This chronicle tells the little or the big story behind our food, dishes or chefs. Powerful weapon soft power, A societal and cultural marker, food is the founding element of our civilizations. Conflicts, diplomacy, traditions, cuisine has always had a political dimension. Because as Bossuet already said in the 17th century, “it is at the table that we govern”.
Effervescence reigns on December 14, 2001 at Laeken Castle, a sumptuous 18th century residence in the northern suburbs of Brussels. It is in the current residence of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde that the heads of state and government meet for a European Council. While they agree to appoint Valéry Giscard d’Estaing as president of the Convention on the Future of the EU, another battle is playing out behind the scenes in the Belgian capital. That of the allocation of seats of several specialized EU agencies, a powerful instrument of influence on European policies.
And there is one for which Silvio Berlusconi is elbowing. The President of the Italian Council is directly opposed to Finland – the only country without one of these organizations alongside Sweden – obtaining the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Faced with his counterparts from the Old Continent, the old political veteran, well known for his excesses, knows that the formula will hit the mark: “Helsinki is good for frozen foods!”
After many diplomatic efforts, the Cavaliere won his case since it was ultimately the Italian city of Parma which was chosen two years later. During the inauguration of the EFSA headquarters in 2005, Silvio Berlusconi boasted at a press conference: smoked reindeer does not compare with culatello, Parma raw ham. Laughter in the audience. Then he slips up: “I displayed all my playboy art and even courted the President of Finland”, Tarja Halonen. The cup is full for Helsinki, which will summon the Italian ambassador to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Berlusconi’s inappropriate remarks.
Chirac’s “free” tackle
In 2012, Finland took its place again. In London, the Times publishes extracts from Sebastian Coe’s book, full of anecdotes. The president of the organizing committee for the London Olympics recounts that, during a reception in 2005 in Singapore, Cherie Blair, the wife of English Prime Minister Tony Blair, called out Jacques Chirac for his recent comments that were not very complimentary of British cuisine. …and, in turn, Finnish gastronomy.
The reason for his wrath? Three days earlier, during a G8 summit in Scotland, the French president, who does not keep his tongue in his pocket, made some confidences (or a bad joke?) to Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder : “You cannot trust a people who cook as badly as that […] After Finland, it (Great Britain) is the country with the worst food.”
This blunt comment made Tony Blair’s wife scream “like a skunk”, says the book, causing Jacques Chirac to hastily leave the evening. An unfortunate setback for the French head of state, who that evening took on the role of VRP of Paris’ bid for the Olympics. The rest of the story is known. Ultimately, London was chosen to organize the event.
If Helsinki has nothing to do with the battle being fought for the Olympic Games, the gratuitous attack on its cuisine is making headlines in the press. For everyday Ilta-Sanomat, “Jacques Chirac’s comments can only be explained by the fact that he has not visited Finland often enough and that he listens to Silvio Berlusconi too much.” The great figures of Finnish cuisine are stepping up to the plate. Hans Välimäki, owner of the prestigious restaurant At Dominique, two Michelin macaroons, violently attacks our hygiene: “it is also true to say that the French are the dirtiest people. They consume very moderate soap and yet our president does not insult them.” To demonstrate the bad faith of the French president and the little-known virtues of Finnish gastronomy, the daily published the menu of the dinner offered to Jacques and Bernadette Chirac in Helsinki in 1999 by President Martti Ahtisaari: ptarmigan soup with morels, char terrine smoked knight with onions, reindeer crown with game and black crowberry sauce. The feast ends in apotheosis with a frozen honey soufflé enhanced with a berry coulis…
The derogatory remarks of two major EU leaders against Finland are triggering a wind of… “creativity” in the country. In 2005, during the Finnish edition of the “Mud Football World Cup”, a competition broadcast in 130 countries, the organizers had the idea of offering spectators a “Berlusconi stew” and “Chirac chicken”. THE Cavaliere will also go down in history with a “Berlusconi pizza”, invented by a Finnish team which won a prestigious international competition in New York in 2008. With ingredients far removed from transalpine standards – smoked reindeer, chanterelles, red onions and a dough made from rye and wholemeal flour – Helsinki has its first gastronomic revenge.
The chic of Russian restaurants
If Finland suffers from this bad culinary reputation, it owes it in part to its political and geographical history. This northern European country is sandwiched between Sweden, which colonized it in the Middle Ages, and the Russian Empire, to which it belonged between 1809 and 1917. Helsinki, still in the middle of a migration conflict with Russia, will therefore very largely suck up part of the gastronomic culture of its neighbor. In a report published on October 15, 1989 by the New York Times, journalist Jenifer Lang talks about how the Finns love Russian gastronomy because of “the blandness and limited nature of their own cuisine”. At that time, the restaurant Nice viewwith its small bar “decorated with hand-painted Russian motifs”, serves “julienne”, a Russian specialty of sliced mushrooms and sour cream, “pelmeni”, a ravioli stuffed with minced meat from the Ural, or even “solianka”, a soup made from cabbage and pickles.
Helsinki was therefore slower than its neighbors Copenhagen and Stockholm to follow the transformation of Nordic cuisine led vigorously by Magnus Nilsson, the great Swedish chef of Fäviken or René Redzepi at Noma (voted several times as the best restaurant in the world in the rankings of World’s 50 Best). Today, the Finnish capital is riding the more virtuous trend of very high quality local products with its root vegetables in winter and its herbs or berries in the summer, fermentation, natural wines.
And the new menus are salivating in Helsinki: potato rosti with oyster mushrooms and reindeer powder at Gron (one Michelin star), arctic turnip and whitefish, drizzled with dill oil Ora or this combination of daikon, grapefruit and quince at Inari. No less than seven restaurants are starred in the latest edition of the red guide. Helsinki has also just been chosen to host the next Michelin ceremony for the Nordic countries scheduled for May 27. Saimaa, in southeastern Finland near the Russian border, has been designated a 2024 European Gastronomy Region by the International Institute of Gastronomy, Art and Culture. The Finnish culinary revolution is underway.
Our advices :
A book to read: Nordic cuisineMagnus Nilsson, Phaidon, 2016.
Where to eat Finnish cuisine:
– THE Café Maa (Finnish Institute), 33 rue du Sommerard 75005 Paris.
– Estelle’s Café, 47 rue Leon Frot 75011 Paris.
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