Chef Reijo Junkkari knows what it takes to make Christmas lunch a perennial favorite.
There hasn’t been anything similar for 40 years. The number of reservations for Hilton Kalastajatorpa’s Christmas lunch is at a peak this year, the likes of which has not been seen since the recession years of the 1990s.
Since the beginning of the 2000s, Christmas lunch numbers have increased every year and this year seems to be the best ever.
However, Kalastajatorpa’s kitchen manager Reijo Junkkari reminds us that it was the second time in the 1970s, when the popularity was so huge that Christmas lunches were served in addition to Pöreä sal in Siirtomaasal, which is now known as Juhlasal.
Junkkar has long experience with Torpa’s Christmas lunches, as he came to the house in 1978. At that time, customers were offered, among other things, salmon fins, boiled pig’s hooves, pickled cucumber, boiled ox tongue, pheasant terrine and smoked deer roast.
A jellied fish in a swimming position can be seen on the table in the foreground.
– A whole roasted turkey was also tough, Junkkari recalls.
Preparing food required special skills and it took time. According to Junkkari, the dishes have become clearer over the decades, and the work processes are no longer so long. For example, whole stuffed fish are no longer available.
When Junkkari started at Kalastajatorpa, fish were gutted, stuffed, knitted, boiled, jellied and finally the fish was served on a platter as if it were swimming. The portion looked spectacular. In addition, all terrines and pâtés were made by ourselves.
Reijo Junkkari came to work at Kalastajatorpa in 1978. During these years, for example, the Christmas lunch has changed its shape. Kaisa Vehkalahti
Back in the 1970s, herrings were a central part of the Christmas lunch buffet. They are still available, but customer preferences have changed over the decades.
– In the past, people ate a lot of them. Back then they were a delicacy for many. Now the turnover has decreased.
However, not everything has changed. Many dishes have remained at Christmas lunch from decade to decade. For example, Waldorf’s and mushroom salad have held their ground, although Italian salad has not been seen on the Christmas buffet for a while. This year it has been decided to leave out the rosolli as well. It is replaced by honey-roasted beetroot and goat cheese. Junkkari is looking forward to what kind of feedback the solution receives from customers.
Herrings and herrings no longer play as big a role as in the 1970s. Kaisa Vehkalahti
There is always smoked and grilled fish, game, shrimps, roe with side dishes, ham, boxes and herring à la rousse.
In the 1970s and even in the 1990s, Christmas lunches were attended by smaller groups, couples and families.
– Then we ate for a long time and enjoyed drinks. We started mulled wine, had wines, beers and coffee with avec. Time was used much more than now, Junkkari says.
That’s why there was talk of long lunches, which nowadays are not very common.
This year Kalastajatorppa will be open through Christmas after a long time. The restaurant’s Christmas Eve is already almost sold out, there are scattered places, and even on Christmas Day it seems that there are a lot of visitors.
Smoked fish definitely belongs on the Christmas buffet table. Kaisa Vehkalahti
Mädei and side dishes always have a place in the Christmas buffet. Kaisa Vehkalahti
Hotel manager Jouko Puranen already dares to promise that the restaurant will be open on Christmas holidays next year as well. Puranen’s wish is for Kalastajatorppa to be a hotel for the entire neighborhood. He wanted to invite the neighbors to Christmas porridge this year as well.
According to Puranen, there are traditionally business customers at Christmas lunches, but this year there has been a change.
– More families and relatives come in the evening and on the weekend than in previous years. Some of them have been visiting Kalastajatorpa for many generations. Of course, there are only families on Christmas Eve and Day, Puranen says.
Christmas boxes are made in Torpa’s kitchen from scratch. Kaisa Vehkalahti
There is a Christmas buffet with a total of more than 120 different products. When Junkkari placed an order for raw materials, he almost completely emptied the warehouse of potatoes, carrots, and leeks.
– The amounts of raw materials are enormous. For example, a lot of roots go into Christmas boxes, says Junkkari.
Recipes and their raw material amounts are precisely known, as well as how much food has been eaten in previous years, so it is easy for Junkkari to manage order quantities.
Reijo Junkkari and shrimp-horseradish jelly. A cloth napkin is folded for each place. Kaisa Vehkalahti
The first thing in the kitchen is to prepare mustard sauces, red cabbage and fruit marinating broth.
Hams of two or three days are baked at a time. Christmas hams can roughly be divided into two different ham styles: drier and more succulent. According to Junkkari, they offer the latter.
– We have a juicier ham with an internal temperature of 75–77 degrees. Five and a half kilo domestic gray-salted ham is cooked in a 100-degree oven.
The round hall of past decades. The interior still respects the original.
An important Christmas classic for Junkkari is lye fish, which is brought to the customer as a plate portion. In addition to salted fish, the plate includes potatoes, bechamel sauce, peas, allspice and melted butter. Brine fish must be ordered separately, but there is no extra charge for it.
– It’s nice to cherish traditions and get new generations to taste brine fish. It is not necessarily bought at home.
Brine fish is brought to the customer as a plate portion when ordered separately. More and more Finns are turning away from this delicious traditional food. Kaisa Vehkalahti
The dessert table also wanted to take into account the fact that not everyone has Christmas treats at home. According to Junkkari, Christmas tarts are one of the classic offerings of Finnish Christmas, so you can’t leave them out. The same goes for gingerbread.
Staff ready to welcome guests. .
But there is much more on the dessert table, for example two types of Christmas cookies, domestic cheeses, marinated fruit salad, chocolate candies, various cream jellies and pastries.
– The dessert table empties quickly. There are lots of small eatables.
The dessert table has been moved to the lobby in order to get as many places to eat in the hall as possible. Christmas halos in the foreground. Kaisa Vehkalahti
According to Junkkari, Kalastajatorpa’s Christmas atmosphere comes from working together. The preparations start with polishing Torpa’s old silverware and folding thousands of napkins.
– The whole must be inviting. We want this to always be an experience.
In addition to Kalastajatorpa, Reijo Junkkari takes care of the meals for the Finnish national football team. Kaisa Vehkalahti
Junkkari has experience from six decades of Kalastajatorpa. There are many events in the years, but one mistake for Junkkari comes to mind.
– When Torpa still had a night club and there was a chef working for the night food. At the same time, he was roasting turkeys for the next day’s Christmas lunch. The cook had to take the turkeys to the cooler downstairs. But the cook coming in for the early morning shift had come across some warm turkeys in the elevator. After a busy evening and night, the night shift cook had forgotten them there. We got through this too.