Nokan Itsenäisyyspäivän menu / Nokka Independence Day Menu
A Nokka Classic
High quality reindeer meat has played a substantial role on Nokka’s menu from the beginning. Sallan Villiporo – a reindeer meat producer based in Salla in northeastern Finland – and Restaurant Nokka share a long history.
Reindeer will be the star of the end of the year Menu Nokka. Sallan Villiporo – a reindeer meat producer based in Salla in northeastern Finland – and Restaurant Nokka share a long history. Reindeer grown in the wild has been served at Nokka from the very early days.
At North-Salla cooperative the reindeer are not penned any time of the year, and they don’t get any supplement feed like hay even in the harshest winter conditions, so the reindeer graze in the wild all year long with a natural diet that in the summer can include over 300 different species of plants. This guarantees that the meat has the best possible natural flavor.
Hannu Lahtela’s family has had reindeer as long as there has been reindeer husbandry in Finland, starting from the 1600’s. Reindeer husbandry has had a huge impact not only to the family, but to the local community. During the annual reindeer round-up, every able body, including children, shows up either to participate or to watch. Nokka’s restaurateurs Ari Ruoho and Terhi Vitikka as well as other members of the staff have also attended the reindeer round-up at Salla, latest time was this autumn.
Entrepreneur Hannu Lahtela who runs the Sallan Villiporo company is a trained meat technician and has done uncompromising work to make sure the reindeer meat meets the highest quality requirements.
Lahtela pays special attention to how the high-quality meat is handled in every step of the production chain: from how nothing is wasted in the butchering to making sure reindeer meat is cooked to perfection before it is served. Nokka is the only one restaurant that meet Lahtela’s standards and for whom he supplies reindeer meat.