On a sunny Saturday in May, the Finnish Embassy yard at Kelenhegyi út is buzzing with people, the scent of baked goods fills the air, and the smoke from a portable wood-burning sauna mingles with the tree branches. As children play hopscotch and build the city of their dreams with Arkki Hungary, adults are learning about composting with the Auróra Climate Garden team. Pastries are offered by Nordic style bakery Nor/ma, and craft beer by neighbourhood bistro KEG. On this year’s menu is a creamy Finnish summer soup, dark malt loaf, and Åland pancakes – and the queue to get some is lining up fast.
It is the 10th of May 2025, and FinnAgora is about to host the annual event Taste Finland. Since the beginning, the event has been a collaboration between FinnAgora, the Finnish Embassy in Budapest, and various partners such as the Finnish School in Budapest, local businesses and civil society organisations. Since 2022, the ones cooking up a storm in the kitchen have been chef students at Åland’s Vocational High School, who have formed a tradition of traveling to Budapest as part of their practical studies.
Before the event we had a chance to sit down with Göta Alm-Ellingsworth, the chef students’ vocational teacher. On a quest to pin down the differences between Hungarian and Finnish cuisine, we discussed what difference climate makes and traditions of letting no food go to waste. Especially the Åland pancake, a traditional and much-beloved dessert in the often-harsh archipelago, serves as a fine example of how to best make use of leftover food. Find the full recipe for the pancake below!
Åland’s Vocational High School has long been part of Taste Finland in Budapest. How did you come to be a part of the event?
Four years ago, in the fall of 2021, we were asked if we were interested in coming to cook at an event here. We had almost no idea where Budapest was, but we thought: “Yes, of course!”. It was a very enticing idea, and a great honor for a high school to get that opportunity. In Åland we are quite isolated, our contacts are mostly to Sweden and Finland. This means it was a big and exciting step for our young people to work abroad, and we had to say yes.
In 2022, Åland celebrated 100 years of self-government, so this was also the theme of the event in Hungary – which was then called Taste Åland. So we thought: What do you eat in Åland? Well, you eat fish, and Åland pancakes of course. Åland pancake had been voted the Åland dish of the century the year before, so we had to serve it in Budapest.
We packed knives and other equipment, and in no time the Finnish embassy’s kitchen was full of chef students - we made fish burgers and baked our own graham bread. It was then we realized that the flour was completely different: it is much stronger, with much more gluten and protein. Suddenly our recipes didn't match, and the bread became completely different, and we had to test quite a lot before getting it right. We realized that the biggest difference between Finnish and Hungarian food is that here the soil is more fertile, the vegetables are bigger and more flavourful, and the grain has a higher protein value. You can't copy-paste a recipe to another context, since things happen. All this was educational, and we learned to solve problems by doing.
How do you usually develop a menu for the event?
Sometimes we follow common themes, such as sustainability. This year we have Finnish summer soup, and because there is a composting workshop being held in the yard, we have gathered all the root vegetable peels and weighed up how much waste is left from the vegetables – about 10% of the total weight. We always try to come up with something new for variety. Both last year and this year we have had completely vegetarian themes.
What do Hungarians like most about Finnish cuisine?
A strong aha-experience I had was when we served Åland pancake. Hungarian guests were very fond of its texture and cardamom flavor, as well as the accompanying prune compote. For us it's everyday food, but they thought it tasted fantastic.
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Do you have a favorite Finnish dish?
I love Karelian pies. I was born in the countryside, where you're used to not letting food go to waste. The idea is that if you have leftover rice pudding, you use it. Karelian pies are good at reusing. So is Åland pancake, because it's made with leftovers from either rice pudding or semolina pudding.
The beloved Åland pancake makes a comeback at this year’s Taste Finland. Is it true that both it and the Karelian pie historically have been leftover recipes?
In the past, you had to be inventive to make food last, and to use everything without throwing any away. The Åland pancake is one such dish that traditionally was made precisely because it is thick, rich and filling. Rice and semolina were more expensive and fancy ingredients that relatives on sailing ships brought home, so they were served when you wanted something festive. Especially on Åland, being an archipelago environment, guests for weddings or birthday celebrations came by boat. When they came ashore, they were usually cold and frozen, so they were first served a small drink of snaps to warm up, and then a slice of Åland pancake with whipped cream and prune compote. This welcoming ritual was the historical way of serving the pancake.
How did you come to choose food as a career?
My parents had a farm. In Åland, people are multi-taskers: my father was a policeman by profession and a farmer in his spare time, my mother was a farmer and a childminder, and they had five children. Then they also became entrepreneurs in tourism, and in 1983 they built a tourist facility with a café. I was 8 years old and could barely reach the counter with my nose, but I could handle the cash register standing on a stool. Since then, I've always had something to do with food, and after finishing culinary school I’ve been working as a chef my whole professional life.
What does Finnish food mean to you?
It's home. If you're from Finland, you've grown up eating potatoes and gravy with fish or meat. You are close to raw produce, the things that grow around you. You know where the ingredients come from, and you might even know which farmer grew your potatoes or who caught your fish. There is a pride in this – the country's ability to feed its people – no matter where in Finland you come from. We also need viable food production in all parts of Finland, as the coronavirus pandemic showed us when boats were not allowed to dock in Åland.
Do you have a favourite feature of Hungarian cuisine?
Something I find quite special is walking around market halls. Everything in the produce isles is so much bigger than at home, and there are so many more smells and colours. I know that Hungarians eat a lot of meat, but when I think of Hungary I associate it more with the richness of vegetables. It's a richness that Hungarians may not see – but just compare it to our growing season, which is affected by cold winds and chilly springs, where it takes a long time to grow. By contrast, here the markets are bursting with colour. After all these years of visiting Budapest, I find that I am still impressed by all the giant leeks and heads of cabbage that fill the market halls.
Who: Göta Alm-Ellingsworth
Occupation: Vocational teacher at Ålands Vocational High School
Place of residence: Lumparland, Åland (Finland's second smallest municipality with 369 residents)
Hobbies: Food, books, growing food at home, being active and spending time outdoors
Favourite Finnish food: Karelian pies
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Åland pancake
1 l milk
1 dl rice or 1,5 dl semolina
1 dl wheat flour
3 eggs
½ - 1 dl sugar
½ tsp salt
2 tsp cardamom or 1 pinch saffron
50 g butter or margarine
Cook milk and rice or semolina to a smooth porridge, and let cool a bit. Whisk the eggs with the sugar, and mix into the porridge. Add the flour, salt, and cardamom. If the mixture is too thick, add more milk. Butter a baking tray and pour the mixture in. Add the rest of the butter on top in small chunks. Bake in 200°C for ca 40-60 minutes.
Prune compote
1 l water
1 dl acidic juice
20 dried prunes
1 dl granulated sugar
1 cinnamon stick
3 tbsp potato starch
Soak the prunes for some hours (optional). Boil them in the water you used to soak them together with the juice and the cinnamon. Add the sugar. Dilute the potato starch in some water, add to the mixture, and let thicken. Bring the compote to a quick boil and let cool before serving. Serve with whipped cream.
Source: Ålands Marthadistrikt r.f. (2002) Ät med hela mun – Traditionellt åländsk mat.
Text: Cecilia Fewster