It was late in the evening. There wasn’t much left of my Tour De Finland. I was driving from town to town, marking new conquests on my map almost sure, that I would finish this thing once and for all. That was when I spotted this beauty.
It was large, it was lovely and it was clearly a factory. But what factory?
The answers would have to come later. Now I just wanted to get inside.
The place had clearly been empty for a long time. There wasn’t a single intact window in the building.
The upstairs windows were left broken, downstairs they were tightly blocked. The doors were also well shut.
I made a huge effort to get to the back through the bushes. There was nothing there, either.
There was another abandoned building on the lot. I suspect, that this was the office building of the factory.
Still no entry, and still no answers as to what the entire place was about.
So I started my usual walkaround. But I was disturbed by a group of people barbequing and drinking in the garden of a block of flats behind it. They spotted me, so I did what I always do. I walked over, told them who I was and what I was doing there and asked, what this place was all about.
It was a former leather factory. The building in question was built in the 1920’s and closed down in the 1970’s. After that, a nearby rubber factory founded by the owners of this factory used it as a storage. Years ran by and it was abandoned for good.
The factory was badly vandalized, and finally its windows and other entrances were blocked for good in 2019. The neighbours said, that the owner won’t demolish it because of all the hazardous material accumulated in the ground during the decades of operations. Cleaning up would cost fortunes.
They told me, that teenagers spent time inside and vandalized the place all the time. They had even encountered Central European urban explorers trying to get inside.
“Try the back by the river”, they said. “That’s where the teenagers get in.”
“Yeah, and watch out for the ticks. And give us a call when you get out. If you haven’t come back in two hours, we’ll call an ambulance”, they said.
So I entered the jungle on the other side. I tried and I tried, but there was no way in. I returned to the barbeque and told them, that it was a no go.
“What the hell, has *the owner* blocked it again? Would you like his number”, they asked.
I took the number, thanked them for their kindness, and was about to leave.
“Sorry, that you have to leave empty handed”, they said.
“It’s okay, it’s a part of this hobby”, I answered.
“Would you like a zucchini?”
“What?”
“Yeah. We put up this little vegetable garden this year, and they just thrived. We’ve eaten so much of it, that we really don’t want any of this no more. Take them, so you won’t have to leave empty handed. Take them both! And good luck!
And so I left with two huge zucchinis weighing at least a kilogram each.
I left wondering, what the hell I would do with them. I still explored for another day or so, but when I got home, I invented the greatest vegetarian pasta recipe of all time. It has been my bravure ever since, and now I’m going to share it with you:
Deserted Finlands Divine Zucchini Pasta, 4 portions
500g of gnocchi shaped pasta (not gnocchis)
One zucchini
The juice of a half lemon
6 cloves of garlic
2,5dl of cheese flavoured cream
70g of parmesan flakes
Chili flakes to taste
Olive oil
Salt
Black pepper
- fry the smashed garlic gloves and chili flakes in olive oil. You can also use fresh chili.
- Grate the zucchini and add it to the pan. Boil until the water has almost boiled out.
- Add the lemon juice, cream and the parmesan.
- Start boiling the pasta. Boil it until it’s al dente.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Mix it all up.
- There you have it. Eat and enjoy. If you insist on adding meat, minced bacon or prosciutto will do it. I’ve never had to do this, because despite being a devouted meat eater, the dish is extremely tasty without any of it.
- Share this post, if you like it!
I’ve served this to all my dates to whom I’ve dated and cooked to since then. Never have I ever left empty handed.
So I most definitely didn’t leave empty handed. But I would return, as I still wanted to explore the buildings.