Minatan Maa

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Our History

Minatan Maa, My Land, is Karjelinn's foremost periodical bringing current topics from science to sports, from politics to pop culture, and from art to academics.  Publishing solely electronic content since 1566, Minatan Maa has come a long way since its humble beginnings in 1503 as the quarterly Karjelinnan Kausinan Lehtti.  Since its inception, Minatan Maa has sought to provide current and interesting information on culture in Karjelinn to citizens and outside enthusiasts alike.

Our symbol, the soaring arctic tern, embodies qualities of excellence and mindfulness, values our reporters and journalists seek to bring to the table with each article.

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Grazing in the Urban Jungle
Autumn 1570 || M. Huitakainan



Summer in Karjelinn is the favorite season among tourists.  The mild, dry summers are perfect for hiking the Ukrekian Alps, sunbathing along Karjelinn's coastline, or taking a dip in one of its many freshwater lakes. Of course, one of the biggest attractions in the summer is Karjelinn's tasty, fresh snacks: juicy strawberries and blueberries galore! Fresh ice cream churned from whole-fat goats milk is topped with a honeyed berry compote and served up in mass quantities from street vendors' carts.  Tender summer greens are perfect when topped with fresh salmon roe, and it's not uncommon to see breakfast cafes listing a dozen quail eggs omelette as their monthly special in Zechyr. Visitors come from near and far to sample Karjelinn's summer delicacies, and often try to take home as much as customs will allow.

But while loud, flashy summer is the season that is lauded as supreme by tourists, native Karjelinnians know that winter is the season for hidden culinary gems. Within the past ten years, an old practice has been receiving some newly invigorated interest and has become quite well known in the world of fine dining: grazing, or as it's known in Karjelinn, laiduntus.

Katriin Mauno, proprietor and head chef at uptown Uutalinn's Urban Forest, a four-star restaurant well known at home and away as one of the finest laiduntus restaurants in Karjelinn, offered us a seat at her establishment to discover what all the talk was about. Where one normally would have to book a table three months in advance, this was the offer of a lifetime.

A simple storefront with rustic wooden walls, mismatched serving dishes, exposed beam ceiling and cozy hand-embroidered bench covers, Urban Forest feels a lot like a trip to grandmother's cottage on the lake.  And if Urban Forest is grandmother's cottage, Chef Mauno is grandmother. An unassuming woman with thick, round glasses and curly greying hair, Chef Mauno seats us at a booth by the large picture window at the front of the store, overlooking a busy street in the nation's Federal District.  She takes a seat with us to tell us about laiduntus.

"Grazing, or laiduntus, is a centuries-old tradition," she explains in a soft voice. "Like most culinary practices, it began out of necessity.  With no sun and plenty of snow, there is little to eat in Karjelinn. One can only survive so long on the nutrients in smoked and salted meats, so our ancestors turned to the ingenuity of the caribou for direction."  Above our booth was an old window frame, the original imperfect and warped glass panes still intact. A depiction of a dark wintertime scene illuminated only by the light of a full moon was painted on the glass and showed a deer pawing at the snow to reveal what was an almost bioluminescent patch of greenery. "Today, with greenhouses and the importing of foods from warmer climates, we can have fresh produce year round even in a nation like ours. Urban Forest seeks to recreate the grazing traditions of our ancestors, using foods found fresh from the forests of Karjelinn.  Our menu changes biweekly, depending on what we are able to harvest. We embrace the challenges of working only with what Siora provides. It is very rewarding to be connected to nature in this way, especially in the lean winter months.  The flavors and textures are earthy and mushy and delicious."

With the humble explanation given, Chef Mauno was up and away, heading back into the kitchen to assume command like a ship captain. As the clanging of the cooks' tools rang out against the metal surfaces and a symphony of delicious scents floated into the dining area, we eagerly awaited our first experience with grazing.

Show ContentClick Here to Experience Our Five Course Meal at Urban Forest:

Soup Course - Chilled lacy moss and watercress soup with raw "riced" turnip root and salted rye and marsh peat crisp




Appetizer Course - Wild fairycap mushrooms and Marzannan radish lightly sautéed in butter with snowgreen




Salad Course - Charred wood skin lichen with various winter greens with a cider vinegar and birch syrup dressing




Entree - Steamed arctic lobster tails and charred pine hearts over caribou milk foam, garnished with golden moss shavings.




Dessert Course - Jellied seal blubber with a pine liqueur sauce accompanied by a scoop of sweet cream shaved ice.