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Brasserie Kaislaranta
As a child in Finland, my sister and I spent our summer holidays at my grandparents’ house in the country. These happy childhood memories of carefree hot summers, playing in the woods, cycling through the country lanes and swimming in the lakes, also set the foundations for my appreciation of fresh, locally grown food. The beautiful wooden house was built by my great grandfather and grandfather, and us children slept upstairs in the summer. One of my earliest memories is wak
koivuleeds
Jan 103 min read


It's Friendship Day!
Today many countries celebrate Valentine’s Day, but the Finns (and the Estonians!) like to do things differently. Rather than reserving...
koivuleeds
Feb 14, 20252 min read


Grape expectations
Growing up in Finland in the 1970s-1990s, meant that I was not massively exposed to different wines.. Sure there were those more...
koivuleeds
Jan 28, 20244 min read


A Tale of Two (or more) Christmases
I have always loved Christmas! Childhood Christmas was often spent in Ireland. After the trepidation (and sometimes sheer terror) of the...
koivuleeds
Dec 10, 20235 min read


Ruska (almost) and seasonal food
We were in Finland for ten glorious days recently. We were too early to experience ruska (when the forests are ablaze with autumn colour)...
koivuleeds
Sep 14, 20232 min read


Why Koivu? Why now?
For the past couple of years, the conversation over our kitchen table has often turned to how can we turbo charge our love of food and...
koivuleeds
Aug 26, 20233 min read
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