Food & Wellbeing

The inner Finn feast with Alex Nurmi

Fifth lesson

The final masterclass lesson is all about creating a celebratory feast. This is your chance to play with new ingredients, shake up the daily cooking routines and focus on being in the present whilst cooking a feast for your newly found inner Finn. Unique flavors combined with actual health benefits are the ingredients that make up Finnish food. Through hands-on cooking recipe development and foraging seasons, you will gain a comprehensive understanding of what makes the Finns so happy when sitting down to eat.

What you'll learn

Alex's lesson offers a real cooking experience with a modern twist on traditional Finnish cuisine. Throughout the class, Alex will inspire you to get excited about basic ingredients, with dishes featuring a mix of high-quality ingredients, inspiring setups, and the joy of learning something new. The cooking session will focus on the theme of Finnish Midsummer Fest, Juhannus, adding a festive touch to the experience. Get your aprons ready because, with Alex, you're going to marinate Finnish salmon and whitefish with beets, create pickled mustard seeds and early potatoes, and season cucumbers and peas with herbs. For dessert, you’ll enjoy marinated strawberries and raspberries served with liquorice pudding.

Insights into food harvesting and the well-being benefits

Joy of working with basic ingredients and creating inspiring setups to your culinary creations

Modern twist on traditional Finnish Juhannus dishes

“Alex’s session was super inspirational and taught me to not only see food as something to eat but as something we can pour our creativity into and use cooking as a pause to live in the moment.”

– Zeynep, Turkey

Your coach Alex Nurmi

Alex Nurmi is a renowned chef who has been in the culinary industry for over 20 years. His food philosophy is based on fresh tastes and healthy ingredients. Born in Stockholm to a Finnish mother and a Nigerian father, he moved to Turku at the age of three and has lived in Finland for the past 40 years.

After graduating as a chef, he started on a culinary journey that earned him many titles, such as TV chef, food stylist, food consultant, food producer, cookbook author and food designer. However, the most important thing for Alex has been learning more from each challenge and being continually inspired by the most basic ingredients. His dishes often feature a mix of high-quality ingredients, inspiring presentation and the joy of learning something new.

Alex has also made numerous appearances on television, including a 16-year stint as a TV chef. He has also been involved in the production of 2 800 episodes of the popular Finnish cooking show Mitä tänään syötäisiin. Over the years, Alex has been involved in a plethora of food-related projects and has a wealth of stories to share.