We're Alex and Marko the Vagabrothers
and this series is about new Nordic cuisine
We'll be traveling across three Nordic Capitals
exploring the culinary revolution that's turned this region into one of the most dynamic food destinations on earth
along the way, we'll be meeting locals
eating
drinking
and having a great time
Hope you're hungry
In episode 5' we're discovering Finland's capitol, Helsinki
and experiencing a classic summer tradition
Good morning guys how's everybody doing? Hope you guys are doing well
We just arrived in Helsinki, Finland after an amazing.....
what are you eating dude?
eating Finnish licorise dude because we're in Finland now
could you keep it down? I'm trying to vlog here!
Anyways we had an amazing morning going through the Archipelago
And we just got off the boat, checked into our hotel
and we have an amazing couple of days planned for us
what's first on the list?
So we are here because of the float festival
and we are staying in a hotel
right next to the three day long Flow Festival
But first, we're going to be doing some food stuff
we're going to have lunch
at a Michelin starred restaurant
go on a food tour
and tonight we're going to a Crayfish party, so it's going to be fun
Back on the coffee, we've got a lot to do today
so I need my energy
guys this is Elizabeth
"Hello"
She's awesome, she's responsible for putting together this amazing trip so..
She's going to be hanging out with us the next couple of days and showing us all the great places in Helsinki
Guys seriously this has to be one of my favorite cities in Europe
It's so awesome it's got so many different influences
it really feels like a place where east meets west
It's definitely one of the more quirky of the Nordic capitols
I think a lot of that is what you said
Because Finland had been part of Sweden for a while
it was then taken by Russia
and Helsinki is a capitol that reflects that
you see it in the architecture, the food, in the style
Because it really is kind of halfway between Stockholm and St. Petersburg
exactly and that's all reflected in a lot of elements of the city so..
It's what makes it more unique, I think, than some of the places in Scandinavia
and so we're going to go check it out
and we're starting at Olo which is a Michelin starred restuarant right on the water front
This is my first Michelin starred restaurant i've ever been to soo...
It's going to be nice
I'm ready to feast
let's do it
Right now we're meeting Heidi and Heather
and they are food bloggers in Helsinki
Hello, i'm Alex
"Heidi"
"Heather, nice to meet you"
Hi, Marko
nice to meet you
I'm Heather and i'm going to take you to some of the best places
and some of the unknown places in Helsinki
where you can try real Finnish food
going underground
going down
Ok so we are back in the Torikorttelit, which is the market quarter of Tori Quarter
and that's where Olo is, it's right on the sea front
it's a beautiful day, i'm ready for lunch
this place looks nice
This is a very special treat
Michelin starred restaurant is not something we usually do but...
the white linen, and some good food coming our way
Heidi how did you get involved in blogging?
basically, i've always loved cooking
I ended up creating a blog so that I can like, you know, I could have all my recipes there
As time went by, I realized that also other people, like my mother is actually reading it
so then I really really got sort of into it
Finger food to start
What was traditional Finnish Cuisine?
and how are you guys trying to reinterpret it now?
I think the best way to do it, to start, is to rely on your memories
maybe back home
or what you've been eating when you were ?
our country's quite young
we have to take influence from all over the world
I think it is much easier because you don't have any boundaries
Basically you can do whatever you want so..
We're just a little taste
an appetizer
and appetizer
Now we are going to a brewery, which is a great thing to be doing at 1 o'clock in the afternoon
Gotta love it
So we're going to try some Finnish beer
?
Now we are going to Bryggeri to have some beer
What you snapping there bro?
What am I snapping?
Guys you should totally follow us on Snapchat if you don't
Because then you don't have to wait for the vlog to come out
Every time you go to a new brewery, at least for me, I have to try the IPA
Because if they do they IPA well then I know that all the rest of the beers are good
that it's a quality brewery
we call it the IPA index
You can start with the ? it's the light
and move all the way to the IPA
and this guy is called Sahti
and it's the oldest form of beer
and it's like a highly traditional thing in Finland
even nowadays all the grandmas in the central part of Finland
They're still making this one at home
interesting
the closest thing it tastes too is like a Belgian but it does have like a banana taste
and there is not a lot of carbination
that's nice
and we're finished
where we going next?
Market Hall
Guys the water front in Helsinki is popping off right now
there are so many people here
kind of like a little festival vibe
Friday and the sun's out people want to go eat
and get some vitamin D
This is the old Market Hall from 1888
we're going to come and try some Finnish cheese from Helsinki
and it's very special because the cows also live in Helsinki
So, let's go
This should be like foodie stop #1
we're going to try bread cheese
with possibly the best berry in the world it's called a cloud berry
you can really only get it in Lapland
and it's absolutely delectable
and also a little bit pricey so we are in for a treat right now
bread cheese, not to be confused with head cheese
interesting
kind of like in France, they do the Brie with raspberry on it
well here it's the bread cheese with the cloud berry
I say this ones better
ssshhhhh
we be going for the raw foods, the raw vegan
to have the cake man
fast forward two hours we've showered, changed
and we are about to hop on a boat to ? island
we are going to go to a crayfish party, it's a late summer tradition
where you basically have a party, drink some schnapps, and eat some crayfish
eat lots of crayfish
they do it here in Finland and also in Sweden
but it's definitely like a celebration of summer
and as you can see, it's been an amazing day
it's a gorgeous evening and we're going to feast right now
oh ya fosho
so let's go do it we are meeting up with a local vloger named Jonas as well as some other cool people
and we're going to go dive into the tradition
schnapps, schnapps!
so you might remember from a couple days ago that we were at the spirits museum in Stockholm
and we learned about these drinking songs
so crayfish parties originated with the Swedish nobility that were here when Finland was part of Sweden
so these are like drinking games
you have to actually take a shot it's like built into the song
it's like sing one verse then shot then six more verses
this is about to get cray cray cray cray crazy
so Alex what do you have to say?
ladies and gents hopefully you enjoyed that vlog
it's day 1 in Helsinki we have a lot to cover in the next 2 days
we're going to be going to Tube Con
meeting a lot of you guys
so if you enjoyed the video make sure you give it a thumbs up, share it with your friends, and subscribe to Vagabrothers
for new travel videos
in the meantime remember, stay curious, keep exploring, and we will see you guys on the road
but we got a lot of crayfish to finish!
Peace
I got so much crayfish juice in my eyes
alright we're signing out
Peace