Kuura New Nordic Cuisine - Sini Kiialainen

Born and bred in Finland, I moved to London after college 12 years ago, at the age of 18, and began working in catering. After years spent in the London restaurant scene, an opportunity arose for me to take over the job as Chef for the Finnish Ambassador in London. I thought it was an interesting offer and quite an honour for a young chef, so I grabbed it with both hands and have not regretted it. Since then I have managed to gather rather an impressive fan base. It is because of them, that I have embarked on this project of writing my Nordic cookbook. For obvious reasons, my take on Nordic cuisine is strongly based on Finnish specialties. In the past few years, I have created, and perfected these recipes, that can be executed with mostly local produce, with some specialist ingredients that can be purchased from various Nordic suppliers. My philosophy in cooking is based on the use of fresh and seasonal ingredients of best possible quality. My style is quite minimalistic and simple. I focus on emphasising the essence of the main ingredient(s), rejecting excessive complexity. Kuura is not really written from a chef to other chefs, but from me to other ex-pats who miss their home country and its wonderful flavours, and for foodies that are open minded and ready to fall in love with Nordic cuisine! I hope you will enjoy Kuura, my Nordic cookbook!