Helsinki gone wild after dark

Helsinki is one of the cities that does not sleep. Bars are packed with people every Thursday to Saturday. The beers and drinks might be sometime pricey, but are usually worth it. Finnish peoples mouth start moving after a couple of beers and they like foreigners.

For bar or club recommendations there are many to give. There are for example Sir Eino at esplanadi where the picture above is taken and for the traveling 20 year old who wants more of the club scene, there is NAMU at the railway station. There is also Tavastia near the mall Kamppi, where they play live rock music and one of my personal favorites O'malley's torni what is Helsinki's best Irish pub with sometimes live music played. There are many clubs that are meant for the recently turned to age and young people and then there are those with age limits to 24 years and over to keep unwanted young people out. I work as a bartender currently at a bar/pub/club called Kaarle XII. Its a huge place with many different bars with different musics played. There is even a room where the tables are meant to be danced on. Very pricey for your average Finn also, but every Thursday and most often on Saturdays it's guaranteed to be packed with people from all ages. I mean like over thousand people.

Don't be afraid of the drunken behavior of Finns. We drink beer during the weekend like its water. It's part our way of life. But be assured we don't bite. You might be invited to someones summer house even, but before you ask the next day the date when to visit, ask if they still remember. Finns change there personalities after few beers.

After your night out if you don't stay until 4 am you can have a chance to eat one of the greasiest and the most satisfying binge drinking snacks ever. We call these snägäris. There are many kinds, like bread filled with meat and rice with optional extra fillings or fried fish with chips. Good place to find these places are at the railway station.

So If you enjoyed the bar culture in Germany, the pubs in Ireland and the raging discos and clubs of Amsterdam or Barcelona Helsinki wouldn't be a bad choice..

Give it up for DUCK BREASTs

Duck Breast could be the filet mignon on your table. Its juicy. It's cooked medium, It's delicious, It even goes great with just simple salt and pepper. It's also low on fat and has lots of protein so a great meal to cook if your into healthy lifestyle or staying fit. It's also the best date night food. It's guaranteed to make a good impression on your date.
Cooking it maybe be tricky. You don't want to overcook it. Here is how you do it.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. You season it with salt and pepper. Don't be shy when you season it. Put it on a cold pan skin side down with no extra oil. By putting on a cold pan you render out the fat. Add a crushed garlic. Ass the skin side starts to get nice a brown and the fats start to melt out turn it to the other side and let it cook for a while. 80% on the skin side when you cook on the pan. After that put it in the oven for 6 to 10 minutes skin side down. Put the pan in or on a tray, but make sure whatever you put it in on in the oven make sure it's preheated. After it's cooked slice it up, but not too thin slices and there you have it. One of the beast meals to help you get lai.....I mean help you impress you're significant other.

What kind of place is Milan

 So I was in Milan. Beautiful city yes. Lots of stuff to see like the Duomo. Lots of fashion shops that sell......well....clothes. As for food. Well know i know why there all the models stay skinny, there are no restaurants. The few restaurants we found had some good dishes, but nothing mouthwatering. One restaurant served me dry wiener schnitzels and a boiled potato. I wouldn't feed that to a dog. I found some decent looking family restaurants or trattorias from the internet, but me and my friends did not make there when it was open. Restaurants usually open up at 9 pm since locals eat quite late in southern Europe.

The most coolest things. To see in Milan for me where the shops. It's not everyday you can go to a Ferrari shop with a real Ferrari F1 formula on display. If you are into fashion Milan would be a mecca to you. Every brand from cheap to bill gates prices are there. It's nice to see some jewelry and watches you can only dream about......

One thing saved my vacations still. The world fair. I didn't even know that it was in Milan or it was on this year. The theme was sustainable development in the field of food production. The most coolest thing was Italies glowing mushroom. Well it played some epic themes like Hans Zimmer style music. Go now while it's on.

Does anything matter when you've got Hot Wings

Hot wings. Hot wings. More hot wings. Even a vegetarian should admit that a chicken died for something good and remember my fellow readers. If your significant other doesn't like these bad boys i would reconsider putting a ring on that finer unless it's holding a hot wing. As equally important as the chicken itself is the sauce. My personal favorite is the Asian zing for its simplicity and hotness.

Now you might be thinking why a drumstick. Well the reason is why not.

The deep frying is easy. First heat the oil on a skillet to 160 degrees.Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Dip the chicken first to wisped eggs and then coat them with cornstarch. You can ass some herbs to the flour like thyme. Deep fry them for 5 mins. Don't put too many in the oil once since they need to have space to move there. After they are deep fried lay them on a paper and add more heat to the oil. Deep fry them again for 1 minute and there you have it.

Here's the Asian zing recipe
2 tbl cornstarch
3 tbl rice wine vinegar
dl of corn syrup (or any other syrup you have)
2 tbl lemon juice
1/2 dl soy sauce
1/2 sriracha
ginger for taste

Mix the ingredients together and bring them to simmer and voila. Goes well with other things.

Three Filling Tortilla

Tortilla. One of the great Mexican foods that are known for their chilies, food in a wrap and intestine cleansing aspects......Well this did not have luckily the last mentioned aspect.
My tortilla had only three fillings. Guacamole, Salsa, stewed beef shoulder and if your into it like my mom crem fresh. For those who used ground beef instead of slowly in the pot or oven cooked meat WAKE UP.
Oh and by the way if you are wondering how my tortillas are so nicely round shape it's because they are bought from a local convenience store. The reason for this can be I was too lazy, I already ate the ones and couldn't get a picture or that a bird flew from my window and stole them is for you to deiced.

For the salsa i made a simple Salsa called salsa roja. It may mean something in Spanish, but since I don't speak Spanish I'll let you translate it as you feel fit. I boiled four tomatoes in a pot for ten minutes. After that i blended them with half a chili, some salt and two garlic cloves. There you have a good salsa.

For the Guacamole a used a quick recipe where I used three avocados rest of the chili I mentioned earlier(By that I mean a half a chili), some salt, one limes juice, two garlic cloves and some fresh coriander. Mix them all well with a fork and there you have. A Lazy mans guacamole.

Enough of these vegetarian stuff, know for the meat. Cut about 750 grams of beef shoulder into even chunks. Season them with salt and pepper. pan fry them until all sides are brown. This keeps the flavor inside them when you roast it. Put them in a pot and add 2 dl of soy sauce and 2 dl of water. For the water I would use the pan used to fry the meats with. Slowly pour water on the pan and with a spatula take all the pieces of meat that may have gotten stuck on the pan while frying the meat. Make sure the meat is covered in the liquid. Add one sliced chili there and one star anise. Put it in the oven for 5 hours at 125 Celsius.

Ingredients
750 grams of beef (I used shoulder)
2 chilies
 four cloves of garlic
3 avocados
4 tomatoes
fresh coriander
one limes juices
Star anise
2 dl soy sauce

Why come to Finland....? This is why

Finland. A country that has a record of coffee drinkers per capita. We are know for our phones and race car drivers. But these are not the reasons to visit Finland. This is why.....Now you should look at the pictures.....

Finland is a country of crystal clear waters. That is why it is estimated that very fifth Finn has his or hers own summer cottage or a families one. These pictures are of my parents cottage. For my recommendation and as to why should you should come to Finland on a holiday are these cottages. They are very much in contact with the nature and it's more relaxing then your average city or beach holiday. 

It would be ideal to rent a cottage in the sea or lake side. Finland has a wide selection of lakes and there is no lake better then the other. All have their unique traits.

For the question what to do in this cottage is simple. Relax, fish, swim in the cool yet warm waters, rent a boat and just wander around the lake. Grill great foods (Finnish produces are during the summer very tasty because of the constant sunlight). Go to the sauna and if you are here during the winter, go dipping yourself into the ice waters. 

Finnish summers are also very warm and sunny, but not too hot. The summers are very pleasant. Not saying the winters are not either. Winter brings activities such as cross country skiing and other winter sports.

Finnish law also gives you the write to go berry and mushroom picking if you are just reasonable distance away from any settlement.

Finland has good restaurants also in the countries sides towns and villages. The restaurants usually use vegetables of the season and the the most fresh fishs you will ever see.

Best of all is the quiet. After a cool break from the sauna drinking cold beer on the lakeside with a undisturbed tranquility. So what are you waiting for. 

Party Paella

I made this delicious Paella last weekend. I was enjoying time in my typical....okay not typical...the best summer cottage in Finland. My families summer cottage. This Paella has everything you want. It's got pork, shrimps and chicken and all other yum yums.

about 6-12 chicken thighs/legs
100-200 grams if shrimp (just make sure they are not can or pre salted.
200 grams of pork belly sliced into slices
3 onions
5 garlic cloves and 8 for the marinade
parsley
5 dl risotto rice
1 l chicken stock
2 dl white wine
2 bell peppers (color doesn't matter in my opinion)
1 tsp of saffron
3 chili's on for paella and two for marinade
Olive oil for the cooking process for the marinade

Marinade all the protein. I used a simple marinade of olive oil (just enough that the protein is covered in it) Couple of thyme branches, garlic, chili and black pepper. DO NOT USE SALT. Salt will make the protein dry. Only use salt when you marinade for a shirt time. I evenly used abut 1 whole chili on the chicken and rest slit up among the pork and shrimp. Let them marinade for at least 5 hours. The more you let it marinade, the tastier it will get. A good hint I got while working as a trainee at a french Bistro in Helsinki. For every 12 h about 1 cm of the marinade will sink into the protein. Of course depends on the protein.

Slice the bell pepper and onions. Dice the garlic and chili. Saute the protein after the wait and season them with salt. Use the Paella pan. Remove the protein from the heat after that saute the onions, garlic and chili. wait until onions are golden brown. Add the riotous rice. Slowly add the chicken stock and by slowly I mean every 5 min about 2 dl. After the risotto starts being done add the proteins to the pan. finish up with saffron. Cut the parsley on top and serve.

Curry for the sick

I had a small flue a little while ago. While it may not be anything serious or extremely bad it's still pretty nasty. For me the ultimate food for when you sick, for example your average cold, the best foods curry or other Indian foods that a rich in spices.

Spicy food that have lots of spices for example cinnamon, turmeric and garam masala spice mixture are actually very healthy.....and to die for. There was once a over 100 year old Indian man who ran the New York city marathon. He said that the secret for his health was his diet that was rich on spicy food.

There are many kinds of ways to make curry. This is my way of doing it.

1 can of peeled tomatoes
300 grams of chicken (breast of thigh)
1 onion

3 cloves of garlic
Thumb size chunk of ginger
tbl spoon of tomato pure
can of coconut milk
tsp or 1/2 tsp of chili powder depends on how hot you want it (Kashmir chili powder I would recommend)
1 tsp of turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
5 curry leaves

Peel and slice the onions. Saute them on a pan using neutral vegetable oil. Season with salt and pepper. Crush the garlic and slice the ginger and add them to the pan. After the onion slices start to get nicely golden brown. Add the spices (turmeric, garam masala and chili powder). and dry roast them. After the spices have been mixed nicely with the onions add the tomato pure and can tomatoes. Then add the coconut milk. After the coconut milk has changed the color of the sauce add the curry leaves. Let it stir for moment. Blitz the sauce in a blender. Saute the chicken in the same pan. After they've become brown add the sauce. Serve with rice or naan bread.

Liver on a plate

Have you ever thought about eating cows liver. Well you should. It's cheap since nobody wants to eat it for some reason, but if you ask almost any professional chef they'll say it's delicious. Liver has an unique taste and its very simple to cook. Here in Finland we eat often liver (well it was common also to eat as a school lunch cow blood brownies). It's also very healthy (again this is not a fitness blog) since its filled with iron and other goodies. The cooking process is simple. You fry it on a pan same way you would a steak. Cut the liver into even slices about the thickness of your thumb. Season with salt and pepper. Place them on the pan that has heated to a medium heat. They'll cook quickly so be careful. Add some herbs like rosmerine or thyme or both on the pan and crushed garlic. ones golden brown turn over. 

Add some sauteed onions on top t add to the flavor. The liver slices should be nicely cook. By nicely cooked I mean medium.....I hope you'll start eating liver. You don't know what you're missing.

Getting strong with stir fry

It's quick. It's healthy. It's delicious. You know what it is. It's stir fry.
After a workout at the gym (yes I go to the gym) I like to eat something with lots of carbohydrates and most importantly protein. It's key for gaining muscle, but enough about fitness this is still a food blog. There are many kinds of stir fries and this is just what i made today. As the sauce for my stir fry I used the famous Buffalo hot wings Asian zing sauce. It went great with the vegetables, noodles and chicken.

400 grams of chicken
200 grams of noodles. Just poor hot water on store bought noodles. Make sure they are high quality noodles.
1 cucumber
2 carrots
bucket of spring onions (only the dark green parts)
1 cabbage

Asian zing sauce

2 tsp cornstarch
4 tsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup sriracha or other chili garlic sauce
1 tbl soy sauce
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 salt
1/4 minced garlic

1. First make the Asian zing sauce. Mix the cornstarch and rice wine vinegar. Mix rest of the ingredients of the sauce in a pot on a low heat.

2. Slice the cabbage, carrot and spring onions into thin slices. Cut the cucumber into fire match size thin slices. Season them all quickly with ginger, garlic and salt.

3. Slice the chicken into thin slices. Then saute them in a wok and season them with ginger, garlic and salt. Add the the sauce, the noodles and the vegetables. Mix well in the wok. After that serve.

Moussaka....a piece of Greece

I just arrived home and I found my eggplants were going bad any day now. In our house we don't let food go to waste so we have to do something with that ingredient or use it in something. So I decided to make a delicious Moussaka. Its a traditional Greek dish that will melt in your mouth. It's nothing like a meatloaf, but more like a lasagna. It's a perfect dish for the whole family and an easy way to get your children to eat eggplant (If you have any I mean).

400 g ground beef
1 can of crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 dl of parmesan cheese
1 1/2 dl breadcrumbs
1 dl white wine (I prefer sake....I know weird)
2 onions
clump of finely diced parsley and rosmarin

White sauce
1 eggplant
4 tbl of flour
75 grams of butter
4 dl of milk
1 egg yolk
Salt and pepper for taste

Finely chop the onions and saute them in a pan with the ground beef. After that add the parsley, rosmarin, white wine and can tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper to your taste. Keep them on the pan for as long as most of the liquid has dissolved. Take it off the heat and let it cool down.

On the mean time make the white sauce by heating up the milk and combining on a different pan the butter and flour. After the melted butter and flour have combined neatly add the milk and yolk. Season them with...yes you've guessed it, with salt and pepper. The sauce should be thick so it will stay on the moussaka.

Last preparation before we start to layer out the moussaka, quickly pan fry the eggplant that is sliced into not too thick slices. Use oil and butter mixture when frying the eggplant.

Layer half of the eggplants on an oven tray. Mix half of the breadcrumbs and half of the parmesan with the ground beef when its cooled down...should be cool enough when you've finished all the other stuff. Place the ground beef mixture on top of the eggplants and layer the rest of the eggplants on top of them. add the sauce and sprinkle the rest of the cheese and breadcrumbs on top. Add a little bit of melted butter over the breadcrumbs. Put it in the oven for 45 min in 175 Celsius.

Have a great meal.

Pasta, Pizza, Tiramisu and the rest of Italy

Have you ever thought about visiting Italy. Of course you have if you love food. Italy has given the world many great foods that have become a global phenomenon. But if you are planning to visit italy prepare your apetite for four dishes. Italian typical dinner consists of four different dishes. First is the appetizers then is the pasta rice or other carb dish that is called primi piatti. Then is secondi piatti that is the meat or fish dish. Lastly is the dolce or the dessert that usually is served cold.

I have visited Italy twice and I'm going there again on september. I've been to Rome and driven around Tuscany. For my guide for traveling in Italy I suggest renting an apartment in one of the mager cities such as Rome, Milan or Naples. Almost every Italian city has large and beautiful landmarks that are nice to have been seen, but in my opinion the best thing is just to walk around the city and find a good restaurant. A good hint for finding a good restaurant is this. When there are few people on the streets the restraunt nearby are bound to be good. Avoid restraunts near the major tourist atractions.

If your not into citites I suggest renting a house in the countryside. The countryside is filled with great restraunts and the people are really friendly because they don't have to deal with annoying tourist year long. Renting a car is very recomended. It's easy to do road trips to neighbouring villages, towns and cities. Only downside is the Italian highways. Better put your seatbelts on.

The reason why I favour renting a place and not stating in a hotel is because hotel prizes are veary steap and cheap ones are low on quality. The internet is full of websites that are easy to use and you can find almost any apartment, house or even a villa for you anywhere. I suggest the website Homeaway.

Hope this helped

My first post

Hello good readers. I'm a guy from Finland and my name is Jere Pyötsiä. I want to become a talented chef and oneday own my own restaurant. I also love to travel to all kinds of places. Except tourist magnet locations that only have long beaches and best food there is a pizza. This blogs purpose is to brag about my sweet life.....just kidding. As the title says I'm hungry like a lion for new things (mainly food). I'm willing to risk it all for eating and learining how to cook different things. I post different recipes and foods and I have no spesific style I prefer of cooking.