Market Square (Kauppatori) in Helsinki
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SUOMI: A MULTINATIONAL COUNTRY
As «STOP in Finland» writes, every fifth restaurant in Finland is ethnic. And in the capital, every fourth (although, honestly, it feels like they are located on literally every corner). In total, there are more than one and a half thousand ethnic restaurants across the country.
This picture could hardly have been imagined thirty years ago: fragrant curry, juicy tandoori chicken, guacamole and the shocking taste of cayenne pepper for the milk-rye Finnish cuisine appeared only in the 1990s along with emigrants and immigrants of the new wave. Despite all the gastronomic diversity, döner kebab still tops ethnic cuisine: kebab-pizzerias are the most common in Finland, and almost half of Turkish immigrants (44%) work in the restaurant business. Next come Chinese and Vietnamese eateries, then Indian and Nepalese ones – judging by their popularity, Finns lacked spicy taste sensations, which Asian cuisine exactly supplied with its sauces and exotic combinations of products.
Most ethnic restaurants are family businesses. According to the Helsinki-based company Yritys Helsinki, which supports aspiring entrepreneurs, about 40% of their clients moved to Finland from other countries. As it turned out, foreigners are not afraid of startup projects, willingly start their own businesses, moreover, their ventures turn out to be much more durable than projects of native Finnish small businesses.
Of course, one of the reasons for their willingness to take risks is employment problems. Paradoxically, but true: for immigrants, opening their own restaurant is sometimes much easier than learning Finnish and getting a job as a waiter.
In all large (and even not so large) cities of Finland, there are definitely shops selling ethnic products. Treasured places with piles of turmeric, Indian cumin, fragrant leaf tea, basmati rice in ceiling-high bags. Only here you can buy fresh figs, sticky-sweet Turkish baklava, Korean spicy kimchi, water chestnut, real soy sauce, and a thousand spices and blends of varying degrees of pungency. Also, spices, grains, and sweets are sold at local covered markets (Kauppahalli).
In the capital, you need to "hunt" for ethnic ingredients in the following places. First, the Hakaniemi covered market (Hakaniemen Kauppahalli): here, from smiling sellers, you can buy spices, tea, sweets. Although, to be precise, the ethnic world of the Hakaniemi-Kallio districts begins even earlier, at the vestibule of the Hakaniemi metro station, where the store Jasmine Rice is located. On Hämeentie Street, there are no less than two dozen African-Asian-Arab supermarkets and shops. In some, you can buy not only food but also clothing.
Separately, it is worth mentioning ethnic souvenirs from Lapland. Actually, if you want to buy something truly authentic and inexpensive, you need to go north – to Oulu and further up the map. Or you can wander around market squares in summer – there is always something intriguing. Or useful, like piles of orange cloudberries (lakka) straight from Lapland. They, imbued with the northern sun, are brought for sale at the end of August.
In Helsinki, traditional souvenirs made of reindeer antler, wood, and leather are sold at the Market Square (Kauppatori) and in souvenir shops. Here, the main thing is not to get lost among warm patterned mittens, Sami hats, knives with reindeer antler handles, and mugs made of Arctic birch. And reindeer magnets, which, of course, have nothing to do with the crafts of Sami masters.