Category Archives: Natural Nordic Nutrition

Natural Nordic ingredients

January 8, 2013 mauk2132 Leave a comment

The Nordic region has its own unique environment, and it’s own natural Nordic ingredients, the components are the telltale of the long, arduous struggle of the ever-changing ecosystems on the planet.

As ecosystems are defined by the network of interactions among organisms, and between organisms and their environment. The plants and berries that we enjoy today and that have been around for hundreds or thousands of years, it is to their glory as successful plants and species of the current time.

The Bilberry is part of several species of shrubs in the genus Vaccinium bearing edible berries. In the Finnish language, they are called Mustikka, it refers to the color of the berry as being black (musta). The berries were also called black-hearts in 19th century south-western England.

Bilberries as a natural Nordic ingredient, are an excellent nutrition source, they can be enjoyed as fresh berries, also made into berry juice or jam as a concentrate, also included as a filling for many baked products. Bilberry flavored milkshakes, ice cream or thick shakes or a smoothie. The berries are frozen and used as a garnish to decorate desserts or used as a condiment on breakfast cereal. Bilberries are a good source of flavonoids, which induce antioxidant activity.

Most people in Finland/Nordic countries gather Bilberries during the summer and store them in the freezer for the winter months, an ample supply of 20-30 liters can supply berries to the food table throughout the 6-month winter/spring time.

Music You Tube Video on the Importance of Balanced Nutrition.

Natural Nordic Nutrition, Pori Baltic herring Festival 2012

Pori Baltic Herring festival Markets 2012

August 31, 2012 mauk2132 Leave a comment

The Pori Silakka Markkinat (Baltic herring festival markets), is on this weekend, starting on Friday 31 August, and finishing on Sunday 2 September, a three-day event.

Pori Baltic Herring festival markets are an annual event, it is a great place to discover some of the regional food products and some traditional Finnish foods and broader European flavors. There are as well many local products, handicrafts, and clothing stores.

Also for many organic health food ingredients, some of them are:

Sea-buckthorn berry products (Tyrni), there are concentrated juices, including that the berry seeds are crushed so that the omega 3, 6, and 9 are accessible to the consumer.

Wild honey from Lapland. Many varieties of Lapland honey, some of the ones I tasted were; Raspberry and wild meadow. Bees feed on the flowers of various plants in their given environment, there can be a sugar difference in the honey they produce, e.g., honey rich in fructose, and honey rich in glucose, just to name a few. The visible difference is in the color of the honey.
Glow baked salmon (traditional method) cooked on the spot with an open fireplace.
Fruit and vegetables, apples and variety of fresh and dried local mushrooms.

Pori Baltic herring festival 2012 is also the Autumn festival on the calendar, end of the summer season, the weather cools down, the tree leaves change color and eventually fall off the trees bright red or yellow color. Another cycle of the seasons completed, and the mother nature prepares to shut down for the long cold winter of hibernation.

That is another good reason for photography hobbies, to capture and record the bright highlights of summer, and the sparkling cold white winter landscapes, with the surreal flow of the snow. To see some pictures from the Nordic summers and winters gone by, visit the following picture gallery.

Here is a link to a picture gallery; Pori Baltic Herring Festival 2012

Culture, Fruit, Ingredients, Natural Nordic Nutrition, SUmmer time, Uncategorized

The Nordic Berry Season

August 23, 2011 mauk2132 Leave a comment

The Nordic Berry Season

Summer without the Nordic berry season is not a real summer.

The berry season in the Nordic region is coming to the end of summer, the first two types of berries to appear on the markets are strawberry and raspberry, followed by bilberry and Lingonberry (Vaccinium Vitis-idea). Currently, the bilberries are still excellent for picking, and not overripe. Overripe bilberries break up easily and color your fingers bright red with bilberry juice. The Lingonberries have a shiny red outer skin (reasonably robust), they grow in small clusters (2-6 berries), on the stems of a short bright green shrub. The red berries take some time to ripen, to test whether the berries are ripe, you merely squeeze one berry, and if the flesh is white, then the berry is not ripe when the flesh of the berry has become translucent pink in color, then the berry is ripe for picking.

Lingonberries are unique a source of nutrition in the Nordic berry season

Lingonberries are very robust berries, and they have preservatives in their own juice, they are sour/tart in flavor. It is a unique fruit in the Nordic berry season, and it was also a significant source of vitamins and nutrition for the early pioneers that discovered the Nordic region. When you think about it, the Nordic summer is short, 4-6 months, theyre are berries that appear at the middle part of summer (strawberry/raspberry), followed by the bilberry, red currants and other berries. At the end of the Nordic berry season, there are the Lingonberries.

It was possible for the pioneers to gather the lingonberries and store them in a vessel (crushed) and the Lingonberry preserved itself without any extra additives or refrigeration needed. How many berry types do you know that can do that? After the Lingonberries are ripe in autumn, there is a considerable time before the winter arrives properly with constant sub-zero temperatures, during that time most common berries would not last the distance through to the winter, and that would be an essential vitamin source lost for the consumer.

No fruit, vegetables or grain foods available for picking during winter. During the winter months (6-9 mths), there is no fruit growing for picking and nutrition, the landscape is under snow and ice. It would be late August to September when the berries were ripe for picking (some variation from year to year), that leaves about 3-4 months before the constant sub-zero temperature arrives in December (some change from year to year). In theory, it would be possible to leave the Lingonberries on the shrub until the frosts came, but that allowed the birds and other animals to feast on them during the waiting time, also risky if there was a sudden snowfall that would cover the berry shrubs.

Storing the fruit from the Nordic berry season naturally.

In the early days when there was no electricity for deep freezers to preserve the summer fruit, which is a common practice these days, they could rely on the Lingonberries to last the distance through to the following spring season, now that is fantastic fruit from Nature. The other berries would have been picked day by day and consumed fresh by the early pioneers. Later on, the berries were crushed into fruit juice and made into jams with the help of extra sugar to preserve it. Also with the introduction of wheat flour, sugar and ovens then came pastry making skills of making fruit-filled pies, e.g., bilberry pie.

The Nordic berry season provides an important nutritional boost for the consumer.

“The berries contain plentiful organic acids, vitamin C, provitamin A (as beta carotene), B vitamins (B₁, B₂, B₃), and the elements potassium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus. In addition to these nutrients, they also contain phytochemicals that are thought to counteract urinary-tract infections, and the seeds are rich in omega-3 fatty acids“.

The health benefits are real, and available from the Nature in the Nordic berry season.

Therefore it is a reasonable gesture/habit for people to exercise their will and choose a healthy diet that includes eating lots of natural berries at the Nordic berry season.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccinium_vitis-ida