20 Aug 2016

The Crayfish Feast

Oh... Here we go!



"Dill in the mouth, crown on the head
you'll be brought to the table.
On top of a toast 
a schnapps bath will be given to you"

Traditional song to sing with the schnapps taken with the
first crayfish eaten. The wildest ones take a schnapps before
each crayfish eaten... But that is quite heavy...


rapujuhlat

THE Tool - a crayfish knife

Cava Anna de Codorniu Blanc de Blancs


We started with Cava Anna de Codorniu Blanc de Blancs
If you choose champagne, our suggestion is Bollinger Special Cuvée.



The evening was warm, drinks were cold...



Everybody wore something red in honor of the star
of the evening, crayfish.


rapujuhlat

Plate from Villeroy & Boch


Salty snacks while waiting:

knäckebröd, potato, herring, sour cream and dill.


Chanterelle soup to start with...



Cold smoked salmon goes well on the toast as well. (And it is
quicker to eat than crayfish...)



Lemon to spice up and to clean fingers



And then the crayfish...
In the glass Riesling d'Alsace




Toast, sour cream, chopped onion, drop of lemon -

Bon appetit!

"Crayfish came, crayfish came
Now it is August
Rejoice, you fellow
Forget about the sorrow
Take a glass, take a glass -
The crayfish brought joy and happiness
into our hearts"

Eating takes hours, many, many songs are sung, glasses risen
and schnapps drunk. The sun goes down, the lanterns glow
in a warm August night. And you are with you family and friends...

Is there any better way to celebrate the end of the summer?



19 Aug 2016

Crayfish Season - How to get them?

It starts in the end of July and goes on till the end of October -

the crayfishing season.


It´s a tradition in Finland to celebrate this season with family and friends eating, drinking and singing.

But first you have to get them!

You can buy them in a market hall, catch them yourself or, if you are lucky, you drive to the countryside and get them from a friend. We have this possibility and it´s a pure pleasure although it´s a one hour drive.






There they come... For our party, with ten people, we got 

100 crayfish.

The preparations start the day before the actual feast. The crayfish travelled in the back of the car, covered with leaves, and they should be cooked the very same day.




For cooking you need a big cooking pot (the bigger the better), water, dill, sugar and salt. That´s all. 

 Tilli, dill


The smell of the fresh dill is something special and it can´t be too much of it in the maker broth.


sea salt and sugar, merisuolaa ja sokeria

Sea salt, of course...

boiling crayfish, rapujen keittäminen


Water should be boiling hot all the time and the chef has to be quite quick!





When they are all cooked, nice and red, they are left in a cool place
soaking in the broth to be well marinated. Tomorrow will be
the day of the joyful crayfish feast...