Jaakko Sorsa is the executive chef of FINDS, as well as the president of Disciples Escoffier (Hong Kong). A passionate chef, originally from Finland, he has worked in some interesting locations such as Lebanon and Bermuda. In 2004, he was planning to move to Canada or Japan, however an unexpected phone call led to a change in plans and a career in Hong Kong. 

Bruce Dawson spent a day in the kitchen with Sorsa learning more about the man, his food philosophy, why diners should experience his food, and tales of being a peacekeeper-chef for the United Nations.

Why did you decide so quickly to come to Hong Kong when you were doing so well as a chef in Finland?

In the F&B ‘work market' in Finland I had a reputation for taking interesting challenges abroad (like South Lebanon, Fidzi, Bermuda). I had a habit of returning to Finland for a couple of years and then move on. I get restless. In 2004, I was about to move to Vancouver or Tokyo, but got a call on one Sunday evening to meet people who wanted to open a Scandinavian restaurant in Hong Kong. It sounded insanely beautiful! I sat down and they asked if I was interested. I said, ‘yes indeed', and a couple of months later I was here. The fastest interview of my life.

How did you introduce such a wonderfully distinctive yet perhaps little-known cuisine to the Hong Kong dining scene?

My approach is ‘pure, clean, honest Nordic flavours'. During these nearly five years I have offered a wide variety of Scandinavian dishes, traditional and modern, and now I have a pretty good understanding which Nordic flavours apply to the local palette. Big hits have been the fillet of Norwegian salmon house-smoked with wood chips from Finland and our little sweet ‘black bread' made of Finnish rye flour, malts and dark syrup based on a centuries old recipe.  

Your grandmother was a big influence in your decision to become a chef, what was it about her cooking that so inspired you to become a chef?

I would wonder how she was able to make so much tastier food with same ingredients when other relatives still did good too, but Ida's cooking was amazing. I was a very picky eater but her dishes I adored. We spent all our summers in our private rustic island in ‘lakeland' in the middle of Finland. We were fishing every day, curing and smoking, picking mushrooms from the forest, and were given some hunted game from friends for nice stews and baked in a wood-burn oven. Yummy pastries, desserts made of fresh rhubarb from the garden, wild strawberries, blueberries, everything that mother nature has to offer. 

With so many highlights in your career, was being named president of the Disciples Escoffier for Hong Kong one of the most rewarding?

Indeed I must say that I am very honoured by the nomination. It felt like getting knighted to this respected international gastronomical organisation. Now of course begins the work: establishing the organisation in HK, making it known, and following the principles of Auguste Escoffier. 

Disciples Escoffier represents chefs eager to commit themselves to safeguarding and supporting quality and flavour in food products, promoting professional expertise, and developing and fostering the sharing of experiences, ideas and new technology, in keeping with culinary traditions. This happens especially by passing on knowledge, offering training, opportunities and networking for young chefs. 

How did the menu evolve into two separate parts, are there stories behind these 'classics'? 

The menu is in two parts (‘Scandinavian with a twist' and ‘FINDS Classics') because some Scandis used to comment that there's not enough Scandinavian food on the menu and some locals commented that it's all too Scandinavian. The food is all FINDS food, but separating them in the menu design makes it more clear for guests to choose from. 

Could you suggest a sample menu for someone unfamiliar with Scandinavian cuisine? Kind of a 'beginners' menu?

Norwegian Salmon Three Ways - seared salmon pastrami, smoked salmon mousse, beetroot-gravalax or Jaakko's Summer Salad -  grilled green and poached white asparagus, bibb butter lettuce, pickled chanterelles, duck pastrami, poached quail eggs & toasted pine seed vinaigrette. For mains a choice of House Smoked Salmon Fillet served with stewed wild morels, fingerling potatoes and dark dill sauce, or Grilled Young Lamb Loin marinated with thyme and mustard seeds with a warm salad of wild Finnish chanterelles & savoy cabbage and a light lemon veloute sauce. For dessert Chilled Rhubarb & Strawberry Soup with fresh Madagascar vanilla ice-cream and oatmeal biscuit.

Any interesting stories behind the dishes?

We have a lamb dish on the summer menu originating in 1996 when cooking under fire in South Lebanon as a peacekeeper-chef for the United Nations: I wanted to make a special Sunday lamb roast for the lads. I drove by jeep for 80 kilometres in a war zone to buy cream for the potato & leek gratin. In the kitchen of the base was an old gas oven and it had pretty much two options: full power/no power, so it was a delicate job to control the temp by keeping the oven door slightly open and keep checking. I just had the oven on high heat when the loudspeakers cried: "Shelter warning, shelter warning!!'

This meant you'd better move your arse on double speed to the nearest underground shelter as Israelis and Hezbollah were fighting. There was heavy machine gun fire from nearby and the sounds and vibrations of artillery grenades begun to travel in mountain wadies (canyons). We were waiting for 20 minutes for it to stop, then I said to the guys "Listen, I need to go up to the kitchen quickly to check on dinner". Nobody opposed because they knew that when this is over everybody is just hungry. I was dead-scared when I lifted my head from the shelter. There was distant sounds of Apache helicopters hunting guerrillas. I ran to the kitchen head-down wearing a flak jacket and blue Kevlar helmet. I took out the golden-coloured gratin, right on time, turned the oven off, left its door open with the lamb leg inside for slow-cooking, and sprung back to the shelter. It took another 30 minutes before the attack was over. As I thought, all the guys marched directly to the kitchen to look for the promised special treat which I happily carved for them. The lamb was a bit over-cooked though, but at least tender and not burned.