Eat & Joy

RESTAURANT EVENT GIVES PORO VISIBILITY

Eat&Joy, Christer Lindgren
Photos Anna Watson, Markus Maulavirta

Eat&Joy Poro project (poro = wild reindeer) was started in 2005. As a showcase of Finnish food culture and Helsinki’s restaurants, the Eat&Joy -restaurant happening gives reindeer visibility, clears misconceptions about and provides accurate information on reindeer meat and reindeer dishes as possibly the most important treasure of Finnish gastronomy. Poro is the generic name for the elk-related specie grown free-roaming in Lapland as a husbandry business.

“I’m not Rudolf The Red Nosed Reindeer, I’m Poro The Wild Reindeer.”

Reindeer meat expensive?

Due to its production methods, low production volume, relative scarcity and great distances the producer prices are by necessity higher than e.g. beef. Even the current price levels would lead to lower quality and lower profit margins in the future.

The healthiness, nutritional properties and even internationally unique gastronomic experiences brought by reindeer meat are arguments for different pricing. Reindeer can be compared to other only locally produced treats like Iranian caviar or Japanese kobe-beef.

Poro at restaurant Savoy.

Reindeer comes from the North

The majority of reindeer is pastured in the forests and mountain fells of North Finland for commercial purposes. They are mainly grown for their fine meat, but also other parts of the animal are used – the fur has obvious purposes, but also the horns are used in manufacturing of the famous aphrodisiac remedy called reindeer horn powder.For the main use and in line with the official quota, there are somewhat over 500,000 reindeers in Finland at any given time. The pasture areas are large, but due to difficult food situation during the winter, they rarely wander far off from the reindeer ranches or the separation closures, where the reindeers to be slaughtered are separated from the other ones.

Reindeer ranches and tourist attractions keep a small number of the animals near the main buildings so that they become tamed pets, sights and working animals.

Wild reindeer

Wild reindeer is the royalty of poros and its meat and processed meats represent reindeer at its finest. Wild reindeer roam broad areas and live completely off the land, mainly lichen and North Finland’s other vegetation. The finest reindeer dishes are usually made from wild reindeer.

The size of the pasture has an effect on the food the animals get from the nature – this influences the meat flavor, texture and other qualities. Especially wild reindeer from e.g. Salla near the eastern border or near Utsjoki around the timber line can taste very different.

These special qualities emphasize restaurants’ special skills and the importance of origin marking. At it’s finest the waiter can explain the reindeer’s story and interesting details of its growth and refining.

When the reindeer grower has a passionate attitude to his or her work and product, the effort can at its best turn the product a premium brand.

Quality, not quantity

In the 21st century the quality of Finnish reindeer products is improving faster than ever, thanks to the numerous development plans started by small producers with the support of EU and the Finnish government.Especially important have been small, innovative producers, whose business is not based on large volume but instead on quality, where responsibility is taken personally. Skillful meat cutting, nowadays a rare artisan skill, has developed from the perhaps weakest link in the chain to its specialty and strength.

Media and the chefs of Helsinki’s restaurants have participated in reindeer project by doing study trips to Lapland’s reindeer pastures and by learning about reindeer husbandry. In context of Eat&Joy Poro –project Lappish reindeer farmers have visited Helsinki and showcased different types of reindeer meats to chefs, allowing them to taste and test them and discuss with the producers how reindeer dishes could be further developed. While previously reindeer dishes – mainly in the form of sautéed reindeer sauce – were thought to be a specialty to be eaten in Lapland, nowadays most of the reindeer is consumed in Helsinki and especially in restaurants.

Whole reindeer on the plate

Restaurants and small producers have with their example have teached consumers to use cheaper parts of the carcass. Long cooking times with low temperature have proven that some parts of reindeer can be just as good as the most expensive reindeer tenderloin. In restaurants a fine dine-dish of reindeer usually includes medium-cooked tenderloin and poached shank, neck and other less commonly used parts.In a 21st century quality restaurant in Helsinki the reindeer carcass is used almost wholly. This principle and goal is an important part of ecological thinking in cooking.

Restaurant have also emphasized the basic rule that the most finest ingredients’ flavour should not be hidden or mixed by too heavy seasoning. This emphasizes the New Nordic Kitchen’s central principle of reduced, gentle and flavor-honoring handling of the ingredients.

Translation Heini Lehtinen