Cook Like a Moomin

Moomin For the first time, English readers can get a taste of the cuisine of Moominvalley.

British graphic novel publisher SelfMadeHero is publishing the first English edition of The Moomins Cookbook, based upon the Moomins, the popular and beloved Finnish comic book creatures drawn by the late Tove Jansson.


The Moomins have spawned comic books, television series, a theme park, and this cookbook, originally published in Finnish in 1993. Subtitled "An Introduction to Finnish Cuisine," the book combines 150 mostly traditional Finnish recipes aside Moomin illustrations and stories.

According to the Financial Times: "While the Moomins play a supporting role through the charming illustrations of the original series (the recipe for Moominpappa’s summer mead shows the Moomin reclining in a tree with a bottle in one hand and an Agatha Christie novel in the other), the recipes themselves are inspired by the languorous summers of Jansson’s Finland."

Expect copious amounts of fish, cream, and lingonberries:

Moominmamma’s backpack pie is something you can easily picture sitting on a picnic blanket: butter pastry filled with salmon, eggs and rice, seasoned with dill and white pepper. The flavour of fish and cream finds its way into almost everything, including the smoked Baltic herring sandwich spread – a mix of smoked herring, pickled gherkin, crème fraîche and cottage cheese. On rye bread this combination tasted a bit odd to me, particularly with the tang of gherkin, but it was pleasant all the same. Refreshingly, this cookbook also guides you in basic campfire cuisine such as Snufkin’s chargrilled fish and perch grilled on an open fire – reading the recipes, you can just imagine the buttered and salted fish cooking deliciously over hot coals outside your lakeside summer house.

£8.43 (approx. $13.16) at amazon.co.uk.
 
Posted by Josh Friedland on Aug 16, 2010 in Art and Design, Books, Shopping List, What's Fresh | Link | | Print this page | Share This



 

Comments

Post a comment