Finland features fine food, wintry frolic - and the tango!

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Jan 9, 1995 | by Tony Munroe

That night, we ate at a vast restaurant where the food wasn't all that good -- but then, the food wasn't the attraction. The crowd had come to tango.

More than anything, the Finns love to tango. Ladies check themselves in front of the many mirrors in the entrance hall of this glittery, almost Vegas-like outpost in northern Lapland. In the men's room, gents preen. And upstairs, on the big dance floor, it is tango, tango, tango.

In Finland, the dance protocol is ritualistic. A gentleman approaches a table and asks a lady for a dance (apparently, declining is not much of an option). They dance for three songs, then he escorts her back to her table, thanks her and seats her. That night, as I walked the half-mile back to our hotel thinking about the strange contradictions of this fascinating place, I saw the aurora borealis -- northern lights -- for the first time in my life. It seemed a fitting end to a marvelous experience.

Eat Hearty, Be Merry

If you visit Finland, leave your hardening arteries at home.

Days of vigorous (okay, sometimes slothful) outdoor activity are complemented by rich, hearty Finnish cuisine. We dined on several meals of salmon -- often prepared in a thick, creamy soup with dill.

At a reindeer farm near Inari, we enjoyed a big lunch that started with hot reindeer broth and was followed by salmon cooked with lemon pepper, boiled potatoes and carrots. The meal was accompanied by cider-like home-brewed beer and coffee garnished with cubes of cheese.

Meals are supplemented with breads -- coarse and dark and different in every restaurant -- and cheeses. In the summer, berries are abundant. Finland's famous cloudberries are best enjoyed in lakka (cloudberry) liquor.

In Lapland, one of the most basic and best meals is a reindeer steak, lean and flavorful, often served with garlic potatoes and thick mushroom soup, and washed down with a cold Lapin Kulta beer. Reindeer meat and sausage frequently are cooked over a roaring fire and enjoyed as snacks.

Finns drink an average of nine cups of coffee a day -- the most in the world. The Finnish word for coffee, khavi, is one of the few in the Finnish language that sounds remotely like its English equivalent (another is the greeting "hey," which they spell hei).