Saturday, March 30, 2013

No Easter without Mämmi



The probably most traditional Finnish Easter desserts is Mämmi. It is made of water, rye flour, and powdered malted rye, seasoned with dark molasses, salt and dried powdered orange zest. Normally Mämmi is eaten cold with milk and sugar.

This dish really divides opinions. Some love it, others hate it. Even some jokes about Finns are based on this quite unusual black dessert. But Mämmi is definitely not as bad as its reputation. You should definitely try it yourself. During Easter time Mämmi can be bought at every supermarket. In some places it is even available the whole year through.

Enjoy and have nice holidays!

Friday, March 29, 2013

Mignon – An Easter egg with a long tradition



If you already bought all the Easter eggs for Sunday you hopefully didn’t forget to also buy some Fazer Mignon eggs. They are the most popular and traditional Easter eggs in Finland. And even the tsar of Russia used to order them as a very special Easter delicacy.


Mignon eggs are produced by filling a real egg shell with an almond and nut nougat chocolate. The eggs can then be decorated and hidden for the kids. If you didn’t get them yet tomorrow is your chance.

But today you shouldn’t miss the Via Crusis at Senaatintori. As on every Good Friday tonight at 21:00 the crucifixion of Christ will be reenacted here.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Don’t forget your Easter groceries!



Easter is close now. Today is the last working day and also one of the last chances to get all your groceries for the Easter holidays.

Here is an overview over the regular opening times of shops during the next days:

28 March (Holy Thursday)
Normal working day. Some shops might anyway already close at 18:00

29 March (Good Friday)
Closed.

30 March (Holy Saturday)
Most shops are open till 18:00

31 March (Easter Sunday)
Closed.

01 April (Easter Monday)
Closed.

It’s Easter Sunday and you find out that you still need something for the big dinner tonight. The K-Supermarket at Kamppi is open every day of the year till 22:00.  

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

YLE Mondo – Your foreign language radio in Finland



Understanding TV in Finland as a foreigner is quite easy thanks to lots of international programs. But did you know that you can also listen to the radio in your mother tongue here? YLE Mondo broadcasts news and radio shows from all over the world in several different languages. 


The majority of the program is in English and comes from the BBC in London and NPR in Washington. But YLE Mondo also has program in Estonian, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Russian and Spanish but also in easy Finnish.


Online you can find their program and check when your favorite show is on air. Yle Mondo broadcasts 24 hours and is available in the capital area at 97,5 MHz (cable 107,3) and throughout Finland through Yle Digital TV services.