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My name is Vesa Leinonen, i take photographs of Nature, culture and cuisine, particular interest in regional products, natural resources and the cultural traditions of hunter gatherer in the ancient days. A particular region has a population and history, the natural environment provided resources that enabled populations to grow and enjoy life. Often people don't see the connection between ethnic cuisine and the regional environment, also the modern trends tend to steer people away from Natural landscapes, and away from Nature in general. Which leads to ignorance of the importance of regional products and local food ingredients and their role in cultural history. My education and training in commercial cookery (chef), with lots of kitchen work experience, has given me a fresh appreciation for the food ingredients that have been grown on the local farms.
Bushwalking in Lapland, Fish, Holiday destination in lapland., Lapland, Teno Eräkieväri

Teno Erakievari

Teno Eräkieväri is a fine place to begin if you are looking for a place where to start the Natural Nordic wilderness experience of Lapland in Finland, and no need to look further, I can recommend the location to you.  It is the Teno Eräkieväri on the shore of the Teno river.   The far north border region between Norway and Finland has a great, pleasant climate during the summer months between May-July.  Temperatures around + 15 to +20’C (in 2011).

Pictures of the Nordic Tundra landscape.

I have visited and stayed at a border town (Nor/Fin) called Karigasniemi (Kari-Gas-Peninsula), and the Teno Eräkieväri hub, a small town that gets fair amount of tourist driving through to North Finland or across the border to Norway, and also the Teno river/Inari river is a great place for salmon river fishing during the summer, it is a relatively short summer fishing season for tourists (June 1, to August 8).  The Salmon run up the river in mid-late summer and spawn there upstream.

All year round activities from the Teno Eräkieväri of Nordic Finland.

There is also ice fishing available in the area during the winter months. And there are many other activities and things to do, e.g. there are arctic lakes close by for fishing, and also canoeing, bushwalking, berry picking, hunting, cycling, nature photography, and the reindeer.

Outdoor activities from Teno Eräkieväri.

Teno eräkieväri
Teno river fishing.Copy@All RIghts Reserved.2011.

There are two grocery shops in Karigasniemi (one with a butcher shop, and the other with a shoe/gumboot/and clothing store),  there is also a church, two gas stations, a pub with food service, and a Pizza shop, hardware store, timber mill products, hairdresser and other day to day products.  Kari-gas-Niemi is said to be a town with several cultures and languages, the Sami, Norwegian and Finnish, many people there can use all the above languages.  There is accommodation at Kari-gas-Niemi caravan park, and the local Pub and other riverside cabins available further out of town.

Teno Eräkieväri for Accommodation.

Teno Eräkieväri is about seven km north from Kari-gas-niemi along the road towards Utsjoki (Uts-river).  The place is called Teno Eräkievari, their web link is here:  Teno Eräkievari Accommodation + Restaurant.

They have two riverfront cabins at the site for rent, as well as other riverfront cabins /small houses further out.  Also, there are accommodation rooms available at Teno Eräkievari; 2 x 4 person rooms, and 7 x 3 person rooms for rent.  Also, an electric sauna house is available for paying guests.  There is a riverfront sauna house also available for hire at a moderate hour rate €10 pp per hour, whether a house guest or just visiting.

Other activities at the Eräkieväri are (check seasonal changes) e.g. hire a local fishermen to row a boat for trawling the Salmon in the Teno river, it is a local knowledge/method that takes the lure/fly fishing to the spots where the salmon are to be found, the rowboats that they use during the trawling do have motors, but they don’t use them while fishing. Hourly rate for the rower is €35 per hour, boat hire is €50 per day, excluding the cost of the fuel.

Canoe hire at the Teno Eräkieväri on the shore of the river Teno.

I hired a canoe from the Teno Eräkieväri for a day, it was great fun, it cost €30 per day.  The Teno river is an awesome river to canoe, it is relatively calm (June-August), it is also possible to paddle upstream because the river is wide and the current is not that forceful.

teno-eräkieväri
The Teno River.Copy@All Rights Reserved.2011.

See pictures of my Teno River canoe trip from Teno Eräkieväri.

The Teno Eräkievari has a Bar +Restaurant and a small souvenir/post card shop, coffee and sweet buns (called Pulla) also served.  Teno Eräkieväri has a nice calm relaxed atmosphere with lots of natural wood decor in the coffee shop area, it is decorated in a Sami cultural theme, with lots of natural wood products, and also a bear wall rug and some stuffed animals in the function hall.  Other activities are also available during the winter snow months.  Always remember to carry a small bottle of mosquito repellant when outdoors, because during the summer months the mosquito can be overwhelming especially in the wet swampy areas when bush walking.  Here are some photo images from Teno Eräkieväri dining/function area, it really presents well, and you get a feel of the Nordic/Fennoscandia Sami culture and environment in the far north of Finland.

accomodation-teno-eräkieväri
Teno Eräkieväri dining.Copy@All RIghts reserved.2011.

Migrating bird life

Nordic Summer season

Nordic Summer season with the migrating bird life.

This month of June is the beginning of the Nordic summer season for this year of 2011. It has really kicked off quick smart, the warm weather and the rain showers has transformed the environment to a dark green color with lots of wildflowers already on the ground.  The sea ducks have built their nests and the duckling have already hatched, I have spotted lots of them and photographed some.  Here are some of them during the recent Nordic summer season:  The Common Merganse, (Mergus Merganser), Common Eider (Somateria mollissima), Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis), Gavia arctica, and the White Swans (genus Cygnes).  They hatched/arrived at the water in that order, as I observed and took pictures of them.

Sea Duck pictures.

Nordic Summer season along the shores of the Bothnia Sea.

These pictures are from the West coast of Finland, known as the  Gulf of Bothnia.  Migrating birds seem to favor nesting and populating along the seashores, particular if there are small islands and rock outcrops where they can build nests without having to worry so much about predators e.g. fox’s, lynx or the cats.  Small islands seem to be the safest place for sea ducks to build a nest during the Nordic summer season.

The building of Bird nesting boxes during the Nordic summer season.

The Gavia Arctica Sea duck naturally builds her nest in a hollow tree, people being aware of that, and also being self-aware of their impact on the natural environment, e.g. chopping down trees, they have been putting up “bird boxes” for centuries.  They come in various size and shapes, for the birds along the shores of the sea and along the lake shores near peoples summer shacks.

There are many types of bird boxes built for various types of birds, they are usually either for the larger water birds or the smaller inland birds, the size of the box and the entrance to it, is usually a give away for what type of bird it was built for.  The Woody woodpecker has a habit of finding a bird box with a too tight hole, then without second thoughts hammers it, like it was tailor-made for his/her purpose.  Not sure whether they just do it out of curiosity, or serious plans for nesting there.  Some of the bird nesting boxes that I have seen has a metal plate built over the entrance hole (with a hole in the center), to prevent the woodpeckers from hammering it to their size needs.

For an update of latest pictures of migrating birds and summer flowers during the Nordic summer season, visit the above link, and happy days during your summer season wherever that may be.

Traditional custom, Vihta in the sauna house

Vihta or Vasta?

You may be wondering, what on earth is a Vihta or a Vasta?  It may sound like a computer program, but no, it is not a computer program.

The word Vihta or Vasta in Finland means a traditional fresh green leaf whisk that is used in the hot sauna house to whack the back of a person.  By doing so, it generates more concentrated heat to the back by fanning the hot steam filled air.  The whacking action of the bound bunch of soft birch branches (with green leaves) to the back also works as a light massage effect, with concentrated heat, and the slapping of the green leaves of the birch.

Now is the best time to be making a Vihta, the birch branches are fresh and green, they also have a refreshing fragrance.  The new branches are soft and easy to shape into a band to hold the birch branches together in a tight bunch.

Vihta can be prepared in bulk during the summer season and stored for winter

Vihta/Vasta can also be made ready and stored in a dry store or a freezer.  They are usually stored by hanging them indoors undercover from a line.  Before use, they are soaked in hot water for 30 minutes to refresh them.  The freezing method works well; also, they do need to be wrapped securely in plastic to protect the leaves from frostbite, otherwise the leaves dry and break up. Even as the drying method, soak it before use in hot water for 30 min.

Awakened and refreshed Vihta does bring the fragrance and the colors of summer back to the hot sauna room during the freeze of winter.

A spring sauna birch Vihta in the middle of winter is an excellent reminder of the summer season with fragrance and the next spring season to come.  It really is an excellent reminder of the wonders of the natural summer season, during the snow-covered winter months, when there is no green to be seen on the ground for 6 months of the year here In the Nordic region.

Birch trees an excellent source for making craft items

The Birch branches, the bark, and the timber have traditionally been used for many purposes.  The flexible white paper, like the bark of a birch tree, was used for making ribbon baskets, shoes, wall decorations, bookmarks, and many other craft items.  Branches also are useful material for crafting baskets, fencing, or fishing trips, along with the branches used to lure the fish during the spawning season.  Birch as firewood has excellent qualities, the bark (provided with the wood) is almost like paper, easy to light with a match.  The timber blocks split easily into straight segments, the birch timber is very user-friendly, and it is valued highly by the people that live on the land.

Traditional customs, White swans

White Swan

The White Swan (Cygnus cygnus), is the national bird of Finland.

It is a large white water bird, with yellow color visible on the peak, the young swans are grey in color.  They have identified also from their “whooping” or “Tooting” trumpet sound.  Adult swan weighs approx 6.5-11.5 kg, their wingspan is about 2.3-2.4 meters apart.  They make their nest in the reeds on water, or it can be on dry land also.  They lay their eggs in May-June, 4-6 eggs, the female hatches them for 40 days.  The newly hatched swans are able to fly in 45-60 days time, the swan adults live in pairs and relatively private during their nesting time and fend off other swans/birds aggressively.

In the 1950 white swans almost became extinct in Finland, they became protected and their numbers have increased rapidly since then.  It is estimated that there are 4500-6000 pairs of swans during the summer, most migrate to and fro from Finland each year, however, some stay the winter depending on the winter conditions and available water free of ice cover.

Source of information.

The white Whooper swans can be seen at quiet bays of the seashore paddling in pairs, they are obviously planning ahead for another successful egg hatching summer.  They constantly swim/feed what seem to be some kind of seaweeds/tubers/grass.

Pictures of white swans.

“In the Finnish epic Kalevala, a swan lives in the Tuoni river located in Tuonela, the underworld realm of the dead. According to the story, whoever killed a swan would perish as well. Jean Sibelius composed the Lemminkäinen Suite basedon Kalevala, with the second piece entitled Swan of Tuonela (Tuonelan joutsen). Today, five flying swans are the symbol of the Nordic Countries and the whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus) is the national bird of Finland”.-Wikipedia.

White Swans in Mythology and Antiquity.

In the rock art of Karelia, there are pictures of swans, those people are sometimes called the “water bird nation”(vesilintukansa).  According to the belief of the Karelian people, the white swans should not be harmed if they were harmed the same fate would return on that person as the injured swan.  Because when swans are feeding their heads are submerging under the surface of the water, therefore it is believed that swans have access to the underworld/hades as well.

Artists, Musicians, and Poets inspired by the White Swans.

Sibelius with “Lemminkäinen” and Eino Leino with the “Swan of the Hades” have been inspired by the symbolism that first started in picture art.

“Oi, valkolinnut, vieraat Lapin kesän, te suuret aatteet, teitä tervehdän!
Oi, tänne jääkää, tehkää täällä pesä, jos muutattekin maihin etelän!
Oi, oppi ottakaatte joutsenista! Ne lähtee syksyin, palaa keväisin.
On meidän rannoillamme rauhallista ja turvaisa on rinne tunturin”.

When translated it brings thoughts like these:

“Oh the visiting white birds of the Lapland summer, the great ideological beings, you i welcome!   Please stay, make your nest here, if you do go to the lands of the south!  Oh, do study and learn from the Swans!  They leave in the autumn and return in the spring.  There is peace on our shores and safety on the breast of the Tundra“. -own translation.

Source-Wikipedia-Laulujoutsen.

Easter, Traditional easter

Easter decorations

The Christian Easter tradition is also celebrated in Finland, the word “Pääsiäinen” (Easter), meaning the end of fast, the 40 day period prior to Easter Sunday.  Palm Sunday to Good Friday, and the celebrated Easter Sunday. In the Christian church as the most important celebration day is the Resurrection Sunday.

There are many types of traditional Easter decorations e.g; Easter ryegrass, painted eggshells, willow baskets, decorated flowering willow branches with bunny tails.

Young Children (4-12yrs) in some areas go door knocking to bless their neighbors for the coming spring/year, they are rewarded usually with some lollies/biscuits or a few cent donations.

Two opposed traditions during the Easter weekend.

It is the opposite of what the custom of the Trolls was back in the dark ages, apparently the story goes that there were witches that went around during the time between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, because there was a belief that during that time landowners pets and livestock were susceptible to curses, so they gave it their best to punish the landowners pets and livestock.  Mostly they were outcast single women on the fringe of society and also bitter of their misfortune.

Pictures of flowering Easter willow bunny tails.

Unleavened Easter food

Easter food

Mämmi (Maam-me) is a traditional Easter dish that was eaten in Finland as early as the 12 century.  It is also mentioned in cookbooks that date back to the 16 century.

It first appeared in the South West and on the West coast of Finland, where the Catholic church was established.  It was not until the 17 century when mämmi made it’s a way to the north and central Finland.  There are divided opinions about mämmi also in Finland, some enjoy it, others loathe it.

It was a food dish used in the Catholic church during the Easter fasting, meat and dairy products were not consumed on Fridays, so Mämmi became the Easter Friday food and part of the Easter cultural tradition in Finland.

It is said to symbolize the unleavened bread that the Jews eat during the Passover.  Mämmi is made by using rye flour, rye malt, water and sweetened with molasses, and seasoned with salt.  When the mixture is prepared it is allowed to mature and sweeten naturally for many hours. It is like a wet rye porridge sweetened with molasses, then the final stage is made by baking it an oven like a pudding/casserole.  It is consumed either hot or cold, with milk/cream like a pudding.

Mämmi has a long history and it is part of the Finnish Easter food culture, it is also healthy to eat, it was part of the religious discipline in fasting during the easter time.  Despite its innocent history and cultural significance, Mämmi is often discriminated and scoffed at similar to the  Vegemite in Australia.  Vegemite and Mämmi are very similar in color, they are both dark brown.

Crossing cultural borders do often bring surprises in ethnic cuisine discovery, and without the necessary knowledge, and the story/beginning/tradition, then it just may seem odd to have brown porridge that is baked in an oven.  Rye has been very much part of the Finnish culture, there are many good reasons for that, one of them is the health benefits of eating wholemeal rye bread in their farming/forestry/agricultural communities during meal breaks.

Clothing, Sheep

Sheep: wool felt

Sheep have been a valuable resource in human history.  The use of felt began early in the East-Turkey area, early as 4000 BC.  Also in the Ancient Roman culture, clothing and felt hats were worn by the males.

Sheep wool for clothing felt boots and blankets were discovered to have fabulous insulation properties to retain the low human body temperatures and keep out the bitter cold of the Nordic winters.  Thick felt boots are very effective against extreme cold, even as low as -40’C.  Boots are very light to walk in, they were used both indoors and outdoors. Wool was spun and used for items like; socks, jumpers, pants, gloves, mittens and other textiles.

Animal husbandry sheep and wool textiles industry in the Nordic region dates back to the Viking era, there is real evidence and finds of the early wool textile industry.

Early Wool Industry.

Finn sheep and Swedish Mountain cattle and the Icelandic horse, date back to the prehistoric animal husbandry.

Early animal farming in the Nordic region.

It is very likely that in many families/small tribes sheep were viewed as too valuable to be killed for the dinner table until the numbers had increased sufficiently to a large level. Sheep wool products are still regarded as valuable natural resources, both in spun wool products and in felt products, and it’s not likely to change any time soon.

Picture of wool products.

Home garden, Seasonal change., Vegetables

Potatoes

The days are getting warmer and the piles of snow are receding continuously.  Now is the time take some potatoes out of the cellar into the daylight, by placing them on a damp hessian sack they will start to sprout within one week.  As a precaution, you can keep them under cover, or cover them with suitable material during the night while the frost is still likely to strike the sprouting potatoes.

Preparing the garden soil for planting potatoes.

Prepare the garden by turning the soil, this is also usually done in the previous autumn.  Use a rake to even out any clumps of dirt, and remove sticks and large rocks.  Form/shape straight line furrows about 50 cm apart, and about 10 cm deep and 10 cm wide.  The length in proportion to the potato yield required.

There are also other options for growing potatoes in pots and containers.  See the following link.  Potato Growing at home.

Once the seed potatoes have sprouted (sprouts about 3 cm long) place them in the furrows by pushing them in at various depths (that way there is more space for them to grow).  Then build up a mound over the planted potatoes, from both sides of the furrow, a raised potato furrow, it drains well of excess water, and warms up quick during the sunny morning.  The planted potatoes need about 10-15 cm of soil over them, to keep them out of direct sunlight and to maintain moisture during the growth of roots and the shoots.

Water the newly planted potato furrows, and maintain the moisture level according to the weather and the soil structure.  After a while, the raised furrows tend to sink under the watering, therefore continue to build/raise dirt to the center from both sides of furrows.

Protecting the potatoes from green feeding animals.

If the garden is located in the Nordic wilderness, then a boundary fence is needed.  Wild animals will dig up the furrows and help themselves to the newly planted potatoes, sooner or later.

For pictures of New potatoes, see the following link.

New Potatoes.

Antioxidants, Carotene, Carrots

Carrots: Carotenoids

Carrots: Carotenoids

Carrot is the most cultivated and consumed vegetables in Finland.  Its roots go back to West Asia in Afghanistan, that is where the carrot is believed to have first sprouted and grown.  The old carrots were a different color than what we consume today, they were a deep purple color.  Farming of purple carrots with the yellow carrots brought about a color blending, and in 1400 the first orange-colored carrots appeared.

Carrots have nutritional benefits for the heart and the eyes.

Carrots came to the Nordic region in 1500 from Holland to Denmark. Carrots

have lots of antioxidant compounds so, therefore, health benefits.  They are an excellent source of pro-vitamin A Carotenes, they help to fight against free radicals.  To eat carrots is an excellent health choice, it contains many nutritional benefits for the heart and your eyes vision (beta-carotene).

The carrots are also an excellent source of; C and K vitamins and dietary fiber.

Carrots are an excellent source of minerals as well; potassium, vitamin

B6 (pyridoxine), manganese, molybdenum, vitamin

B1 (thiamin), vitamin B3 (niacin), phosphorus, magnesium, and folate.

The freshly grated carrot juice was also used as medicine for children, e.g., Coughs, worm prevention, and cuts.  Carrot juice was also believed to be a purifying agent for the blood and the Cardio-vascular system as it is written in the 1832 cookbooks.

After consuming carrots, the body can store some of the vitamin A if eating a lot of carrots the color orange will be visible on the person’s outer skin.  The old saying ” you are what you eat” may be right in more ways than one.  Is it true then people who grow (and eat) olives end up looking like olives?  Also, people, who grow (and eat) red apples end up looking like fresh red apples.  So what do you want to end up looking like? It’s your choice?

These pictures of carrots

Read more about the health benefits of Carotenoids

Ingredients., Onions, Vegetables

Onions winter storage.

I decided to explore more on the subject of Onions because if you lived in the Nordic region during the 19 century, then at this time of the year (spring) there would be an abundant supply of onions left in the cellar storage.  Onions keep well if the storage area is not too moist for mold to grow.  They are naturally well packaged with layer upon layer, and also the dry outer layer, sealing the core from intruders.  They are a robust root vegetable from the Allium family, similar to the leeks and garlic.

Onions are known to have originated from the Asian region, and transported to Greece and Egypt.

There are ancient drawings and hieroglyphics using onion symbols in Egypt, they were also used as medicine to cure ailments, virus, sickness, and disease.

Onions were given high regard in many different ethnic cuisines.  In ancient Rome it was very popular, also in Turkey-Constantinople it was prepared for Gough ailments, a concoction was boiled using: leeks, sugar, and honey.

In Scandinavia, Onions is also used to describe an older wise person of the family, as the onion of the family.

In Iceland, there is the Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems, that give high regard to onions.  In Norway, the expression of joy within the community is referred to as the onion of the community.   In Finland some of the earliest houses hold recipe books record the use of onions in the 18 century.

In India the Brahmins taught that if one wants to get wise, they should eat more of onions, and in Tibet, they were taught to eat garlic as a preventative against cancer and to chew garlic would cure any gum infections.  The nutrition value of an onion;  Vitamin A, C, Calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, calories 60/150g, and also fiber.

When growing onions it is important to change the seed stock every 4 years, to avoid stock loss through vegetable disease, onion fly, fungi and molds.

Onions were consumed raw in salads, they were used in soups and sauces, they were used in the stuffing of game meat and game birds.  Some of the most popular use of raw onions in the Nordic region of Finland was the mushroom salad and the Baltic herring salad.  Also, the ever popular Gravlax salmon (salt-cured salmon) onion was a popular condiment, raw onions and cured salmon on rye bread.

To see pictures of onions at a local farmers market, click on the link below.

Farmers markets.