Fabulous Finns
I ordered a batch of those fantastic
Fazer Mignon Choccy eggs for Easter
from the online Finnish shop Suomikauppa
nicely facilitated by their surprisingly slick and painless online payment setup.
What with the euro exchange rate being what it is this turns out to be a very expensive indulgence, but hey, can't get enough of those Mignons!
I spent the next two weeks(!) salivating in anticipation, and couldn't contain my excitement when the parcel finally arrived in the office and immediately ripped it open.
Things didn't look promising when a rain of crushed eggshell fell like confetti from the parcel, and sure enough, there wasn't much left of my dozen eggs.
However, a sad email to those really nice people at Suomikauppa started a surprisingly pleasant conversation which looks to be about to resolve itself with me receiving another batch of choccy eggs, hopefully in time for Easter!
Yep!
nicely facilitated by their surprisingly slick and painless online payment setup.
What with the euro exchange rate being what it is this turns out to be a very expensive indulgence, but hey, can't get enough of those Mignons!
I spent the next two weeks(!) salivating in anticipation, and couldn't contain my excitement when the parcel finally arrived in the office and immediately ripped it open.
Things didn't look promising when a rain of crushed eggshell fell like confetti from the parcel, and sure enough, there wasn't much left of my dozen eggs.
However, a sad email to those really nice people at Suomikauppa started a surprisingly pleasant conversation which looks to be about to resolve itself with me receiving another batch of choccy eggs, hopefully in time for Easter!
Yep!
Hello there,
I received my order of Mignon eggs today,
unfortunately they were packed in a soft bag instead of a box, and the postmen seem to have jumped up and down on the parcel so all my eggs have been smashed to pieces.
I'm not very impressed with your packaging I'm afraid.
When sending delicate goods abroad, surely it would have been sensible to have used a box?
Regards...
...karl sourville
Hey,
Thank you for your mail. I'm really sorry for the inconvenience.
There are certain dimension restrictions on how large a mini parcel can be, and therefore a decision to pack the goods into a soft bag was made.
We have sent these same products this way all over the world without any difficulties, so to me this seems just an unfortunate one time mishap on the behalf of Finnish post offices.
Surely we will make this up to you any way you like.
Would you like us to send you these products again (in a hard cardboard box), or could we compensate this as a rebate to Suomikauppa?
If you could take photos of how smashed these products really were, we would love to have them over in order to be able to learn from this as of how to pack this sort of orders more securely in the future?
Kind regards,
Suomikauppa.fi
Thank you for your quick response,
Personally I would blame the British Post Office rather than the Finnish one!
I would like to take up your kind offer to replace the eggs, I have 4 which arrived (mostly) unbroken, so if you could send me only 8 more that would make me very happy.
Although I can see that you made a great effort to carefully wrap the eggs in paper, the cardboard egg containers are quite dented so substantial force must have been applied by the postmen.
I have attached a photograph so you can see the damage for yourselves, I opened the parcel and a shower of eggshell fell out like confetti at a wedding. It was very sad :(
Gratefully...
...Karl Sourville
Hey,
Thank you for the photo! I will forward this onto our packing. We will ship you the 8 eggs on today's post!
Kind regards,
Suomikauppa.fi
Hi,
Wow, that's really very nice of you,
and much more than I expected.
What terrific service!
Thank you very much....
...karl
P.S. https://www.cookingwithkarl.co.uk/Cooking/html/Diary/2009-03-30-FabulousFinns.php
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Dumped
I've decided she deserves someone nicer than me.
Possibly someone who wouldn't publish her texts on teh interweb.
Fishy Friday
6th March 2009 - The Eldorado House
Fishy Salad
salad fish
Ingredients
Fillets of Sea Bream, cut into lozenge pieces
Sugar Snap peas, cut in 3-4 diagonal sections
Red pepper, sliced
Spring onion, in thick diagonal slices
Figs, sliced into thin segments (skin on)
Mixed salad leaves
Sugar Snap peas, cut in 3-4 diagonal sections
Red pepper, sliced
Spring onion, in thick diagonal slices
Figs, sliced into thin segments (skin on)
Mixed salad leaves
Dressing
Pot yoghurt
¼ Pot double cream or less, the flavour is surprisingly noticeable
Dijon mustard
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Juice of 2 mandarin oranges
Salt & pepper
Method
¼ Pot double cream or less, the flavour is surprisingly noticeable
Dijon mustard
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Juice of 2 mandarin oranges
Salt & pepper
Mix the salad and shake up the dressing.
Grill the Sea Bream pieces skin-side first.
Serve the dressed salad over the leaves, and scatter with the fish.
Grill the Sea Bream pieces skin-side first.
Serve the dressed salad over the leaves, and scatter with the fish.
Really delicate flavoured fish, with a fine, moist flesh.
The pieces only need turning over briefly to finish.
Not really sure about the dressing, but it went well enough. It's tricky to get the balance of flavours just right. Not too much cream, not too little mustard.
Not really sure about the dressing, but it went well enough. It's tricky to get the balance of flavours just right. Not too much cream, not too little mustard.
Fishy Razors
starter fish
Ingredients
Half dozen Razor Fish/Razor Shells/Razor Clams
Fennel seeds
Olive oil
Butter
Diced tomato
White wine
Fennel seeds
Olive oil
Butter
Diced tomato
White wine
Method
Clean the Razor Shells, fry the fennel seeds in the hot olive oil,
add a large knob of butter and add the Razor Shells.
Once they open, throw in the tomato, allow to soften, add a generous dash of white wine, reduce briefly, serve.
Once they open, throw in the tomato, allow to soften, add a generous dash of white wine, reduce briefly, serve.
The Razor shells were rubbery and gritty. Perhaps I overcooked them?
Soaking them in salty water, and perhaps feeding them with a little flour might help to flush through the sand also. Mind you - the gritty bits in our ones weren't just sand but possibly chunks of shell.
The flavour with the fennel seeds was nice though (I tried this because we didn't have any herbs). Perhaps try the same technique with another shellfish - mussels perhaps?
Soaking them in salty water, and perhaps feeding them with a little flour might help to flush through the sand also. Mind you - the gritty bits in our ones weren't just sand but possibly chunks of shell.
The flavour with the fennel seeds was nice though (I tried this because we didn't have any herbs). Perhaps try the same technique with another shellfish - mussels perhaps?
Looking around the intertubes it seems most people
thoroughly clean their Razor Clams
before they use them, cooking them briefly to get them open,
then cutting off the end of the digger, and removing their guts.
I suppose you could then serve them back on their shells or roll them in flour/cornmeal to fry.
I suppose you could then serve them back on their shells or roll them in flour/cornmeal to fry.
