Differences between food cultures

There were several specific differences recognized between the food culture in the home country and Finnish food culture. Interestingly, the first reaction when asking to describe differences between the two cultures was usually laughter and describing the difference as huge, without further specification. However, as each interview progressed it was always possible to distinguish specific differences. The long distance between the food cultures, and the food cultures being so widely different sometimes made naming specific differences to be overwhelming and difficult.

Some participants commented:

“...hhahha…aaah! I don’t know..there is a big difference, that’s for sure…”

And:

“…hah!... hahaa… the difference is clear oo.. the difference is huge… there is a huge difference..and when I say huge I mean it is huge ..”

Spiciness of foods was one clear recognized difference. This difference often caused the participants to feel that Finnish foods were not very tasty. Some participants commented on specifically African foods being spicy:

“…oh, one major difference, uhm, we like spicy food.. and you guys..don’t like spicy food…”

And:

“…well we have this s.. how do you say it..mausteita.. spices… spicy food..like in Finland, Finnish people don’t have a lot of spicy food…so..yea..that is the difference, I think the spices are the difference between Finnish food and Ghanian food…”

Finnish meals were by some perceived to be very simple:

“… the meals are usually very plain.. it’s usually like macaroni..you boil macaroni, you boil the minced meat..put a little bit of oil and then together, and then add ketchup…”

Another difference found was the richness of African foods - commonly described using the word “heavy”. Since the familiar West African foods were perceived as very fulfilling, Finnish foods felt very light and not as filling.

The difference in food satisfaction was described as per following:

“…our food are ususally very heavy kind of, so now they are like yea..this is for you to eat a plate of eban, egusi with chicken or something like that.. for you to actually burn the calories you gain from that you’d have to run…like a marathon or something..”

As well as:

“…i will say that because maybe the Cameroonian food is…is full full… like you can be for like…four hours or five..without eating after, after you eat..but I think finnish food I think if you eat you have to eat after thirty minutes again or an hour…”

Closely linked to meal satiety was the meal frequency, which was a prominent difference. The comments regarding meal frequency were often given from the perspective of Finnish food being light.

One participant said:

“…yea you eat it at a time and it can sustain for more time but here..you eat little little little litte.. so yea…”

The ways meals are built up differed widely between the two food cultures. The African food was often perceived to be consumed more as a proper meal, whereas Finnish food was thought to be a meal put together more clearly by components. The salad component often part of a typical Finnish meal was in particular found strange, since vegetables, and especially fresh vegetables, were according to participants’ food culture more commonly included in the cooked meals. Other ingredient differences were the use of beef and fish, as well as the using of dairy products in cooking. Dairy products in cooking is not common in the African food culture.

The meal build up was explained by one participant as:

“…none of the things we prefer to eat can actually get the proportion of porridge..like that’s my breakfast or sandwhich..that’s my breakfast..no way.. in Nigeria you eat properly, you eat either rice with stew or you eat yam with egg…you eat like those typical..obvious to the food…like one thing that I also surprise me most is..you say…we want to eat lunch and then it’s like some combination of tiny stuff together..some fruit..u telling me this is lunch, no…”

The meal difference was also commented on as the physical appearance of food:

“…like is so different..ahh….looking at the physical appearance there is a lot of difference..”

The use of fresh ingredients in cooking was commented as:

“…..like whenever I eat like African food..i feel like is more organic, and like real…is not like…been frozen for long time and then they froze it and then cook it or … it been stored in fridge for long time and then.. warm it up and cook it.. cuz like in.. Ghana food is just

like…you just go to the market and then is like…is been brought from the maybe two days or three days or even the same day.. so is just like kind of fresh, you feel like the… the..taste is

way different than…in Ghana we basically, we don’t normally use any organic material..or any organic to grow the food so..it normally it feels like is kinda natural…”

And:

“…we get fresh veggies back home..everything is fresh..now you have to settle for canned products, which is probably not so good..like some vegetables we have to switch to some kind of…”

The use of beef and fish are were considered to be common in African food and was pointed out as:

“…at least my family, we use a lof of umm.. beef, and fish as well …”

And:

“…one big difference is uhm…the ghanian food are spicy, and usually with some meat or fish…but um…the finnish food are..usually with potatoes…”

In general the different ingredients in foods were commented by one participant as:

“…in Finland here we eat potatoes..but….we don’t eat potatoes *refers to home* like we don’t eat potatoes at all like, we eat like..uh…fresh vegetables, rice, fish..yea…”

The use of dairy products in cooking was commented on as:

“…most of the foods here are eaten with salad or they are made with milk, but for me personally I only take milk with uhm..beverages… it surprises me when I see people making soup with milk…”

And similarly:

“…we cook kalakeittoo..is it kalakeitto? and it was..it was a bit chock, because..in our soups we don’t have maito – milk in it..so this is where we have to uhm.. mix… milk and uhm..

fish..yea…”

The amount of meals commonly consumed during a day differed between the food cultures.

The Finns were often said to eat more often, whereas the meal rhythm often came down to a few big meals a day. This meal rhythm from the West African food cultures was sometimes referred to as the three-square meal.

One participant said:

“…uhmm.. back home we eat three times a day..so breakfast, lunch and dinner..”

And another one commented:

“…..like you can be for like…four hours or five..without eating after after you eat..but I think Finnish food I think if you eat you have to eat after thirty minutes again or an hour…”

A difference in cultural vastness was distinguishable. African food was argued to contain a lot more variety of dishes, whereas Finnish food culture was said to contain a lot of borrowed dishes, and not have as much originality. Several of the participants, however, admitted not having had a lot of exposure of the Finnish food culture, and hence might the perceived limitness of Finnish food culture be affected by this.

The difference in cultural vastness was pointed out by one participant as:

“…here..like..there is nothing out of the ordinary in terms of food. it’s like everything here is like the Finnish cuisine is probably borrowed or something…”

And similarly by another participant:

“…welll ah, I haven’t tasted all the food in Finland.. but I think in Finland you have uu..how do you say it..small food culture?... because is more like.. many different foods…food from the Chinese, food from the yea..so most I eat more food which is similar to my food…”

Interestingly, the Finnish food culture felt rather distant and strange, and the huge gap between the cultures caused personal preferences to be seen as a difference and therefor mentioned when asking for differences between the cultures.

One participant commented:

“…but I think the Finnish food culture is good…for the people here…”

Another one said:

“…the Finnish cuisine is probably borrowed or something.. or is not just nice..that’s how I feel…”

Specifically the consistency of foods felt illuctant for one participant:

“…why is it that Finnish people always mash their meat? cuz we don’t mash our meat…

it’s,..people..we see people who eat mashed stuff as… babies and then people that don’t have

teeth like old people.. I hate mashed potatoes….it’s usually for people who don’t have teeth or babies who cannot chew or..”