International week 2024: food tasting day 20.11

Vol 27, Issue 10, 22 November 2024

The awaited international week finally came with its amazing events and guests from all over the world. The program of this year was extremely fascinating and included various lectures, panel discussions, international games and a quiz for students, wheel spinning, workshops, a tattoo corner, and Bollywood movie afternoon. However, the most existing part for all students, as well as teachers, is surely an international food tasting event. Especially, lecturers and students on exchange that came from all different countries just to get to know Finland and its culture were looking forward to experiencing diverse cultures through their food.

As we all know, food is an essential part of any culture. It represents us, our heritage, taste, and community. The act of sharing food has been uniting people since ancient periods, and it was precious to experience with peers and teachers. . In my family, we usually have meals together, so it was really heart-touching and connecting for me personally.

“Food is maybe the only universal thing that has the power to bring people together. No matter what culture, everywhere around the world, people eat together.” This quote is said by Guy Fieri, but it strongly resonates with the whole core idea of food tasting event. It unites and gives you a small piece of understanding other people’s culture. It is not a secret that everyone has their own view of the world, and therefore we seem to be locked in our own bubble. Of course, international students already get to know Finnish culture day by day, but it is still exciting and fascinating to get to know other. On everyone’s behalf, I can confidently say that it broke our stereotypes, expectations and bounds that we all had about other cuisines and countries.

This year, there were dishes representing more than 18 countries, which was an amazing chance for all of us to travel to unknown lands. Unusual and delicious dishes included:

• Indian pakoda.  Pakoras are crispy fritters cooked with vegetables like as onions, potatoes, gramme flour, spices and herbs. Also known as pikora or pakura, it is a famous Indian snack and street dish.

• Samosa matar paneer, Chukauni and Soya Chilli, Chicken briyani, Selroti and aachar, Khir,puri with aalu achar, and Aaluchop and Chatni – all from Nepal

• Vietnamese Banh Mi. The small loaf with a thin, crunchy crust and a light, airy texture. Bánh mì thịt is a meal consisting of a lengthwise split filled with meat and savoury ingredients, similar to a submarine sandwich.

• Jhalmuri from Bangladesh. Street food snack made by tossing crispy puffed rice with muri masala, pickled mustard oil, boiled potatoes, chopped tomatoes, onions, cucumber, green chilies and coriander leaves.

• Shri Lankan Fish Cutlets, Kiribath/Lunumiris, and Pan Cake and Ginger Plantea, Kottu

• Finnish mokkapalat(brownie cake) and korvapuusti (cinnamon buns)

• Vol-au-vent from Belgium. A tiny, light cup-shaped pastry casing filled with meat, fish, or vegetables in a sauce.

• Spanish potato tortilla. Omelette made with eggs and potatoes, usually including onion.

• Dutch poffertjes. Small and fluffy pancakes

• French Tartiflette. dish from Savoy in the French Alps. It is made with potatoes, reblochon cheese, lardons and onions.

• Italian Salame al cioccolato. Italian and Portuguese dessert made from cocoa, broken biscuits, and butter. It looks just as salami, but from chocolate.

• Ukrainian sandwiches with salo and syrnyky. Sandwiches with pork meat and pancakes made of cottage cheese.

• Russian honey cake. Moist cake with layers of honey sponge, vanilla whipped cream and honey buttercream.

After trying all the dishes (especially spice ones from Asia), I personally came to the realization that there is nothing better than food from my own country. I guess everyone realized it. Even though dishes were tasty and incredible, we all would rather prefer our own cuisine. That is the part of our learned culture, and we are basically programmed like this.

I am grateful to everyone for such a joyful event and looking forward to the next year one!