Sami Tallberg

Sami Tallberg (born November 7, 1976) is a Finnish chef and food writer known especially for his foraging and wild food-focused books, catering and courses. Tallberg is based in Helsinki, but also spends time in Lapland foraging and lecturing. His 19 years of working in the culinary fields includes eight years in London and eleven years in Helsinki.

Sami Tallberg
Born7 November 1976
OccupationFood writer, chef
Years active1997-present

Education

Tallberg studied at Perho Helsinki Culinary School to become a restaurant chef between 1994–97. He completed his Head Chef Degree in 2002 at Haaga-Perho Adult Education.[1] The following year he also attained a WSET Level 3 award in wines.

Career in restaurants

Tallberg started his career in the restaurant business at The Ivy, London where he worked as a chef from 1997–99 learning from Mark Hix. His first job as a head chef was in London at the Rivington Grill Shoreditch,[2] a restaurant and a deli, where he worked from 2002 until 2005. At the Rivington he gained experience working with the owners Mark Hix, Des McDonald and Ratnesh Bagdai, and first gained an interest in wild food through his work there with internationally renowned wild food expert Miles Irving.[3]

In 2005 he started as an executive chef for the Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance/Compass Group being in charge of the directors’ dining and events at the headquarter. Tallberg was also responsible for the wine list, leading to an interest in bio-organic wines.

Tallberg returned to Finland in 2008 to work as an executive chef for the restaurant Carelia.[4]

After Carelia in 2011 he moved on to launch the five-star-hotel Kämp's[5] new restaurant Kämp Signe, which specializes in Nordic wild food. At the same time he also worked at Tertin Kartano[6] during the summer seasons of 2010 to 2012, developing their menu and recipes as well as training the staff in tending the restaurant's garden and foraging.

Tallberg was also a head chef for NOMAD - a street food concept launched at FLOW festival[7] in Helsinki in August 2013. Tallberg has been in charge of vegetarian and vegan restaurant Cargo Helsinki's[8] concept, menu and recipes since early 2016.

Career as an entrepreneur

Since 2009 Tallberg has been a leading expert and consultant in Finnish wild food and foraging,[9][10] specializing in new Nordic cuisine and vegetarian food.[11] He gives lectures, food talks, workshops and courses throughout the year.[12] His foraging expertise covers areas from the cities of the UK and Helsinki to the remote Boreal forest zone (Taiga)[13]

He has also been in charge of catering for bespoke events and parties, from small private gatherings to events for up to 1,500 people, in 16 countries around the world.

Tallberg has published several cook books, the most notable being the bestseller The Wild Herb Cookbook, published in 2011.[3] He also blogs and writes regularly about wild food.[14]

Awards and honours
  • Finland Prize 2012 - For developing a very new and unique style of Finnish food through using ingredients of a wild nature (Finland Prize is awarded by Minister of Culture and Education in recognition of a significant career in arts, an exceptional artistic achievement, or a promising breakthrough.)[15]
  • Design Award 2015 - Ruokateko 2015 by Muoto 2015[16]
  • Wild Food Ambassador 2012–2016 by the Elo Foundation, the foundation for the promotion of Finnish food culture[17]
  • Three pairs of cutlery on the Michelin guide for Kämp Signe 2012[18]

Bibliography
  • Makuparit (Finnish) (ISBN 9789522208156, 2016)
  • Vilda Örter Kokboken (ISBN 9789163610332, 2014) (Swedish)
  • Wild, Weird and Wonderful (ISBN 9789525969436, 2013) (Finnish, English and Russian)
  • Villiyrttikeittokirja (ISBN 9789523210516, 7th edition out in March 2016) (Finnish)
  • Hedelmäistä, with Janne Tarmio ISBN 9789526778433, 2013) (Finnish)
  • Wild Herb Cookbook (ISBN 9789522204868, 2012) (English)
  • Koivunmahlaa & kaviaaria, with Christer Lindgren (ISBN 9789522205322, 2012) (Finnish)
  • Mäti - Helmiä lautasella, with Janne Tarmio (ISBN 9789526778419, 2012) (Finnish)

References
  1. Adult Education, Haaga Institute Foundation. "Haaga-Perho".
  2. Rivington Grill Shoreditch, Restaurant. "Rivington Grill Shoreditch".
  3. "The wild flavours of Helsinki". Slow Finland.
  4. Carelia, Restaurant. "Carelia".
  5. Kämp, Hotel. "Hotel Kämp".
  6. Manor, Tertti. "Tertin Kartano".
  7. Festival, Flow. "Flow".
  8. Cargo, Restaurant. "Cargo Helsinki".
  9. Dougall, David Mac. "New York Looks Nørth". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
  10. "Lähiluonnossa odottaa ilmainen vihreä supermarket" (in Finnish). Retrieved 2017-10-27.
  11. City of Helsinki, Visit Helsinki. "The Season for Wild Food".
  12. Finland.fi, This is Finland. "Taste the Wilderness".
  13. Creating Helsinki, Helsinki. "Wild Thing".
  14. "Wild and wonderful - thisisFINLAND". thisisFINLAND. 2016-07-27. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
  15. Ministry of Education and Culture, Suomi-palkinto 2012. "Finland Prize 2012". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04.
  16. Ruokateko 2015, Muoto2015. "Design Award 2015".
  17. Foundation for the Promotion of Finnish Food Culture, ELO. "Wild Food Ambassador".
  18. MICHELIN guide Main Cities of Europe 2012. "Michelin Guide 2012" (PDF).
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