Tag: expat cooking
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Mummo Goes to Kozy Shack
Finnish riisipuuro meets American pudding cup, mediated by British custard powder, in a slow cooker made in the USA. Multiple countries in one dessert.
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Piimä | Cultured Buttermilk
Piimä is a fermented milk drink — tangy, pourable, and thinner than yogurt. If you’ve had buttermilk in the US, you’ve had its distant American cousin. They’re not wrong, exactly. But they’re not entirely right, either.
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Chicken + Scissors = Dinner
I cut my chicken with scissors. Into the pan. From frozen. No cutting board, no knife, no thawing overnight. It’s heritage cooking knowledge from my mother’s kitchen and the dim sum ladies she learned from — and it happens to be the fastest way to get dinner on the table when nobody planned ahead.
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Mannapuuro in a Cocktail Dress
Mannapuuro is Finnish semolina porridge — simple, austere, the kind of thing your mummo made. My version uses cooking cream, vanilla sugar, and a tempered egg, which technically makes it a custard. Add strawberry jam and it tastes like strawberry ice cream. I didn’t plan this. The Year of Custards keeps claiming victims.
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Blue Raspberry Gelatin
Last time I made jello, the French syrup turned it into an accidental dinner party dessert. My son was unimpressed. He wanted BLUE. So I reverse-engineered radioactive blue raspberry gelatin from Finnish soda syrup, citric acid, and enough food coloring to stain the spoon permanently. Formula locked.
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Citron Vert Gelée
I wanted nuclear green, wobbly, trashy lime jello. Finland doesn’t sell it. So I built it from French lime syrup and powdered gelatin — and got a champagne-chartreuse gelée so accidentally sophisticated I could have served it at a dinner party. I ate the whole bowl standing at the counter. The French syrup said non.
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Notes to My Past Self | 25th March 2026
My mother made sandwiches with the cheerful logic of someone who saw no reason why ingredients in the same refrigerator shouldn’t share the same bread. Ham, cheese, butter, jam — all of it, together. I spent decades thinking she was doing it wrong. Turns out the sandwich wasn’t wrong. The cafeteria was just too small.
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Repatriated Meatballs
Swedish meatballs evolved from ethnic to regular food, becoming a staple in American homes. The author recreates them in Finland, blending traditional ingredients with local flavors, highlighting their rich culinary history and personal connection.
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Pannukakku with an Accent
My husband taught me to call it pannukakku. This was back in California, fifteen-odd years ago, when he was still “the boy” and I was still learning which of his food preferences were actually Finnish and which were just him. (The man will put ketchup on things that should not have ketchup. That’s not cultural.…
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Key Lime Pie* (*May Contain Trace Amounts of Actual Lime)
A creative twist on key lime pie blends limited lime juice with lemon, citric acid, and lime syrup, resulting in a festive dessert that surprisingly complements traditional Finnish Christmas fare, earning positive reception from diners.