In Pursuit of Food

Passport & Plate - Finnish salmon and potato soup

Finland | Thursday, February 26, 2015 | 1 photos

Ingredients
2 medium potatoes, cut into 1cm cubes
1 carrot, cut into thin slices
1 medium onion, cut into 1cm cubes
1/2tsp whole black peppercorn
3 juniper berries
1L fish stock (or you can use water and bouillon)
250g salmon fillet, cut into 1.5cm cubes
1/2tbsp roughly chopped dill
3tbsp single cream

 

How to prepare this recipe
In a pan, add the potatoes, carrot, onion, whole black peppercorn, juniper berries and fish stock and bring to the boil. Once the stock starts boiling, lower the temperature down to a gentle simmer and allow the vegetables to cook through. This should take around 10 to 15 minutes.

When the vegetables have cooked through, add the diced salmon and dill and stir through followed by the single cream. Season according to taste. The salmon should be cooked very quickly by the heat of the liquid so you should take the soup off the heat once you add the cream.

Serve with warm crusty bread.

 

The story behind this recipe
The inspiration for this recipe came from a visit to Helsinki. It was my first trip to Finland and I was keen to explore what defined Finnish cuisine and differentiated it from its Scandinavian neighbours. After interviewing some of the city's best chefs, including the head chefs at the now closed Chez Dominique, once heralded as Finland's best restaurant, my taste of Finland came in an altogether more homely environment.

I visited a traditional Finnish sauna, a low-key wooden hut affair just outside of Helsinki. Inside, the warm, piney humidity purged toxins while the dimly lit environment comforted your soul. Outside, the bracing winter air invigorated and refreshed every pore. It's an experience so central to Finnish culture that apparently the Finnish army has a sauna in Afghanistan.

During my visit, I enjoyed a rustic meal of salmon and potato soup with home-made crusty bread. It was a simple, frugal meal that showed off some of the core ingredients in the Finnish cuisine.

Seafood was central to Helsinki owing to the city's large trading port where, each year, the Baltic Herring Fair takes place. Potatoes were central to Finnish cooking from fine dining restaurants down to the most basic of home cooked meals. The dill showed off Finnish fare's Russian influence, something unique to Finland in Scandinavia. And the little cream added a much needed richness to its wholesome simplicity.

What I love the most about this easy to make recipe is that every time I make it, I'm taken back to that winter's night in Helsinki where, in the company of relative strangers, I enjoyed true Finnish hospitality.