In recent years, the chef at this afternoon event told me, Mexican cuisine has begun to win fans in Helsinki, Finland. Traditional ingredients, he also noted, are understandably hard to come by. His measured response: Fish tacos that forsake Baja for the Baltic, not only in their resemblance to Nordic open sandwiches but also for their marriage of smoked bluefish (shown in the first photo) with smoked trout. The tortillas, fashioned from parsnips and dill as well as corn, were generously brushed with butter before being warmed on the grill. Dressings included beet salsa, dill guacamole, and Skagen crema — named for a coastal town in Denmark where midsummer temperatures regularly climb into the mid-60s. For the Finns, that's practically beach weather.
Helsinki Street Eats
139 Charles St. (Washington-Greenwich Sts.), Manhattan
www.NordicFoodFestival.org/sessions/helsinki-street-eats-helyeah
(Helsinki Street Eats was held on September 25, 2015, as part of the annual, multiday North Food Festival)
