The weekend was quite inspirational when it comes to food. This is why every food enthusiast should regularly try dishes completely different from their own stables. It helps to remember: oh yes, so many different flavours and mouth feels exist and I too, could try achieving them and learn how to change between worlds so different.
On Saturday I went to my 2-month old godchild's naming ceremony. The proud parents invited both of their families to enjoy oh-so-classic standing stable meal similar to the ones I've eaten in almost every wedding and funeral I've ever taken part of. I had potatoes with brown sauce, bean salad, broccoli gratin, a nettle-filled bread roll and the drink of Louhisaari. And the star of the day got a pretty name too. She became Taru, a name meaning fairytale in Finnish. With a name like that she just must inherit her mum's red hair. After all, daddy already bought her first tank.
On Sunday we went to four pop-up restaurants of the Restaurant Day held all over the city. We got dadaist Russian-inspired pizza with sauerkraut, chili packed inside focaccia in the park, raw sushi and green smoothie from an Alice of Wonderland and vegetable soup with very lovingly combined garnishes together with kombucha in the balcony of a yoga school located in the harmonious surroundings of Pyynikki. All of them were made with care and carried along the very personalities of their makers. This is something I never seem to find from real restaurants. Recently I flipped through an acquaintance's portfolio pictures from cook school and got really depressed on how uninspired and unappetizing their meals looked and sounded. But it's only his first year so perhaps I shouldn't blame the whole field yet. At least they seem to concentrate on something of more substance than disguising the plates as abstract art.
On both days I also dropped by in Chilifest, held in the main square, where some severely badass people compete over the world championship of eating naga morich. We just settled for shopping sauces and spices. No new younglings as impulse buying this time since our window shield is quite full of chili plants already. Perhaps I should try more about incorporating the fiery fruits in traditional Finnish dishes.
Coming back to the "what should I cook today" subject with my head squirming with fresh ideas, I thought that for once, I could try making the classic Thursday soup while the main ingredient is still fresh from the stalk. Interestingly enough, nearly all the recipes I found when trying to google similar ones actually used frozen peas though the name talked about freshness. It's quite alright to make this quick soup for lunch or dinner in wintertime too, but please don't try to deceive me with a badly chosen title.
Unlike in the dried pea version, I pureed most of the peas to achieve a velvety structure and tweaked it more summerish with fresh tasting herbs. The main spice is sage, inspired by the famous Saint-Germain soup. You can also let this cool down before enjoying on a hot day.
- 1 l fresh pea pods (or 400 g frozen peas)
- 5 dl water
- 1 dl oat cream
- 1 small punch of fresh sage
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 portion of stock
- small piece of horseradish
- mint
- thyme
- salt
Peal the pods and put the peas in a pot together with the water. Add the spices as well. Let the peas summer until they're soft. Puree the whole soup. (I like to use a hand-held blender for this since it still leaves bits and pieces untouched and the structure thus more varying.)
Mix the cream with the rest of the soup. Garnish with herb oil, lightly roasted sunflower seeds and couple of salvia leaves. Especially nice if served with an oven-baked bread.
Nutritional values / 1000 g:
energy 283 kcal
fat 10 g
protein 13 g
carbohydrates 38 g
fiber 13 g
This is fantastic!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Delete