Moi!
The summer vacation has almost finished. A new school year will start in the middle of August. It is the high season to enjoy picking berries or mushrooms in the woods. Apples in our garden become red and bigger. The autumn isn’t far away.
I’ll write about crayfish party this time. Though Seinäjoki isn’t famous for crayfish, crayfish party is a very seasonal event in the year in Finland. So I’d like to write about it as a part of Finnish life.
What is crayfish party?? I found it in Wikipedia. This tradition originated in Sweden, then it came to Finland. Do you know Finnish official language is Finnish and Swedish? Not only crayfish party but also other Swedish events or traditions are sometimes celebrated in Finland, too.
Crayfish party is usually held in August. Some people have a party at home. Some go to a restaurant.
If you would like to have a party at home, these goods are sold at a supermarket. This is an example. On the top shelf from left – paper plate, decoration goods (if you want), a tool to pick the meat of crawfish, paper napkins in the back. In the second row – a table runner and in the third row – a paper apron.Although not sold here, pointy hats with crayfish patterns are sometimes sold.
Let’s enjoy the party thoroughly!
The main dish – crayfish can be found in the frozen section at a supermarket. By the way, do you eat crayfish in your country? Some of you may be surprised to know that Finnish people eat crayfish.
Crayfish are boiled with salt. The taste is quite similar to crab and it’s tasty!
You can get the image of the decoration of the party. I know it’s very seasonal limited event, but most of the items have crayfish pattern. This is what makes the party more exciting, isn’t it?
For my experience, I went to restaurant Mallaskoski with my friends 4 years ago. According to my memory, the minimum number of reservation was 6. Yes, this crayfish is for 6 people. What amount!
The special napkin was used at the restaurant, too. (Well, this seems to be a crab. But Finnish uses the same word for crayfish and crab. So, it’s acceptable.) The party will start soon.
Firstly, you can put dill on bread, then put the meat of crayfish. Bon appétit!
Sorry for out of focus of this photo, but I ate like this. I guess I took this photo after all the dills were gone. I couldn’t imagine that we could eat all the crayfish, but once I started eating, it was difficult to stop eating it. So delicious and dangerous.
Yes, time flies. All the crayfish except this one were eaten by 6 brave people.
The customers at the restaurant on the day were only for the crayfish party. So, all of us wore a special crayfish apron, drank strong alcohol called schnapps, made a toast in Swedish and sung Swedish songs together. It was really fun, though I don’t understand Swedish.
If you have a chance to come to Finland (of course it would be great if you would come to Seinäjoki. Anyway) in this time of the year, joining a crayfish party is fun.
Have a wonderful summer or wonderful autumn, especially for those who live in the Northern part of the world!