel!”

Featuring a natural and historic culture clash between the Arctic circle, Russia, the Baltic Sea, the Finnish lake district and a huge continental influence among the old bourgeoisie, Finland’s food scene is already one of the most schizophrenic in Europe. Yes, they love their bear meat, carrot à la porkkanalaatikko and that beloved mustard they always brag about, but Finns also love oysters and rare wild game. And now new restaurants combining all these traditions in a new way are popping up like forest chanterelles. They are combining the new with the old. Purifying the traditions. And one of the traditions in Finland is actually using beer in cooking.

“Cooking with beer is something we’ve been doing for ages in Finland,” Lappalainen continues. “I use it frequently in my reindeer stew and in my mustard. But as we’re a seafood restaurant, we decided to use beer gastronomy with one of the classics – mussels – but in our Finnish way.”

Very far removed from French moules, this dish combines typically Finnish ingredients such as radishes, dill and buckwheat. The mussels, an example of Swedish interaction through the centuries, are poached in butter and pilsner – everything with a distinctive smoked undertone. As we said, the Finns are seriously obsessed with smoke. What else could you expect from the homeland of the sauna? Up there, they do things their way.

Eat Pilsner is an invitation for restaurants all over Europe to create new dishes using Pilsner Urquell – the original pilsner – as a key ingredient. Mökki Mussels Urquell was created by Fisken på Disken, Helsinki; fisken.fi

Credits:

Words by Tor Bergman

Special thanks to Pilsner Urquell

Art Credits:

1. Finsch Landschap Eno Herajärvi, No. 734 Ståhlberg, Helsinki (1998), by IK Inha

2. Photograph byTiina Törmänen

3. Sunset at Lake Tuusula (1902), by Pekka Halonen

In the bible, God seldom shows up. But when he does, it is often suggested that food is what is at the forefront of his mind. Apparently, gastronomy is regarded as something very important in the heavens, and goat meat is regularly a relevant matter for discussion. It’s a piece of meat that was very popular back in the day.

“Goat has unfortunately had a bad reputation since the ‘You shall not boil a young goat in the milk of its mother’ quote from the Old Testament,” says Göran Svartengren, the head chef at the restaurant that bears his name. “And it seems that, even back then, it was regarded as something that wasn’t very special. But the truth is very much the opposite. Young goat is fantastic – as a steak on its own, or in a stew or a sausage. It’s like lamb, but even more exquisite.”

Svartengrens is a well-known spot in Stockholm for meat lovers. Here they serve impressive pieces of meat from local producers, knowing that their guests are very demanding. Today we go out on the town for dinner like there was no tomorrow, but we are also pickier and more educated than ever. And wastage isn’t something we appreciate these days.

“It’s a shame that we only enjoy the cheese from the goat and disregard the meat. The Greeks are smart – they know how tasty the goat is. So we want to put the it back on the menu,” Svartengren continues. “And there are many other interesting things out there waiting to be put on the restaurant table. Well… all in a civilized and educated tradition, of course.”

Goat meat is also very lean. If you think chicken breasts are your best option for lean-meat proteins, you’re on the right track. A little further up the health spectrum you’ll find goat meat. Not only is it the leanest red meat out there, it has lower calorie and cholesterol levels than chicken and turkey. It suits a new, health-conscious generation. But as with lamb, it should not be too old – kid is the best there is.

“Kid is a true delicacy and goes very well with beer. That’s why kid was my first thought when Pilsner Urquell invited me to create a dish for Eat Pilsner,” says Svartengren. “However, when you’re involved with beer cuisine, it’s important to have a sweetness to complement the bitterness of the pilsner. It’s not like wine, which you can reduce and reduce. You must take care, but when you do, you get tremendous results.”

But the world of gastronomy is a conservative one. In restaurant kitchens around the world, wine is naturally the dominant liquid when it comes to making sauces and stocks, but making food with pilsner offers new possibilities – and not just with classics such as robust stews. It also goes really well with seafood, as other restaurants have shown with dishes such as raw pilsner lobster and scallops Urquell.

Goat is too often regarded as a lowly dish. Something you eat on the horn of Africa, while waiting for a container ship to pass by to hijack, perhaps. In the film Captain Phillips the pirates keep reminding the captain, played by Tom Hanks, that when the hijack is over they shall enjoy some lovely goat in their Somalian hideout.

But the old view is about to change. Goat is finally coming to town.

Eat Pilsner is an invitation for restaurants all over Europe to create new dishes using Pilsner Urquell – the original pilsner – as a key ingredient. Kid, pilsner and marrow, created by Svartengrens, was made using kid sausage, marrow and Pilsner Urquell. The dish includes dry-aged topside of ox, smoked marrow, onion cream, beetroot, applewood and pilsner onion sauce.

Credits

Words by Alfredo L. Jones

Film and images produced by The Forumist

Special thanks to Pilsner Urquell