American magazine Newsweek published a list of the best countries in the world, and Finland ranked first (article here). If Italy would have achieved such a result, we would hear about it for the next two or three generations. What do you think the Finnish press did instead? Rather than boasting about it, they pointed out that the calculation was wrong, and Switzerland should have been first! (to which Newsweek replied that the calculation was indeed correct)

Humbleness is one of the things I like about the Finnish character, but you should really let yourself be proud for something sometimes, people!

Oh, and there was indeed an italian reaction (link in italian) to the news, a journalist recommending Newsweek to move their HQ to Helsinki if they liked it so much, and generally complaining that while we think these charts are irrelevant, we are still pissed off for not being at the top.

Went to try “retkiluistelu” or “tour skating”, a variant of ice skating made for long trips on rough terrain. It uses (among other things) longer than normal skates and ice pikes to test the ice for thickness. The style is somewhat different than traditional skating in that you have to kick slightly forward to avoid getting stuck in the bumps and cracks of the ice.

It was fun, although as the photo shows my style needs some improvement. There are some nice photos on Flickr if you want to get a better idea.

A strange object appeared in the sky today, a glowing ball of red light peeked from the horizon and after a few hours went back to where it came from. A natural phenomenon or an alien flying ship? And will we see it again?

Today Finland celebrates its independence. Hyvä Suomi!

It’s mushroom season in Finland, and thanks to the expert guide of some friends I too had a successful expedition to the forest. The catch of the day included mostly “suppilovahvero“, “kantarelli” and one “herkutatti” which I didn’t find myself but was given as a present, because I had whined so much about how great it would be to find some (it is considered the most precious mushroom in Italy).

As a fitting conclusion for the day, we had “pappardelle ai funghi” for dinner, obvioulsy made with some of the loot we brought home. Recipe follows.

For the basic mushroom sauce for 4 you will need a big bowl of mushrooms, olive oil, 2 onions, a bunch of fresh parsley, salt, pepper and one tomato. Fry the onions in oil in a non-stick saucepan. When the onions have become soft throw in the mushrooms, salt and pepper, and stir for a while. Add the diced tomato, stir some more and put the lid on. Cook for 15 minutes on low-medium heat, stirring occasionally and making sure the sauce doesn’t get dry (add a little hot water every now and then if needed). Meanwhile cook the pasta and once it’s ready mix it in the sauce with the chopped parsley. Best enjoyed with a “wide” pasta such as pappardelle or tagliatelle. Note the absence of cream, which is a no-no because it kills the delicate taste of the wild mushrooms.

After Garibaldi, Michelangelo and Al Capone, it was only a matter of time before Berlusconi got his own name attached to a pizza. The prime minister of Italy can thank the finnish “Koti Pizza” (“home pizza”) chain for the honor, and let’s hope this will help heal the finnish-italian gastro-diplomatic relationships that went sour a few years ago over some statements from the very same head of state. The ad says – I think -  “elected best pizza in the world” (although it could also say “mundane parhaaksi elect pizza” according to this automatic translator). I have no idea what the ingredients are, but knowing the finnish sense of humour I would bet there is parma ham.

There is a number of italian restaurants in Helsinki, some of them bad, some of them good, many of them quite expensive. However they all have one thing in common: their menus are full of spelling mistakes! The incriminated menu in the picture (if you can’t spot the mistake, “Bianci” should be “Bianchi”) is from Trenta, an upper scale restaurant recently opened in one of the Sokos chain hotels. As a matter of fact I liked the food and the service, and they obviously spent a lot of money to get things done right, so why couldn’t they pay a decent italian translator? I mean, it’s two pages of text, how expensive can it be?

So here is my proposal: if you have an italian restaurant, or a restaurant with items written in italian in the menu, send them to me and I’ll spell check them for free. You can offer me a dinner (in that case for two, please ) if you want, but you don’t have to. I’ll do it just for my own peace of mind, so that I don’t have to take my blue pencil with me every time I go out.

P.S.: of course this apparently crazy proposal is supported by the fact that the number of restaurant owners that read this blog is a big fat 0. As a matter of fact, that’s probably the number of readers in general.

P.P.S.: the “blue pencil” is a reference to a practice in use in italian schools, where the teacher has a double ended pencil, one end being red and the other blue. The red end is used to mark “normal” mistakes, and the blue is for critical ones.