ELO Foundation* Wild Food Ambassador
Sami runs wild herb courses and acts as the official wild food ambassador of the foundation.
*ELO Foundation is a non-profit foundation that promotes Finnish food culture in Finland and internationally.
Article (in Finnish): Villiruokalähettiläs | ELO-säätiö
Design Award 2015 winner: Ruokateko (transl. food achievement)
Sami was announced as the winner of the Ruokateko category at the 2015 Design Award gala.
Article (in Finnish): Ilta-Sanomat
Article (in Finnish): Valkoinen Harmaja
Video: Muoto
Finland Prize 2012
The Finnish Ministry of Culture and Education awarded Sami Tallberg with the Finland Prize in 2012.
“The Finland Prize is a cultural acknowledgement awarded annually by the Finnish Ministry of Culture and Education. It is awarded either as a recognition of a significant career in arts, an exceptional artistic achievement or a promising breakthrough. The award can be given to a single artist, a group, a community, a company or a cultural event.
Chef Sami Tallberg has worked in high-profile restaurants around the world for over 10 years, gathering experience of using wild herbs in cooking. Today wild herbs are used in many well-known restaurants in the world and they are also increasingly used in home cooking in many countries. Tallberg’s work in using wild herbs in his cooking was inspired by the British foraging professional, Miles Irving, as he worked in London.
Sami Tallberg has worked in several restaurants in Finland, including Carelia and Signe. He has also run his own company selling wild herbs directly to restaurants. He has run wild herb courses in many locations around the country, including the Tertti Manor garden.
Tallberg has put the spotlight on Finnish nature and the unique culinary possibilities that the Finnish wilderness has to offer. Currently Sami Tallberg is working on private commissions and catering and authors books about wild herbs and other wild delicacies, as well as the food culture in general. To date Sami has written about half a dozen books; including a book about wild herbs both in Finnish and English, one about fish roe and most recently a book about Japanese food culture."
Source: Wikipedia, cited 27.3.2019. Ministry of Culture and Education archived page from 2012