Diverse and indigenous cuisine brought by the many ethnic people to St. Maarten from all over the world piques our interest. To this end, we are on a quest to find where it comes from, if it is used for celebrations, if it is exotic to some but normal food to others. Anything to do with keeping the body and soul nourished with what is produced from good old terra firma is what makes the world go around.
Seriously – everyone who loves Christmas and the mythical side of the celebration should have a visit to Lapland on the bucket list. Yes, it is cold, yes, it is so very different to our summery beaches, sun and sea but, seriously – visiting Father Christmas’ home just before Christmas? Yes, please!
Young and old can meet Father Christmas/Santa Claus and cross the magical Arctic Circle every day at the Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi in Lapland, Finland. Today we will call Father Christmas Santa for short!
Santa is busy all year round. Every day he is busy in his village. Spending time taking care of his elves and helpers making toys; making sure his post office runs efficiently; he is (I am sure) also making sure that maps are kept up to date – you know so many places are being renamed, roads, streets, towns even countries get name changes; making sure that the rush over December goes smoothly so he can deliver his presents and spread the message of love and goodwill and (drink) the milk or Christmas Spirit put out for him across the globe on the night of December 24!
Perhaps Santa is also checking which mothers he can kiss under the mistletoe, so that kiddies can start singing the age-old song!
Santa has received 15 million letters from 198 countries since 1985. The merry postal elves are happy to serve visiting customers all year round in their headquarters - the post office is operated by Finland’s national postal service. Every letter sent from there gets a special Arctic Circle postmark not available anywhere else.
Santa’s village lies in the Arctic Circle at the North Pole. The Arctic Circle is a circle of latitude that runs 66°33′45.9″ north of the Equator. It marks the southernmost latitude where the sun can stay continuously below or above the horizon for 24 hours – these phenomena are known as the Midnight Sun in the summer and the Polar Night in the winter. The Arctic Circle runs through just eight kilometres north of the city centre and, as with the Meridian line in London, one can actually jump over or walk along the line for it is clearly marked.
The village of Rovaniemi is not only all about Christmas, it is also a wonderful place to go to see the Northern Lights/Aurora Borealis August through April. They are a spellbinding astral show, which everyone should have the chance of seeing – I am going to send Santa my Christmas wish list. “All I want for Christmas, please, is a plane ticket and a hotel room in your village, so I can meet you and get to see this wonderous sight.”
This magical phenomenon requires clear and dark skies, not affected by light pollution - no streetlights, no neon signs. There is no absolute surety that they will appear – so book a week’s stay, at least. Brrrr, this is a really good time to wear those “ugly Christmas sweaters” you have lurking in the back of your cupboards! Visiting the village in winter means moving around in the snow enjoying snowmobiles, husky sleds, reindeer sleighs or perhaps walking in snowshoes; (this I have tried to do, it is not as easy a task as it looks!)
There is a folklore about the Auroras. According to Sámi folklore, the Auroras are caused by a fox running over the fells of Lapland, whipping up snow with its tail and sending sparks up the northern sky. The sparks form a colourful arc of fire that lights up the dark landscape. The Finnish name for the Northern Lights means “fox fire.
Science says otherwise – science is always so correct and practical! The Auroras are caused by electrically charged particles from the sun colliding with each other upon entering the earth’s atmosphere. This results in emissions of various colours of light. Green is by far the most common, but red, pink, violet, yellow and even blue can be seen at times!
Up there in the Arctic Circle one can witness another phenomenon! The Midnight Sun can be seen from early June until early July. Daylight keeps the sky light at night throughout the summer. In Rovaniemi the sun officially stays above the horizon for a full 24 hours on summer solstice, June 21 or 22, due to the Earth’s slightly tilted axis and refraction of sunlight.
The light summer sky - May to early August – means that 24 hours a day can be used for daytime activities - jet skiing, horse riding, floating, hiking, river cruises, visiting husky and reindeer farms; anything one would normally do when on holiday can be done throughout the full 24 hours. Ha, when does one sleep then? Well, some don’t do much more than catch a couple of zzzzz’s – even the locals, we hear – the dark winter nights are so long that the locals make up for it with 24 hours of fun!
Santa’s village all came about after the last world war. Rovaniemi was almost completely destroyed during World War II. In 1950, Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, went to visit the village to witness the rebuilding process and the Auroras.
She wanted to visit the Arctic Circle, so Rovaniemi officials rushed to build a cabin eight kilometres north of the city. The cabin marked the birth of Santa Claus Village and still stands today next to Santa Claus’ Main Post Office. Since then, an igloo hotel has been built and there are many shops and restaurants. Of course, one can get to know Santa’s reindeer when staying in the village too, as there are many reindeer sleigh rides and farm visits to make.
Eating out in the village is a necessity, but what do the locals cook at home? Well, mostly one will find Finnish specialties. Lapps love reindeer and moose meat! They eat this meat smoked, raw and minced in tartare, roasted and they make stews from it and cure the meat for sausages. They eat this venison like meat, as we do beef. It is an integral part of Lappish culture. Traditionally potatoes are the main side, potatoes go with the meat and fish! The Lapps also eat bear meat; it is what they can get up there in the freezing cold.
The fish they eat is mostly salmon - smoked, grilled, served as tartare, pâtés and en croute - and herring. The desserts and sauces are often made from bilberries, generally served in tartlets, mousses, cakes or crêpes. The local digestif is a blend of vodka, glucose syrup and liquorice extract. Rye bread is popular.
Recipes
Lapland Christmas dinner. The Christmas table in Lapland is a lavish one, perhaps marinated herring or salted raw salmon called gravlax as an appetizer and a mushroom salad as a side. Christmas ham, served with various puréed vegetables and roast reindeer, takes centre stage. Dessert could be a prune mousse or cinnamon rice pudding.
Reindeer meat is fine-textured and tender, with the delicious, distinctive taste of game meat. Wild caribou and domesticated reindeer are actually the same species throughout the world. You can use venison in the following recipes.
Poronpaisti
Ingredients
1LB bacon
2 LB reindeer meat or venison cut in paper-thin slices
1 tsp salt
Method
Brown bacon
Add reindeer or venison slices - keep heat high and sear the meat quickly
When browned sprinkle with salt, lower heat
Add enough water to cover the meat
Simmer slowly, covered for 20 minutes
Serve hot
Poronkäristys
Ingredients
2 LB reindeer meat, sliced
3 1/2 tbl butter
1 1/2 cup pale lager
2 small onions
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 tbl flour
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Method
Slice reindeer into thin slices
Melt butter in saucepan
Add meat and onions, cook until meat is browned
Season with salt and pepper
Add flour stirring until well-incorporated
Add beer and mix well
Cover, simmer on low for one hour
Serve over mashed potato
Poro-leipäjuustokeitto
Ingredients
600 gr reindeer meat, in thin slices
2 onions, chopped thinly
2 tbl butter
2 stock cubes
20 juniper berries
Black pepper
6 large potatoes, cubed
500 gr soft cream cheese (usually homemade)
6 tbl Parmesan cheese, grated
300 gr coffee cheese, diced (Finnish Squeaky Cheese in the USA)
2 tbl parsley, chopped
Method
Brown meat in butter, remove
Cook onions until soft
Return meat
Add boiling water, bouillon cubes, simmer covered 30 minutes to an hour
Add cream cheese, spices and potatoes
When potatoes are tender, add coffee cheese, Parmesan cheese and parsley
Reindeer Tartare and Quail's Egg – 13 starter size servings
Adapted from Markus Aujalay’s winning recipes
Ingredients
Thin crackerbread
300g reindeer haunch (venison or beef)
1 tbl chopped shallots
1 tbl coarse-grain mustard
1/2 tbl mustard
1 tbl chopped capers
1 tbl chopped parsley
Salt and pepper
13 quails egg yolks
Method
Chop meat finely
Mix in onions, mustard, capers and parsley
Add salt and pepper to taste
Break crackerbread into 13 small triangles
Divide tartare into 13 portions make a small hollow in each
Carefully place quail egg yolk into each hollow
Place tartare onto crackerbread
Season with extra pepper
