French president’s comments rile Finns

Recently, Jacques Chirac, the president of France, was overheard telling German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Russian President Vladimir Putin that only Finland had worse food than Britain.

A Finnish member of the European Parliament and his British wife have since dared Jacques Chirac, the president of France, to sample a menu proposed by top Finnish chef.

It starts with a Finnish take on fish and chips, followed by wild mushroom soup with turnip rye pie, then baby lamb served with nettle mash. For dessert, there’s berries marinated in Arctic brambleberry wine and a pudding made from beestings — milk taken from cows immediately after they give birth — a Finnish specialty.

Chirac is expected to provide the wine.