Gordon Ramsay, D’Acampo and Fred Sirieix are Desperately Seeking Santa in Lapland
Gordon Ramsay is taking Gino D’Acampo and Fred Sirieix husky sledging and ice swimming. But will they all dive in?
Claire Webb - 4 December 2020
This year, Santa Claus’s headquarters in Lapland will operate differently to usual: the elves will be wearing surgical masks and their bearded boss will be sitting behind plexiglass. Despite the global pandemic, the Arctic’s most famous resident is still open for business – while adhering to social distancing guidelines, of course.
For their latest road trip, Gordon Ramsay, Fred Sirieix and Gino D’Acampo are paying him a visit and will be the only visitors from the UK allowed to do so this year. Finland has one of the lowest rates of coronavirus cases in the EU and is on the Department of Transport’s quarantineexempt “travel corridors” list, but its borders are currently closed to Brits and the rest of Europe. Ramsay, Sirieix and D’Acampo will form a bubble, so they can be in proximity to each other without having to wear masks.
“It’s been a tough year for everyone and I’m really looking forward to hanging out with the boys and having some much-needed fun and laughs together,” says Gordon Ramsay, speaking to RT ahead of the trip.
The capital of Lapland – Finland’s northernmost province – is Rovaniemi, which is also the official home town of Santa Claus, according to the Finnish tourist board. Prior to the mid-80s, he was said to live in Korvatunturi, a mountainous area on the Finnish-Russian border. The move to less remote Rovaniemi proved to be a canny commercial decision. In a normal year, half a million visitors descend on Santa Claus Village, which lies a few miles north of Rovaniemi and twinkles with festive lights all year round. Whether you visit in December or July, you can meet its perennially jolly occupant, go for a reindeer ride and send a Christmas card with an “Arctic Circle” postmark at a real post office, where the employees dress as elves (and where Ramsay and co will work a shift, presumably also clad head to toe in red with pointy hats).
Apart from getting a selfie with Father Christmas, the attraction of Lapland is the chance to try mushing with huskies and snowmobiling in a winter wonderland. Rovaniemi is blanketed in snow for more than half the year, and the temperature hovers between minus ten and minus 20 degrees in December, with less than four hours of daylight per day. How does Ramsay cope with freezing weather?
“I’m pretty good in the cold – I’ve stocked up on thermals. I reckon Gino is going to be a total whinger. He moans about everything and I don’t reckon our little hot-headed Italian is going to be prepared for how cold it really is going to get. We’re supposed to be going ice swimming, which is literally where you swim under the ice. The temperature could be as low as minus 35 – it makes my Christmas baubles want to drop off just thinking about it.” Naturally, the trio will also be taking the opportunity to tuck into the culinary staples of
the Sami, which include dishes like reindeer heart, reindeer salami and smoked wild fish. The Sami are the EU’s only indigenous people and traditionally herded reindeer across Finland, Sweden, Norway and Russia’s untamed Arctic regions. “I’m fascinated to understand how the Sami people utilise the seemingly limited natural larder on offer to them,” says Ramsay.
“They rely almost entirely on seasonal ingredients, home-grown vegetables, fruits, fish and, of course, reindeer. They waste nothing and are experts in curing, pickling, saving and storing produce. There’s no popping to the local shops for last-minute food needs when you live as remotely as they do.” So does the famously fiery chef always find it easy to get into the festive spirit? “Christmas is great: family, food, everyone together. It’s very busy for the restaurants in the lead up, but I’m always grateful to be home with [wife] Tana and the kids on Christmas Day. There’s now seven of us including an 18-month-old baby, plus four dogs – it will be mayhem!”
CLAIRE WEBB
Gordon, Gino and Fred: Desperately Seeking Santa Wednesday 9.00pm ITV
This year, Santa Claus’s headquarters in Lapland will operate differently to usual: the elves will be wearing surgical masks and their bearded boss will be sitting behind plexiglass. Despite the global pandemic, the Arctic’s most famous resident is still open for business – while adhering to social distancing guidelines, of course.
For their latest road trip, Gordon Ramsay, Fred Sirieix and Gino D’Acampo are paying him a visit and will be the only visitors from the UK allowed to do so this year. Finland has one of the lowest rates of coronavirus cases in the EU and is on the Department of Transport’s quarantineexempt “travel corridors” list, but its borders are currently closed to Brits and the rest of Europe. Ramsay, Sirieix and D’Acampo will form a bubble, so they can be in proximity to each other without having to wear masks.
“It’s been a tough year for everyone and I’m really looking forward to hanging out with the boys and having some much-needed fun and laughs together,” says Gordon Ramsay, speaking to RT ahead of the trip.
Gordon, Gino and Fred: Desperately Seeking Santa Wednesday 9.00pm ITV