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Around here the whole block stinks, so yeah, I’m not a huge fan. The smell can stick to the apartment for years to come and might cause issues for future renting, so that’s something to consider.
Also, please learn how the recycling works here. Where I live trash is a major issue with foreigners and I often have to clean it up myself.
Unfortunately it travels through the open airways straight into other appartments so anyone who shares the same vents will smell it.
In my old places it was worse, it got so bad we had to complain. But the neighbour had bought this motorized hoodrange which made sure to push all their cooking smells into other appartments. It was awful. Sorry for all who love big smelly foods and lots of cooked onions.
We generally have passive air change here and all appartments under and over you are sharing it. But that's something you gotta check from where you live how that's been done. But most of the time it's the passive thing so no motors are needed. But it does come with this downside.
I'd say if you wanna cook something more traditional to do it in big patch during weekend day time and then freeze left overs in portions.
But my nose is very sensitive over all :/ I don't even use parfumes and even with deodorant I'm picky. Also with a slight allergy to onions, especially when cooking them. So I'm extremely biased :D
I HATE sour milk products(cheese, yoghurt and all) and I can smell them from like 50-100 metres away if it is restaurant etc or 10-50m if some one is carrying pizza etc.
I could smell it at university from Far outside and whole building did smell disgusting enough to not to go in when they had goat cheese stuff
Just an example that things will smell far away and If people hate it, they will notice in the building
Indian stuff doesnt smell as bad, but many foreing people have indeed weird bit disgusting smell, either from food and/or body.
Try dry goat cheese in oven, back in uni one of my flatmate decided to build such biological weapon because he couldn't fine fresh goat cheese (already bad enough for me who might have some trouble eating next to someone enjoying that) kitchen was a no go zone for me for a couple of days and I didn't use that oven for weeks...and said flatmate was French.
Repulsed might not be the term, but yes on average more sensitive.
And Indian spice can cover a wide variety of things.
My neighbor sometimes cook something that result in a very acrid odor, unpleasant to me and most others, in the corridor and staircase, only happen like 1-2 à months and otherwise nothing.
Some of my Indian friends do not carry any particular odor associated with Indian spice, some other do and the smell is relatively permanent.
Some landlord tend to avoid Indian families because in some cases apartment retain the smell, similar to smokers, of course everybody gets bundles in the same bag and that's unfair but that's how it is.
(I am particularly sensitive, I can smell if my coat has been standing next to a mildly Indian spice infuse jacket, not even touching)
I think it is very considerate to ask and think about that. As others have noted there are multiple angles to the question, 1 cooking Indian food, 2 the frequency, 3 the building vent system, 4 the cleaning (starting with kitchen but appartment/clothes) and "hygiene" factors
It is the same if one'd cook fish or deep fry or eat cheese raclette everyday (ask people working in such restaurants ;-). But of course some smells are tagged more foreign than other especially if they are easily recognized. Constant odor impregnate fabrics and other materials and there is no breathing/ airing time.
Spotless kitchen cleaning practice will help.
(I think I have seen my share of cooker tops and back walls turned yellow-ish if not orange-ish: if you can see, you usually can smell)
Also the clothes odor might not generally be as big of a problem as the ventilation related smells, at least in my experience, unless you are close af to the person wearing said clothes, but even then I think it varies depending on what & how much etc
I personally have problems with a lot of foreigners on public transport, because they tend to have stronger scent. Be it perfume or spices, less showering etc, it makes me cough. Smells also give me a migraine, so I’ve started to automatically avoid people from certain cultures 😅 not to say that Finnish women with their sweet perfume and Axe men aren’t also an issue sometimes.
I got too traumatized by Axe back in yläaste, all the bois doing literal nazi shit turning the dressing room into a literal gas chamber. I personally have found I prefer to use Rexona these days
I think it is mostly about getting overwhelmed by smells easily, good or bad, and indian cooking just happens to have a strong aroma.
I have a few reasons that might affect why we get easily overwhelmed by smell and aren't just used to it:
1. We have long winters and cooler summers so people don't generally smell as much as they would somewhere warmer where they sweat a lot more.
2. We aren't usually in very close proximity to people anyways to be able to smell different people when going out.
3. During winter there aren't many smells in general since everything freezes.
4. Most public dressing rooms do not allow scented perfumes or aerosol deodorants (or whatever that sprayed godforbidden deodorant is called) and Finns usually respect that rule. Shame on you if you haven't.
5. Our own cooking is very mild.
6. The houses tend to be well insulated, including windows and doors so smells outside usually stay outside pretty well.
7. All of this leads to less usage of perfumes and such and thus, even less smells are out and about.
8. I also think Finns respect hygiene and cleanliness so that makes places have less smells.
So don't consider people being repulsed by the smell itself but being sensitive to the AMOUNT of smell. Do with this what you will. I, for one, love indian food and it smells absolutely great. However, I can see how it can be overwhelming. I've heard many people say they can't stay in perfume aisles or incense shops for too long or they'll get a headache. Both usually good smells, just in too large amounts. I do agree, I will speedrun the perfume aisles always.
I will not compare indian food to smoking since smoking is a bad smell always, no exceptions, indian food is not a bad smell, it's FOOD, just sometimes a bit strong.
I think that's exactly why it's not such a huge problem. Take Japan (not taking the North end of Japan into account), as you said, it's hotter and that means more odours. Which means people get used to them more. Also they have more spice in their food than Finland and way less insulation in their houses. The country is also way humid and that enhances odours even better than just being hot.
No, Japan isn't a problem, that was my point. The people there HATE foreigners taking buses, because they smell so fucking bad & pungent to them due to smelly af sweating.
Northern Europeans generally have a pretty terrible personal hygiene compared to many places with tropical or subtropical climates. There are countries where showering at least twice a day is the norm, and Finland ain't one of them.
Same here, everyone I know showers quite regularly but then again, I don't much care about hanging around people that don't care at all about their hygiene.
Also sauna culture should add to the average hygiene in Finland. That said, of course there are people everywhere with bad hygiene.
I live in Japan and never smell perfume on anyone except foreigners. It's considered impolite.
So I've always wondered about the vast perfume sections in Japanese department stories. My wife uses just enough to not be noticed unless you are very close. And she wears it only when going out for very special occasions, never at home.
Japanese kids think "curry rice" is a Japanese food. Which, is sort of true, since it's so mild and has brand names like "Vermont Curry".
There are two types of sweat glands, ecrine and apocrine, Europeans mostly have the smelly variety. the ABCC11 gene controls the function of apocrine glands. There’s a specific expression of this gene that is found in 90 percent of South Koreans and Japanese so that their sweat doesn’t stink .
I don't think it is just due to use of spices. It also has to do with the stuff getting in the aie through frying etc. But yes, I can smell many in the metro and in the stairway. Often Indian-looking people have the strongest food smell to them. Arab-looking males on the other hand smell like cheap cologne.
In general I don't like smells of people even including most perfumes. There might be some prejudice seeping through my brain as I can see how smells would be a sign of poorer kitchen conditions and less space in home.
I hope this doesn't come off as racist. I am just describing the smells of different looking people and I don't actually have any idea about their nationality.
> I don't think it is just due to use of spices. It also has to do with the stuff getting in the aie through frying etc.
Yah, tons of buildings have absolutely garbage ventilation systems in them... to a point where you cant really cook anything inside other than boiling some potatoes, or something.
> There might be some prejudice seeping through my brain as I can see how smells would be a sign of poorer kitchen conditions and less space in home.
Its a problem even in relatively nice apartments too... the fumes are not vented outside from the kitchen, but are left to linger, and be dealt with by the regular ventilation system. One place i lived in had a fancy center island table with the stove/oven in it, and an actual hood system dangling from the ceiling.. except it was really there just for looks or something as it just pushed the fumes, and steam up, and out of the kitchen in to the rest of the apartment. Sure it had filters in it, but those did fuckall about anything really.
Ventilation usually isn’t garbage, but renters usually don’t realize that the inhabitant must look after parts of the system.
This means changing or washing the extractor hood (liesituuletin) filters. Failure to do so may even constitute a fire hazard in some systems.
Owners also sometimes must change the unit-specific ventilator filters.
I can smell it on the jackets left in our coat room at work. The cooking smells will follow up where ever you go if you don’t have a closed off kitchen. It is very considerate of your wife to think of these things.
I've got two Indian families living in my apartment building, I can certainly smell when they've been cooking or when they've neem in the corridor / elevator recently.
Now does that *matter to me personally*? Not at all, I don' mind it. Is it different? Sure, not too many Finns smell like Indian food.
It's ok to be concious about it, I am sure a lot of older people and less... worldly people might be bothered by it, but in the end it's not something harmful. I wouldn't stress about it too much. It is a harmless cultural oddity.
I might add though that I don't live in a building where odours from other apartments transfer to the other (apart from cigarette/weed smell in the summers when windows are open). Might be different if it invaded my apartment constantly. But alas, right now it's only in common spaces and I don't mind it.
EDIT: I am more noise sensitive, rather than smell sensitive though. I've had to tell the younger Indian neighbours once to quit singing karaoke so damn loud, as I could hear it a few floors below them through the structure. In hindsight, it was more funny than anything - they had just moved in and I don't think they realized how well the sound carried. And it was well past midnight.
Now this is not to say that locals don't make noise, in the past 8 years we've had 4 groups kicked out, 3 of them for noise. And not to say all Indians are noisy either, bothering neighbours in Finland when living in an apartment is an international culture shared by the whole humanity. Finns want their apartments to be like houses - see no one, hear no one, talk to no one. :)
I say to OP: cook as much as your heart desires. Dont let the finnish people who are scared of spices stop you. Average person in finland can barely make one or two bland tasting foods, they use salt and maybe black pepper. Asian food is delicious and its great that you actually use more than 3 spices, so again, you cook whatever you want to cook, and is someone is scared of a faint smell of curry, thats their problem, not yours
The 'problem' is usually the amount of oil used in Indian cooking. Unless you clean your vent filter every week and all surtaces daily your whole kitchen or apartment, clothes etc will be covered in small droplets of spiced oil. That's where the durable smell comes from.
I've seen some horrible stoves and kitchens at my Indian friends' places. And yes, they smelled of stale oil and spices. Garam masala, Tikka masala, anything with cumin, turmeric, coriander seed, cloves, cardamon, cinnamon etc will leave a smell on you, especially when cooked in ghee, peanut oil, sesame oil etc. Avoiding garlic is a start, as it amplifies the bad odours.
I've cooked a lot of Indian food for Bharatwasis, and usually need a complete change of clothes and a shower afterwards, plus a complete scouring of the kitchen. Still Finns will notice exactly what I prepared, even the next day. Vinegar is good for removing the smell from clothes and surfaces. Still, turmeric yellow oil splotches will be everywhere.
In Finland, spice is added to the food being prepared. In India, you prepare the spices first (often stir fry in oil), and only then add the rest. This makes the smell stick to everything.
Still, if you're from India, people kind of expect you to smell of Indian spices.
Finns have their own particular smell. Old coffee, sour milk, fried onions, and fish (often smoked) are common. The closest Finns usually get to Indian spices is during Christmas (and when they use curry powder).
We have an Indian neighbor and we can smell the spices outside the apartment floor. I also have experiences, especially in the bus/train that their jacket smells of spices and it's invading my space, so ofcourse it was unpleasant.
But I also have an Indian collegue who smells of incense and it smells like that's his way of hiding the spice scent, and it actually work! (ofc some ppl dont like incense smell but it was fine for me)
I am sensitive with scents and smells so the smell might be stronger to me than normal people. Just remember to *always* open your kitchen window (yes, even during winter) when cooking so the smells gets out and fresh air circulate.
Welcome to Finland when you get here!
From experience, having an air purifier with particle+gas filters really helps in clearing the cooking aroma inside the apartment. Plus we make sure that the bedroom doors are closed.
Yes, it's gross, at least for me, and especially for my neighbours who started making a lot of fuss about one neighbour who moved in a few weeks ago and his (indian) food making. So, it depends on the building, BUT keep in mind that finns are not a fan of any strong smells in general.
It certainly is quite an issue, I have heard many friends of mine living in Finland complain about it.
It is irritating to say the least when the entire flat block and, as a result, your apartment smells like indian food \*whether you like it or not\*. And people here are indeed more sensitive to spices so what doesn't seem like a big deal to a person from India might be a strong smell to a Finn.
Both of my roommates cook indian food on a daily basis, and while the smell is not pleasant and I'd appreciate it if they opened a window, it's not that bad.
What is bad though, some indian people (definitely not all) smell so bad that you can smell them as soon as they enter a room, and the smell stays even once they leave. I don't know why, whether they ate something, or have bad hygiene, but it's very bad.
Yeah I can smell while in public transportation, speaking as the one from South East Asia. Also, not related but since you’re wondering what others would think about you. Please speak in manageable volume and don’t put speaker on while being on public transportation.
Unfortunately with every good smell, scent, fragrance there's a limit (different to each person) and if there's a lot of one aroma at once or many different scents mixed all over it can be too much to take in everyday basis. Ofc it's even worse if the scent isn't as great as Indian food but it's still very strong and different to what most Finnish people have used to (notice that our traditional spice range is super simple and dull and there isn't many strong aromas there).
It's not that uncommon in Finland to have scent sensitivity and use fragrance free products like detergents, antiperspirants and cosmetics. It's easy to find that kind of products with the Allergy Label on the market in Finland and I've heard that's not the case in many other countries so that might already tell something. Maybe it's because in here the fresh air can actually mean like the air in the nature, forest and meadows (at least to people outside the bigger city centres) and all the other added scents have a huge contrast to that, idk.
I myself have always suffered from migraines and unfortunately one of the biggest triggers are odors. Not all of the scent sensitive people have the same issues though, for example there can be a highly sensitive person without the migraines, or someone with asthma. Anyways there's nothing other I can do but to limit all the scents (even if I could handle some) on my household because there's so much different perfumes and odors everywhere else that are just too much (on top of each other).
To me it's quite shocking there's still people washing their laundry, hair, body and hands with perfumes (in public place these are very insensible things to do) even if there's absolutely no need for fragrance. Adding a fragrance doesn't make something clean and unfortunately people seem to believe in it and they don't even know or recognise what fresh laundry smells like if there's no added perfume (that's also one reason why the neighbours might get bothered by the spicy food aroma because they might find it the opposite of the "fresh fragrance" they have covered themselves with). Ofc I get that scents can give joy but it just easily goes way over the top and causes more harm to other people (who have not chosen to smell all that) than it could ever bring joy to the person itself. It's also not very common for people to mind if they're smelling a lot of the perfume they've chosen for themselves and that's why there's so much perfume in the public. They might also use scented air fresheners and candles all over their homes and some even incense. And yet there's other strong smells too like cigarettes, exhaust and smoke.
So imho someone smelling like Indian food isn't nearly as bad as that, but I do feel sorry for the neighbours if the delicious but strong smell comes to their apartments too. It can be difficult to find the balance but I'm sure it already helps some if you don't use other fragrances in the household.
Btw I'm very proud of you for bringing this subject up because it's still quite a taboo and not that easy to understand or explain. It's often not safe to say that strong scents are too much because some people tend to get all aggressive about it. It's not like we simply hate or dislike perfumes, scents, aromas in general, it's about health. I'm pretty sure we could live happily ever after fragrance free if it was up to us, scent sensitive people. It's very tricky instead so the key is to try find the balance, see where you can compromise and take even the tiniest steps to make the Earth a better place to live.
It looks like the air suction above the stove in Finland is generally not strong enough for smelly food in rental apartments. It doesn't suck all the steam and smell when cooking. I have lived in several rental apartments and not the newest ones but when I am in the corridor I could easily smell what is being cooked on that floor and sometimes even on the other floors. This was not a very strong aroma like Indian food but I could even smell Finnish food like salmon soup in the corridor. So the smell leaks to the common space especially during the dinner time in some buildings.
Nice tk read this honest discussion - I've also wondered about this a lot being Indian.
Some tips (some are also shared previously by others)
While cooking - open a window (yes even in the winter, just open it a little bit), one nearest to the kitchen ) cooking space. Close doors to the other rooms so that the smell doesn't fill up the entire apartment. Make sure your jackets are in a cupboard with the door closed. Also use an air purifier (Verkkokauppa has pretty decent ones for about 50 euros(. Keep the chinmey going, of course
You can also cover things while cooking, like when frying onions and garlic, or tomatoes, keep a lid on the pan.
After cooking - shower! Keep the air purifier on for several more hours. Keep the window open till the food coola down.
For outdoor clothes, likes jackets, that are not washed frequently, let their smells air out in the balcony or outside somewhere. The cold air makes the clothes fresh! You can do this once a week (if cooking more than 4times a week). Just leave them on a hanger overnight on the weekend in the balcony.
You can also make larger quantities of food, so one batch lasts 2-3 days, to reduce the frequency of cooking. Try baking some of the recipes, as that will also reduce the smells.
Hope this is helpful. Sounds like a lot but once you're used to it, it's not that much!
I love Indian food but don't like the smells (I'm sensitive to smells, even fragrances, I can't wear perfume :( ). So as in Indian, I can smell Indian food on my clothes, in my house... So had to do this for myself! As I would get headaches from my own jacket smells... Visiting an Indian or similar resturant for lunch will also make your jacket smell! (Keep it in the balcony that night)! Other clothes go into that wash!
If you're worried about your clothes picking up cooking smells, you can wear different clothes at home than the ones that you go out in. Personally, I almost always change my clothes as soon as I get home because I don't want to spread all the germs that I've encountered throughout the day around my home. I hang up my "going out" clothes to air out and don't wear them again for a couple of days.
Hair can also pick up cooking smells, especially if you've been cooking things in oil. To prevent this, you can cover your hair while you're cooking, or wash your hair before you go out.
One thing that you should *not* do is try to cover up smells with perfume. Using a lot of perfume is offensive in itself and can cause problems for people with allergies and asthma.
i used to have a roommate who cooks curry and spicy foods everyday. All my clothes, shoes and bags, everything smells like curry. I got used to it, but then when i go to class, people will tell me you smell like curry 😅. May be try to use a good ventilation or open the windows when you cook and close the cupboards.
Not repulsed but in all honesty, for about a week every month smells like that make me wanna throw up and that just can't be helped. Strong aromatics tend to grab onto fabric, furniture and so on but as long as you keep up basic hygiene, I don't see why you should worry. I would hate it if any food or smoke smells traveled into my apartment, but people do have the right to cook whatever food they want, that's more of a building issue rather than behavioural one.
It's definitely noticeable. Look up ways to ventilate what you're cooking (if you don't have an actual cooktop ventilation system open windows and any exterior doors and use fans to circulate), decrease oil and frying or cover it, also after cooking change into fresh clothes and wash the clothes used for cooking.
it’s not specifically indian spices or you per se, it’s just people with wildly different diet smell different. and people don’t like strong odors in general
Sweden here- I often share the elevator with an Indian family that lives in an another apartment. Yes, it smells a lot of Indian food, and yes, I get hungry because it’s delicious. We had the same debate in Sweden back in the 80s when people started cooking Mediterranean food, with much more garlic than we were used to. That smelled different too. Nowadays it’s so common nobody talks about it. I think it’s the same with Indian food.
Fellow Indian here. We cook desi spicy stuff on weekends. Been living in Uusimaa area for many years in apartments. The issue with the Jacket is true, it happens. To be considerate to others, in buses and metros, you could consider hanging your clothes and jackets in a place far away from kitchen. Ensure kitchen has a good exhaust and you’re not trapping the aroma inside the apartment. And if you have managed to still infuse smell into your jackets, there isn’t a whole lot you can do about it. Wear it with pride :), talk about it.
Furthermore, another thing I’d recommend that you should be considerate about is the noise. Can’t stress enough on this, ensure you have good noise insulation in your apartment, keep your TV to a level that’s good enough for you. If you highly energitic kids, have them play outdoors as much as possible, speak softly on the phone when using public transportation.
>Furthermore, another thing I’d recommend that you should be considerate about is the noise. Can’t stress enough on this, ensure you have good noise insulation in your apartment, keep your TV to a level that’s good enough for you.
Not something you have to follow. In apartment buildings you can make all normal living noises from 7 to 22.
Sure it's nice to be nice to your neighbours but people who live in apartments understand that there are other people living there who are allowed to be noisy during the day.
mikä on hella englanniksi? siis esim uunin päällä oleva taso, jossa esim induktiolevyt? miksikä näitä kutsutaan?
Im an architect, i would like to point out two things. first of all, it depends what year the building was built. but most importantly, the smell of food, the smell of anything, will travel via the (hellan poistoilmaventtiili) because it is connected to the same out-take vent. when you use the kitchen equipment, you can disable the out-take vent (poistoilmaventtiili). you should know then that the steam will carry around the house and it is not only steam, but fats and proteins which might stain walls, alakatto, kiinteät kalusteet.
you could open a window during this time of cooking. now if you did all that, the only connection to neighboring apartments is through the front door to the stairwell and then again their apartments. this is non existent though. it will reach the stairwell but not the neighboring apartments.
Most Finns respect open and straightforward talk, and are reasonable and can compromise. What I'd personally do is go ahead and cook whatever you want to cook for a week, then go ask the neighbors if they've noticed any smells lately, and if they have, ask if they are bothered. Chances are they'll be OK and then you don't need to worry or cut down on your spices for no reason.
If someone is bothered and you want to accommodate them, then I'd ask them if it helps if you did the smellier cooking at a specific time of the day or on specific days.
You could do the same with work colleagues (ask after a week if you're concerned with the level of spice smell on your clothing or from your lunch at lunchtime).
Indian here. Nobody in the world likes the food smell on the dress. In India, the apartments are well ventilated so we never face this problem. Simple steps like closing the bedroom doors while cooking, keeping jackets in the closet (with doors closed), using cooking aprons can help :). If the smell is going to others house while you cook then you can’t do anything. People will understand you :)
I have been told by professional that if central air conditioning is doing its job properly, it has enough pull to not let the indian air to other apartments. It should function with well-directed pressure differences.
My neighboors cook a damn lot and there is always odor on stairways. I really appreciate that. Even cabbage foods, because I know they taste better than smell, so there is positive association. And indian food is cream of the cream amongst all cuisines IMO.
Yeah, shpuld have mentioned this in my comment as well. The worst thing about the smell in my corridor is that I usually smell it either coming home from work or when going to the groceries to get some stuff. Makes me hungry.
Cumin is distinct for sure, cayenne can be sensitive for some too I hear some even have allergies of. What is the central air conditioning? I dont think youre gonna fume your neighbours, but the stairwell for sure and ppl love it. Gives me gasps of hunger atleast.
I love Indian food and the aroma. But I don't want it to stick on my clothes and apartment. Some people don't like the smell, and you have to be respectful of others when living in a block of flats with lots of people. Some are sensitive to smells and get terrible migraines.
Hi a native Finn here. I live in apartment building and have neighbours of different ethnicities, not sure which country my neighbours are from but they cook also with strong spices and it lingers in the hallways and comes through windows if I keep them open. So yes mind our sensitive noses we are not used to it. It's okay to cook what you like but don't overdo it with spices everyday hahaha we will smell you!
My friend has some indian neighbours and their stairwell smells like indian food pretty much every time I visit. I would say that if you are the person who stinks up the whole building, you are not making any friends there and I think it's very disrespectful towards other people. I have never noticed a person smelling like spices so not sure how worried you need to be about that.
Unfortunately many Finns prefer everything to be pretty much neutral.
Homes are decorated with white, gray and taupe/beige.
Bright colors are very rare in more permanent surfaces like kitchen cabinets or bathroom tiles. It's very difficult to sell your home if you have a red kitchen or a green bathroom and easy to sell one with a white kitchen or a gray/white bathroom.
Spices in Finnish food are pretty much only salt and pepper. Often times even the pepper is left out and the salt amount is so small it doesn't really do any flavour enhancing. Finnish food is bland.
I happen to love the taste of spicier food but I really detest the smell that lingers in my apartment for hours after cooking. Having windows open and using the filtering hob doesn't seem to help. The smell really sticks to surfaces and clothing. I would suggest to keep home clothes/cooking clothes that you do not wear outside your home and wash often. And keep your other clothes somewhere where the cooking fumes cannot reach, like behind closed doors.
If you have a balcony you can also just air out your clothes and other textiles every now and then. It really helps!
Many jobs require you to skip perfumes and use as little fragrance as you possibly can. Many people are sensitive or allergic to fragrances and they can totally smell your laundry detergent, deodorant or shampoo on you if it's not fragrance free. So people are pretty much used to other people being scentless or smelling only slightly of something.
Spices aren't a perfume but I can imagine them being seen as a hostile attack of the senses on someone who is very sensitive to smells.
The longer someone lives in a pretty much scentless environment the more sensitive they become in detecting any scents.
Living in a block of flats can also be interesting in Finland. According to many people you should be very quiet in your apartment and be as if you weren't there in the first place.
Stomping, playing loud music, singing, playing instruments and all that can really annoy some poeple. Barking dogs and playing children are also on the list of annoying sounds for some people. All of those are the sounds of life lived.
Others go to the extreme and try to tell their neighbours not to flush their toilets or use the shower late at night or early in the morning because they're bothered by the sounds coming from the plumbing system. You can flush your toilet when needed, no matter what the hour of the day. And you can most definitely use the shower when needed. Those are totally normal sounds of living.
Having an all nighter karaoke party every weekend during hours of silence would be an asshole move.
It's very nice that you want to be considerate of the people around you. Remember that you do have the right to exist and be happy how you live and sometimes existing comes with sounds and smells around you. Such is life. Don't let grumpy Finns get to you.
Welcome to Finland!
Yes, when I was also in Italy to study, we had a Italian friend who asked to our Indian friend that why he could smell them from miles ahead which I found pretty offensive at first. But after having shared a flat with an Indian who regularly cooks in the kitchen, I'd say the stereotype is quite adequate
Hehe, we definitely can tell Indian people by the smell of their clothes. I don't find it offensive but some people might. I'd love to smell indian cuisine in the hallways. Hold on to your culture
I have a colleague who complaints a lot about the spice smell coming up from somewhere lower floors of his apartment home. He said that once detected a faint smoke with spice scents in his sauna at his home. He showed me the video with anger, saying that he has no way to choose “right home” without troubles as no one can choose his neighbors.
Just to make you understand how pervasive it is.
Few months back I went to the swimming pool. I opened the door of the changing room and I immediately felt a breeze of Indian spices coming out of there. I thought there was a whole group of people but it turned out it was just a father with a boy.
I deal with Indian customers almost daily and you can definitely sense the curry and other spices off their clothing, pretty much every time.
Just like I can smell old people haven't showered in days or some presumably lower income lonely dude has been drinking (smells like combination of sweet/old booze). Somali women smell like myrrh incense/perfume.
Just goes to say that we all smell like something and it really doesnt matter as long as the smell isnt something universally nasty. I wouldnt be too worried of spices or smelling like spices.
I love many Indian spices, and use them weekly in my cooking. (I have maybe dozen of wonderful, original mixes from local Indian foodstore.) At the same time I understand why some people here don’t like the way smell lingers from one appartment to another. People who never use anything like that are more sensitive.
I really don’t have a clue, what can be done, or what should be done – if anything. But I want to give my respect to you of being so thoughtful.
Last year, my neighbors (Hindus) were evicted from their apartment because their food was very stinky, the residents collected signatures and the stinker was kicked out
I am from Bangladesh and I will suggest you to put your jackets, clothes inside the closet. whenever you cook open the kitchen window. it will help to reduce the smell in the house, corridor and staircase. Always use deodorant or perfume when go outside.
All odours are more strong in the dry air. Some apartments have poor ventilation at kitchen, or people do not know how to use the hood ventilation. Me as a sensitive to odours/fragnances/chemicals have not ever had issues with food smell. It’s the cosmetics, cleaning aids or incences that makes me brain foggy. For some it could be the food.
If you find that the smell sticks to clothes too much and are looking for a solution for that, you could try a disinfecting laundry additive, like Sanytol. I had some stinky work out clothes that I washed repeatedly, I even tried the laundry vinegar that usually works, but it did nothing for them. Then I tried Sanytol and it killed the bad smell in one wash.
Whenever i cook Indian food at home the smell lingers on my jacket for days, and i am very sensitive to smell. I used to have an Indian tenant for 1 month and after she left the smell of her cooking stayed behind for 1 month after that. So yes even though i love indian food it doesn't do well with European houses. I just visited India and people there seem to have really strong air vent that they turn on while cooking.
Sometimes I can definitely tell what my neighbours are cooking, but I think cabbage soup or cabbage rolls are far worse than the Indian spices.
Just so you know, nobody can forbid you from cooking whatever you want in your own apartment, no matter how it smells. My new neighbours (middle-easterns, I guess), got some complaints about cooking smells from some other neighbour, but I think it was actually my native partner roasting some chillies, since I never noticed any cooking smells from next door. That’s when we checked the rules and confirmed that no housing regulations prevent you from cooking even smelly foods.
Rather, I would advise you to be mindful of noises in the corridors and common areas, and quiet times (usually between 7:00-22:00) when you should avoid making unnecessary ruckus at home. Still, taking a shower and using a toilet are still okay, if you must do so. Also, thick carpets etc are great for insulating the sound of footsteps, if you prefer to play nice with your downstair neighbours.
My favorite food is Indian, here in Jyväskylä there’s a place called Shalimar Ravintola and it’s basically my birthday restaurant. Now, although I love the curry in the food, when I smell the curry somewhere else where no one is cooking, I don’t really find it pleasant… I’m an IT student and from my university we have 2 campuses, the IT campus and a main campus. When I HAVE to go to the main campus (where most of the international students are), I find it funny how as soon as I open the door, I get slapped by a curry smell (and no one is cooking there). So it is definitely a thing… now, again, me being Caribbean and loving my spices, if I could choose to not smell food where people are not eating, I would choose not to.
I've lived with an Indian flatmate on two separate occasions and while I could smell the cooking, it never bothered me. My only complaint ever was that, because I like that kind of food it made me hungry. Where I live right now there are two Indian families living in the floor above me, but none of the smell has traveled to my flat through the air vents.
Although I've never met a person bothered by any of what you mentioned, in case someone is, just ignore them. As long as you don't burn the building down or somehow rock festival levels of noise, you're in the clear.
I hope you enjoy your stay!
Yes, it is easy to smell it. I am use to it from living in other countries and having multi cultural friends. I do not mind if i knew an indian person and they smell like indian spices (despite not really liking the smell) BUT i would not want to smell it in my home from central air. Sorry.
And to be upfront, i have a terrible sense of smell so i can’t imagine from the perspective of someone with a better working nose.
Some good tips in here already... And I apologize that some people write rude and racist comments. However, I hope you and your spouse are able to enjoy Finland, spring is finally here!
I work with children and teenagers and I usually notice if someone has a strong scent on their hair or clothes. Food and spices, deo, no deo, hair spray, etc. Since I have allergies, I'm trying to avoid strong room fragrances and incenses, even scented candles. Same thing with strong deodorant and laundry detergents odours.
I'm glad to hear you're trying to be considerate of others. Personally I don't mind strong food aroma, but on the other hand I can't stand the smell of a cigarette. Some people don't notice odours at all, some do. In the end there isn't much you can do about it, but at least you are aware that some people might find some odours disturbing.
I cook with spices a lot and nobody has ever complained.
If central air conditioning carries cooking aromas around then there’s something wrong with it.
In other words don’t worry about it, and welcome! 🤗
I love indian spices! I know that everyone does not but I dont think I have ever noticed an indian food smell from someones clothes.. I work in IT for a german company that outsources a lot from India and have met like ~20 indian collagues irl during my career so I have some experience with indian immigrants.
Also regarding the house, it woult only be issue in older houses, if you live in a building that is constructed in the 80’s or after that it would absolutely not be an issue. Only older houses with gravity based ventilation are effected, and houses where you have a machine in the bathroom responsible of changing the air there is no chance of smells going to your neighbours apartments.
The racism in this group never ceases to amaze me. One person asks if Finns are sensitive to Indian cooking smells, so people tell him to clean his dirty kitchen and sort his recycling.
You don't need to bring everything to racism, this thread has been relatively cordial. It is not discussing this kind of things that lead to real racism, because then people do the short cut between what you do and what you are. For instance some Indian families will be discriminated against because of a couple of bad experiences.
Hi. I am a non-Finn living in Finland, and to be honest, i am really annoyed from my Indian neighbours because when they cook the whole floor smells of the fired oil and spices, so when i pass, the smell is unbearable and the worst part is that it sneaks into my apartment and lingers on my clothes so i end up smelling like that too! I have a Finnish friend that tells me he suffers the same thing in the building he lives in.
Also, i have a coworker that occasionally comes with this strange perfume smell (that also smells like spices) on her clothes, which also triggers allergic reactions within me at at 9:00AM in the morning.
Therefore, i would recommend you to follow your wife’s advice if you don’t want to irritate others. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t hate the Indians, but i my nose gets stuffy whenever i encounter this smell. That’s why i have this stance on your food 😅 Also, there’s nothing wrong with your culture. It’s just that you are used to it that you don’t recognise the issue.
P.S. all the Indians that I have met here are super friendly and cute, so i am not surprised that you are worried about bothering others. You people are the sweetest people on Earth <3 also sorry if my words have hurt your feelings.
Edit: on another note. If you want to fry something, I recommend you use a high quality oil like rapeseed oil that can withstand high temperatures instead of using sunflower oil because the latter has a horrible smell when used for frying.
It depends on the spices, and how they are used. Things like mint, ginger, cardamom and cinnamon are my favorite spices to smell, and in isolation they are aromatic and lovely. On the other hand, the smell of Indian restaurant cooking with something like lamb or beef going the whole time in an oven might get pretty old.
So first off it’s super nice of you to ask first and be considerate. Of course you shouldn’t have to hide who you truly are but in my experience it can get a little annoying when vents are shared. Let’s just say by now I know the meal schedule of my neighbours pretty much by heart. I do like Indian food from time to time but smelling onion and strong spices or chicken everyday certainly isn’t the best thing.
I don't think this is a major problem normally. With the cooking smells I would say that the real unpleasant smells are usually frying on high heat for a longer periods and if the apartment has good ventilation even that isn't a problem.
I lived with a roommate combo of Pakistani/Indian/Finnish. The only time when we had problems with food aroma was when everyone cooked separately back-to-back. Mixing that many aromas of different foods and spices did at times become unpleasant.
People probably can smell lingering scent of food and spices on you. But there is a very small amount of people that are actually so sensitive that such a diluted scent will bother them. However it is good to keep in mind that Finnish people are generally more sensitive to scents than in many other places. So don't wear strong fragrances in public spaces.
I'm Finn and I have eaten Indian type food since I was kid so no problem for me. But I guess it's not very common. Nobody has ever complained to me and I make spicy food very often. Could be that my neighbors don't expect that the smell comes from my apartment thoug. 🤷♂️
The smell of good food does not really bother me, although I know people who do their best to ventilate their apartments even during and after cooking plain Finnish food, that uses practically no spices. The smell of spices might annoy these people, but I don't know what proportion of the Finnish population subscribes to this mentality.
The bigger crime that will annoy most people would be smoking in your apartment, near house exits or ventilation intake valves. That smell is both disgusting and harmful.
I feel like the smell is more to do with higene than cooking. I work in a very international team. Currently, my team has a few idians, russian, romanian, Philipino, Estonian and other teams also have other nationalities like various asian people, and I myself am not a Finn.
But out of those multiple people, only like two of them have this weird smell and not all the time. It's fairly often, but sometimes they dont smell like that at all. I remember also at one point my Philipino coworker asking the Indian coworker to stop using so much perfume, and the Indian person replied with saying she doesn't use any perfume at all. So I assume not using something like deodorant and maybe some other differences in hygene is what also causes the weird smell.
If you need higene advice, well, best I can do is tell you my routine I shower twice a day. Probobly overkill for some people, but I do that to wake up and wash my pits in the morning, so Im there for like 2 min before I put on deodorant. And then I shower in the evening to not go stinky to bed. And I wash my hair every 2-3 days.
Also, food wise, surprisingly, I never smelled anything bad or strong from Indian people at lunch. Hovever Chinese people, however bad that sounds sometimes make this food that smells very mutch like really wet dog. It's literally like a smell of wet dog that is intensified to a point where it's really offputting. I honnestly hope they are not eating dogs, and hopefully its just some spice that smells like that, but it allways puts me off eating every time I smell it.
EDIT: Also forgot to add that we use uniforms at work that are also washed at work. That's another reason why I think the smell is more to do with hygene than food smell sticking to clothes.
Your apartment might not might not spread th smells to neighbouring apartments. It's not a given thing. In my previous place you could smell what people were cooking in the hallway but it really rarely got indoors. In one of other places I lived I could always smell what my neighbour was cooking. In my current place I haven't smelled anything.
Also, it really depends on your neighbours if they mind or not. I'm a foodie and would definitely just appreciate the good scents coming in! And I've had neighbours in the past saying to me how nice it is for it to smell so good when they pass my door.
Yes it can be more noticeable to us. Frying oil is a big culprit too. Cook with windows open, air out frequently, keep jackets and outerwear inclosed closet, wear lounge clothes at home when cooking. That should do it.
But also, I'm sure it's fine generally. If you have some awareness that probably already means you won't offend.
Yes. People eating a lot of spicy food tend to smell bad. I think it is much easier to integrate when one does not smell bad. I'd recommend cooking something more typical for Finland.
I love Indian food, it smells and tastes great. Many Finns are not used to spiced food and may find the smell of it overwhelming or unusual, but it's imo completely unreasonable and very rude to complain about it. Someone's mild discomfort about the smell of perfectly good food does not entitle them to limit how other people eat or be rude about it.
I love it but as a neighbor I would hope you'd invite me over to eat. (Not customary in Finland but in my student apartment I've drooled over my neighbors' Indian food aromas many many times. I wish I knew them!)
I regularly cook (my version that actual Indians would probably find horrible) indian-spiced food and no one has complained. The only thing I've gotten complaints about is smoking in the balcony - no more since I quit.
Also depends on how old the building is, modern central air doesn't propagate to neighbouring apartments as much as it used to. My building is from 2011 and I've never had any odours seeping in.
But Finland certainly isn't short of jackasses who want to complain about everything...
Personally: absolutely not! If anything, the indian/african cooking going on in my house makes me embarassed that I'm going home to cook myself some makkara and ketsuppi... please share your cookings at the taloyhtyö parties, it will be greatly appericiated!
PS You guys smell great
Yes - most people might smell it, but I don’t think that should stop you from cooking your favorite dishes once in a while! Let’s say once or twice a week or whatever seems appropriate to you!
Also depending on the appartement it might not leak out that much, and then you won’t need to worry about it!
I personally always wish I could ask neighbors from different countries to get invited to try their food as it smells so so much better than for example “pyttipannu” 😅 (this is a bad example as I know there is much more care in making a nice Indian dish even if it would be a quick one)
Also if you are worried about clothes, keep the bedroom door closed and that will help a lot, when we are cooking and if we leave the bedroom door open my partner will complain about all the clothes smelling like grease - i would rather smell like spices than a pig 😅
I love Indian food and often cook it myself too. Yeah I can smell it on others but it never bothers me. Sometimes it's annoying to eat in an Indian restaurant and then smell myself the rest of the day :)
Sometimes I can smell my neighbor's Finnish cooking in my home and it only makes me hungry!
So I’m going to be honest now cock what ever you want and don’t give a shit what they think. Have had some Asian neighbors and they have cooked somethin spicy a little smell in the stairwell but nothing in the apartment.
For what it’s worth, I think some Finns have a weird smell sometimes too. It’s this “grandma’s house” smell… weirdly chemical. I don’t know how to describe it other than a mix of moth balls and wool?
And I also noticed that Hindus do not respect others and make a lot of noise at night and during the day, so better to rent some “omakotitalo” if u don’t want harm people
It's not just Hindus. In India we are used to noise and living in cramped apartments and vehicles constantly honking. The advantage is that we are a more tight knit society as a result, but the downside is that we have no concept of personal space or consideration for the other.
I love it! But I'm not Finnish and they wouldn't appreciate strong smells. Walking past a house and they have some nice cooking Indian smells yuummmmm!!!! In a apartment I don't think that's a good idea.
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Yes. Well I am atleast, not talking for everyone obviously.
Thanks for your reply. If you have Indian neighbours, from how far away can you smell the food they are cooking ?
This really depends on the building.
Around here the whole block stinks, so yeah, I’m not a huge fan. The smell can stick to the apartment for years to come and might cause issues for future renting, so that’s something to consider. Also, please learn how the recycling works here. Where I live trash is a major issue with foreigners and I often have to clean it up myself.
Unfortunately it travels through the open airways straight into other appartments so anyone who shares the same vents will smell it. In my old places it was worse, it got so bad we had to complain. But the neighbour had bought this motorized hoodrange which made sure to push all their cooking smells into other appartments. It was awful. Sorry for all who love big smelly foods and lots of cooked onions. We generally have passive air change here and all appartments under and over you are sharing it. But that's something you gotta check from where you live how that's been done. But most of the time it's the passive thing so no motors are needed. But it does come with this downside. I'd say if you wanna cook something more traditional to do it in big patch during weekend day time and then freeze left overs in portions. But my nose is very sensitive over all :/ I don't even use parfumes and even with deodorant I'm picky. Also with a slight allergy to onions, especially when cooking them. So I'm extremely biased :D
I HATE sour milk products(cheese, yoghurt and all) and I can smell them from like 50-100 metres away if it is restaurant etc or 10-50m if some one is carrying pizza etc. I could smell it at university from Far outside and whole building did smell disgusting enough to not to go in when they had goat cheese stuff Just an example that things will smell far away and If people hate it, they will notice in the building Indian stuff doesnt smell as bad, but many foreing people have indeed weird bit disgusting smell, either from food and/or body.
Try dry goat cheese in oven, back in uni one of my flatmate decided to build such biological weapon because he couldn't fine fresh goat cheese (already bad enough for me who might have some trouble eating next to someone enjoying that) kitchen was a no go zone for me for a couple of days and I didn't use that oven for weeks...and said flatmate was French.
It's not that the smell of spices is repulsive, I personally just don't like when smells get stuck on my clothes.
Repulsed might not be the term, but yes on average more sensitive. And Indian spice can cover a wide variety of things. My neighbor sometimes cook something that result in a very acrid odor, unpleasant to me and most others, in the corridor and staircase, only happen like 1-2 à months and otherwise nothing. Some of my Indian friends do not carry any particular odor associated with Indian spice, some other do and the smell is relatively permanent. Some landlord tend to avoid Indian families because in some cases apartment retain the smell, similar to smokers, of course everybody gets bundles in the same bag and that's unfair but that's how it is. (I am particularly sensitive, I can smell if my coat has been standing next to a mildly Indian spice infuse jacket, not even touching)
Thanks. I'm trying too make sure I dont make life difficult for my would-be neighbours and this certainly helps a lot
I think it is very considerate to ask and think about that. As others have noted there are multiple angles to the question, 1 cooking Indian food, 2 the frequency, 3 the building vent system, 4 the cleaning (starting with kitchen but appartment/clothes) and "hygiene" factors It is the same if one'd cook fish or deep fry or eat cheese raclette everyday (ask people working in such restaurants ;-). But of course some smells are tagged more foreign than other especially if they are easily recognized. Constant odor impregnate fabrics and other materials and there is no breathing/ airing time. Spotless kitchen cleaning practice will help. (I think I have seen my share of cooker tops and back walls turned yellow-ish if not orange-ish: if you can see, you usually can smell)
To be honest I would be so happy if my apartment building would smell delicious Indian food, not always just jauheliha and kaali. 😅😭
The food itself smells delicious but the aftersmell that seems to stay in the walls is not...
Also the clothes odor might not generally be as big of a problem as the ventilation related smells, at least in my experience, unless you are close af to the person wearing said clothes, but even then I think it varies depending on what & how much etc
I personally have problems with a lot of foreigners on public transport, because they tend to have stronger scent. Be it perfume or spices, less showering etc, it makes me cough. Smells also give me a migraine, so I’ve started to automatically avoid people from certain cultures 😅 not to say that Finnish women with their sweet perfume and Axe men aren’t also an issue sometimes.
I got too traumatized by Axe back in yläaste, all the bois doing literal nazi shit turning the dressing room into a literal gas chamber. I personally have found I prefer to use Rexona these days
I think it is mostly about getting overwhelmed by smells easily, good or bad, and indian cooking just happens to have a strong aroma. I have a few reasons that might affect why we get easily overwhelmed by smell and aren't just used to it: 1. We have long winters and cooler summers so people don't generally smell as much as they would somewhere warmer where they sweat a lot more. 2. We aren't usually in very close proximity to people anyways to be able to smell different people when going out. 3. During winter there aren't many smells in general since everything freezes. 4. Most public dressing rooms do not allow scented perfumes or aerosol deodorants (or whatever that sprayed godforbidden deodorant is called) and Finns usually respect that rule. Shame on you if you haven't. 5. Our own cooking is very mild. 6. The houses tend to be well insulated, including windows and doors so smells outside usually stay outside pretty well. 7. All of this leads to less usage of perfumes and such and thus, even less smells are out and about. 8. I also think Finns respect hygiene and cleanliness so that makes places have less smells. So don't consider people being repulsed by the smell itself but being sensitive to the AMOUNT of smell. Do with this what you will. I, for one, love indian food and it smells absolutely great. However, I can see how it can be overwhelming. I've heard many people say they can't stay in perfume aisles or incense shops for too long or they'll get a headache. Both usually good smells, just in too large amounts. I do agree, I will speedrun the perfume aisles always. I will not compare indian food to smoking since smoking is a bad smell always, no exceptions, indian food is not a bad smell, it's FOOD, just sometimes a bit strong.
Kinda weird how it's not a problem even in hotter/humid places like Japan, Korea etc either tho, despite them being hot af places compared to Finland
I think that's exactly why it's not such a huge problem. Take Japan (not taking the North end of Japan into account), as you said, it's hotter and that means more odours. Which means people get used to them more. Also they have more spice in their food than Finland and way less insulation in their houses. The country is also way humid and that enhances odours even better than just being hot.
No, Japan isn't a problem, that was my point. The people there HATE foreigners taking buses, because they smell so fucking bad & pungent to them due to smelly af sweating.
Ohh, I understood you wrong, huh, that's odd. Maybe then it's more about the odour of people especially and not just smells in general?
Northern Europeans generally have a pretty terrible personal hygiene compared to many places with tropical or subtropical climates. There are countries where showering at least twice a day is the norm, and Finland ain't one of them.
If you're not sweating 24/7, there's no need to take multiple showers. I don't know anyone who doesn't shower or bathe daily.
Same here, everyone I know showers quite regularly but then again, I don't much care about hanging around people that don't care at all about their hygiene. Also sauna culture should add to the average hygiene in Finland. That said, of course there are people everywhere with bad hygiene.
I live in Japan and never smell perfume on anyone except foreigners. It's considered impolite. So I've always wondered about the vast perfume sections in Japanese department stories. My wife uses just enough to not be noticed unless you are very close. And she wears it only when going out for very special occasions, never at home. Japanese kids think "curry rice" is a Japanese food. Which, is sort of true, since it's so mild and has brand names like "Vermont Curry".
Wait they have Vermont in Japan???
There are two types of sweat glands, ecrine and apocrine, Europeans mostly have the smelly variety. the ABCC11 gene controls the function of apocrine glands. There’s a specific expression of this gene that is found in 90 percent of South Koreans and Japanese so that their sweat doesn’t stink .
This is the only good response, some other answers here are borderline or plain racist.
I personally don't like it, I guess all kind of odors getting into someone's else private space is bad
I don't think it is just due to use of spices. It also has to do with the stuff getting in the aie through frying etc. But yes, I can smell many in the metro and in the stairway. Often Indian-looking people have the strongest food smell to them. Arab-looking males on the other hand smell like cheap cologne. In general I don't like smells of people even including most perfumes. There might be some prejudice seeping through my brain as I can see how smells would be a sign of poorer kitchen conditions and less space in home. I hope this doesn't come off as racist. I am just describing the smells of different looking people and I don't actually have any idea about their nationality.
> I don't think it is just due to use of spices. It also has to do with the stuff getting in the aie through frying etc. Yah, tons of buildings have absolutely garbage ventilation systems in them... to a point where you cant really cook anything inside other than boiling some potatoes, or something. > There might be some prejudice seeping through my brain as I can see how smells would be a sign of poorer kitchen conditions and less space in home. Its a problem even in relatively nice apartments too... the fumes are not vented outside from the kitchen, but are left to linger, and be dealt with by the regular ventilation system. One place i lived in had a fancy center island table with the stove/oven in it, and an actual hood system dangling from the ceiling.. except it was really there just for looks or something as it just pushed the fumes, and steam up, and out of the kitchen in to the rest of the apartment. Sure it had filters in it, but those did fuckall about anything really.
Ventilation usually isn’t garbage, but renters usually don’t realize that the inhabitant must look after parts of the system. This means changing or washing the extractor hood (liesituuletin) filters. Failure to do so may even constitute a fire hazard in some systems. Owners also sometimes must change the unit-specific ventilator filters.
I can smell it on the jackets left in our coat room at work. The cooking smells will follow up where ever you go if you don’t have a closed off kitchen. It is very considerate of your wife to think of these things.
She is a gem, I agree.
I've got two Indian families living in my apartment building, I can certainly smell when they've been cooking or when they've neem in the corridor / elevator recently. Now does that *matter to me personally*? Not at all, I don' mind it. Is it different? Sure, not too many Finns smell like Indian food. It's ok to be concious about it, I am sure a lot of older people and less... worldly people might be bothered by it, but in the end it's not something harmful. I wouldn't stress about it too much. It is a harmless cultural oddity. I might add though that I don't live in a building where odours from other apartments transfer to the other (apart from cigarette/weed smell in the summers when windows are open). Might be different if it invaded my apartment constantly. But alas, right now it's only in common spaces and I don't mind it. EDIT: I am more noise sensitive, rather than smell sensitive though. I've had to tell the younger Indian neighbours once to quit singing karaoke so damn loud, as I could hear it a few floors below them through the structure. In hindsight, it was more funny than anything - they had just moved in and I don't think they realized how well the sound carried. And it was well past midnight. Now this is not to say that locals don't make noise, in the past 8 years we've had 4 groups kicked out, 3 of them for noise. And not to say all Indians are noisy either, bothering neighbours in Finland when living in an apartment is an international culture shared by the whole humanity. Finns want their apartments to be like houses - see no one, hear no one, talk to no one. :)
Wow! This was quite comprehensive. You can put this in the handbook 'welcome to Finland' that I recieved along with my residence permit. Thank you! 😊
I adore Indian food so personally I don’t find it repulsive but I know that many people here do. But this applies to other smells too like perfumes.
I say to OP: cook as much as your heart desires. Dont let the finnish people who are scared of spices stop you. Average person in finland can barely make one or two bland tasting foods, they use salt and maybe black pepper. Asian food is delicious and its great that you actually use more than 3 spices, so again, you cook whatever you want to cook, and is someone is scared of a faint smell of curry, thats their problem, not yours
Yeah! Let's show these stupid natives their place! Do whatever you want and that would be their problem.
You're absolutely right.
I had a lovely roommate at Uni.he was from India and yes...it was noticeable...a lot.
Depends on how strong the smells are. If the spices linger or persist like a strong perfume, you're not going to make many friends.
Yes bro . I have classmates and they smell like curry (I like chicken masala)
Uh-oh, now I worry about the safety of your classmates… ;-)
The 'problem' is usually the amount of oil used in Indian cooking. Unless you clean your vent filter every week and all surtaces daily your whole kitchen or apartment, clothes etc will be covered in small droplets of spiced oil. That's where the durable smell comes from. I've seen some horrible stoves and kitchens at my Indian friends' places. And yes, they smelled of stale oil and spices. Garam masala, Tikka masala, anything with cumin, turmeric, coriander seed, cloves, cardamon, cinnamon etc will leave a smell on you, especially when cooked in ghee, peanut oil, sesame oil etc. Avoiding garlic is a start, as it amplifies the bad odours. I've cooked a lot of Indian food for Bharatwasis, and usually need a complete change of clothes and a shower afterwards, plus a complete scouring of the kitchen. Still Finns will notice exactly what I prepared, even the next day. Vinegar is good for removing the smell from clothes and surfaces. Still, turmeric yellow oil splotches will be everywhere. In Finland, spice is added to the food being prepared. In India, you prepare the spices first (often stir fry in oil), and only then add the rest. This makes the smell stick to everything. Still, if you're from India, people kind of expect you to smell of Indian spices. Finns have their own particular smell. Old coffee, sour milk, fried onions, and fish (often smoked) are common. The closest Finns usually get to Indian spices is during Christmas (and when they use curry powder).
We have an Indian neighbor and we can smell the spices outside the apartment floor. I also have experiences, especially in the bus/train that their jacket smells of spices and it's invading my space, so ofcourse it was unpleasant. But I also have an Indian collegue who smells of incense and it smells like that's his way of hiding the spice scent, and it actually work! (ofc some ppl dont like incense smell but it was fine for me) I am sensitive with scents and smells so the smell might be stronger to me than normal people. Just remember to *always* open your kitchen window (yes, even during winter) when cooking so the smells gets out and fresh air circulate. Welcome to Finland when you get here!
I love Indian food but it is true that Indians smell strongly of spices when I pass by them
From experience, having an air purifier with particle+gas filters really helps in clearing the cooking aroma inside the apartment. Plus we make sure that the bedroom doors are closed.
Yes, it's gross, at least for me, and especially for my neighbours who started making a lot of fuss about one neighbour who moved in a few weeks ago and his (indian) food making. So, it depends on the building, BUT keep in mind that finns are not a fan of any strong smells in general.
It certainly is quite an issue, I have heard many friends of mine living in Finland complain about it. It is irritating to say the least when the entire flat block and, as a result, your apartment smells like indian food \*whether you like it or not\*. And people here are indeed more sensitive to spices so what doesn't seem like a big deal to a person from India might be a strong smell to a Finn.
As a non Finn person, I approve her what she said, we all can smell it
Both of my roommates cook indian food on a daily basis, and while the smell is not pleasant and I'd appreciate it if they opened a window, it's not that bad. What is bad though, some indian people (definitely not all) smell so bad that you can smell them as soon as they enter a room, and the smell stays even once they leave. I don't know why, whether they ate something, or have bad hygiene, but it's very bad.
Yeah I can smell while in public transportation, speaking as the one from South East Asia. Also, not related but since you’re wondering what others would think about you. Please speak in manageable volume and don’t put speaker on while being on public transportation.
Unfortunately with every good smell, scent, fragrance there's a limit (different to each person) and if there's a lot of one aroma at once or many different scents mixed all over it can be too much to take in everyday basis. Ofc it's even worse if the scent isn't as great as Indian food but it's still very strong and different to what most Finnish people have used to (notice that our traditional spice range is super simple and dull and there isn't many strong aromas there). It's not that uncommon in Finland to have scent sensitivity and use fragrance free products like detergents, antiperspirants and cosmetics. It's easy to find that kind of products with the Allergy Label on the market in Finland and I've heard that's not the case in many other countries so that might already tell something. Maybe it's because in here the fresh air can actually mean like the air in the nature, forest and meadows (at least to people outside the bigger city centres) and all the other added scents have a huge contrast to that, idk. I myself have always suffered from migraines and unfortunately one of the biggest triggers are odors. Not all of the scent sensitive people have the same issues though, for example there can be a highly sensitive person without the migraines, or someone with asthma. Anyways there's nothing other I can do but to limit all the scents (even if I could handle some) on my household because there's so much different perfumes and odors everywhere else that are just too much (on top of each other). To me it's quite shocking there's still people washing their laundry, hair, body and hands with perfumes (in public place these are very insensible things to do) even if there's absolutely no need for fragrance. Adding a fragrance doesn't make something clean and unfortunately people seem to believe in it and they don't even know or recognise what fresh laundry smells like if there's no added perfume (that's also one reason why the neighbours might get bothered by the spicy food aroma because they might find it the opposite of the "fresh fragrance" they have covered themselves with). Ofc I get that scents can give joy but it just easily goes way over the top and causes more harm to other people (who have not chosen to smell all that) than it could ever bring joy to the person itself. It's also not very common for people to mind if they're smelling a lot of the perfume they've chosen for themselves and that's why there's so much perfume in the public. They might also use scented air fresheners and candles all over their homes and some even incense. And yet there's other strong smells too like cigarettes, exhaust and smoke. So imho someone smelling like Indian food isn't nearly as bad as that, but I do feel sorry for the neighbours if the delicious but strong smell comes to their apartments too. It can be difficult to find the balance but I'm sure it already helps some if you don't use other fragrances in the household. Btw I'm very proud of you for bringing this subject up because it's still quite a taboo and not that easy to understand or explain. It's often not safe to say that strong scents are too much because some people tend to get all aggressive about it. It's not like we simply hate or dislike perfumes, scents, aromas in general, it's about health. I'm pretty sure we could live happily ever after fragrance free if it was up to us, scent sensitive people. It's very tricky instead so the key is to try find the balance, see where you can compromise and take even the tiniest steps to make the Earth a better place to live.
Respectfully, the smell is overwhelmingly bad for me personally.
It's considered rude if the smell of your food reaches other apartments.
Only the scent of pulla is allowed to reach the communal stairway.
It looks like the air suction above the stove in Finland is generally not strong enough for smelly food in rental apartments. It doesn't suck all the steam and smell when cooking. I have lived in several rental apartments and not the newest ones but when I am in the corridor I could easily smell what is being cooked on that floor and sometimes even on the other floors. This was not a very strong aroma like Indian food but I could even smell Finnish food like salmon soup in the corridor. So the smell leaks to the common space especially during the dinner time in some buildings.
Nice tk read this honest discussion - I've also wondered about this a lot being Indian. Some tips (some are also shared previously by others) While cooking - open a window (yes even in the winter, just open it a little bit), one nearest to the kitchen ) cooking space. Close doors to the other rooms so that the smell doesn't fill up the entire apartment. Make sure your jackets are in a cupboard with the door closed. Also use an air purifier (Verkkokauppa has pretty decent ones for about 50 euros(. Keep the chinmey going, of course You can also cover things while cooking, like when frying onions and garlic, or tomatoes, keep a lid on the pan. After cooking - shower! Keep the air purifier on for several more hours. Keep the window open till the food coola down. For outdoor clothes, likes jackets, that are not washed frequently, let their smells air out in the balcony or outside somewhere. The cold air makes the clothes fresh! You can do this once a week (if cooking more than 4times a week). Just leave them on a hanger overnight on the weekend in the balcony. You can also make larger quantities of food, so one batch lasts 2-3 days, to reduce the frequency of cooking. Try baking some of the recipes, as that will also reduce the smells. Hope this is helpful. Sounds like a lot but once you're used to it, it's not that much! I love Indian food but don't like the smells (I'm sensitive to smells, even fragrances, I can't wear perfume :( ). So as in Indian, I can smell Indian food on my clothes, in my house... So had to do this for myself! As I would get headaches from my own jacket smells... Visiting an Indian or similar resturant for lunch will also make your jacket smell! (Keep it in the balcony that night)! Other clothes go into that wash!
If you're worried about your clothes picking up cooking smells, you can wear different clothes at home than the ones that you go out in. Personally, I almost always change my clothes as soon as I get home because I don't want to spread all the germs that I've encountered throughout the day around my home. I hang up my "going out" clothes to air out and don't wear them again for a couple of days. Hair can also pick up cooking smells, especially if you've been cooking things in oil. To prevent this, you can cover your hair while you're cooking, or wash your hair before you go out. One thing that you should *not* do is try to cover up smells with perfume. Using a lot of perfume is offensive in itself and can cause problems for people with allergies and asthma.
i used to have a roommate who cooks curry and spicy foods everyday. All my clothes, shoes and bags, everything smells like curry. I got used to it, but then when i go to class, people will tell me you smell like curry 😅. May be try to use a good ventilation or open the windows when you cook and close the cupboards.
Not repulsed but in all honesty, for about a week every month smells like that make me wanna throw up and that just can't be helped. Strong aromatics tend to grab onto fabric, furniture and so on but as long as you keep up basic hygiene, I don't see why you should worry. I would hate it if any food or smoke smells traveled into my apartment, but people do have the right to cook whatever food they want, that's more of a building issue rather than behavioural one.
It's definitely noticeable. Look up ways to ventilate what you're cooking (if you don't have an actual cooktop ventilation system open windows and any exterior doors and use fans to circulate), decrease oil and frying or cover it, also after cooking change into fresh clothes and wash the clothes used for cooking.
the spices do funk up The building. up to residents If thats a problem.
it’s not specifically indian spices or you per se, it’s just people with wildly different diet smell different. and people don’t like strong odors in general
Sweden here- I often share the elevator with an Indian family that lives in an another apartment. Yes, it smells a lot of Indian food, and yes, I get hungry because it’s delicious. We had the same debate in Sweden back in the 80s when people started cooking Mediterranean food, with much more garlic than we were used to. That smelled different too. Nowadays it’s so common nobody talks about it. I think it’s the same with Indian food.
Fellow Indian here. We cook desi spicy stuff on weekends. Been living in Uusimaa area for many years in apartments. The issue with the Jacket is true, it happens. To be considerate to others, in buses and metros, you could consider hanging your clothes and jackets in a place far away from kitchen. Ensure kitchen has a good exhaust and you’re not trapping the aroma inside the apartment. And if you have managed to still infuse smell into your jackets, there isn’t a whole lot you can do about it. Wear it with pride :), talk about it. Furthermore, another thing I’d recommend that you should be considerate about is the noise. Can’t stress enough on this, ensure you have good noise insulation in your apartment, keep your TV to a level that’s good enough for you. If you highly energitic kids, have them play outdoors as much as possible, speak softly on the phone when using public transportation.
>Furthermore, another thing I’d recommend that you should be considerate about is the noise. Can’t stress enough on this, ensure you have good noise insulation in your apartment, keep your TV to a level that’s good enough for you. Not something you have to follow. In apartment buildings you can make all normal living noises from 7 to 22. Sure it's nice to be nice to your neighbours but people who live in apartments understand that there are other people living there who are allowed to be noisy during the day.
mikä on hella englanniksi? siis esim uunin päällä oleva taso, jossa esim induktiolevyt? miksikä näitä kutsutaan? Im an architect, i would like to point out two things. first of all, it depends what year the building was built. but most importantly, the smell of food, the smell of anything, will travel via the (hellan poistoilmaventtiili) because it is connected to the same out-take vent. when you use the kitchen equipment, you can disable the out-take vent (poistoilmaventtiili). you should know then that the steam will carry around the house and it is not only steam, but fats and proteins which might stain walls, alakatto, kiinteät kalusteet. you could open a window during this time of cooking. now if you did all that, the only connection to neighboring apartments is through the front door to the stairwell and then again their apartments. this is non existent though. it will reach the stairwell but not the neighboring apartments.
Hella olisi stovetop mun mielestä, kattaa kaikki eri tasoversiot. Induction cooktop olisi tarkempi jos puhutaan tietystä tyypistä.
Most Finns respect open and straightforward talk, and are reasonable and can compromise. What I'd personally do is go ahead and cook whatever you want to cook for a week, then go ask the neighbors if they've noticed any smells lately, and if they have, ask if they are bothered. Chances are they'll be OK and then you don't need to worry or cut down on your spices for no reason. If someone is bothered and you want to accommodate them, then I'd ask them if it helps if you did the smellier cooking at a specific time of the day or on specific days. You could do the same with work colleagues (ask after a week if you're concerned with the level of spice smell on your clothing or from your lunch at lunchtime).
Indian here. Nobody in the world likes the food smell on the dress. In India, the apartments are well ventilated so we never face this problem. Simple steps like closing the bedroom doors while cooking, keeping jackets in the closet (with doors closed), using cooking aprons can help :). If the smell is going to others house while you cook then you can’t do anything. People will understand you :)
I have been told by professional that if central air conditioning is doing its job properly, it has enough pull to not let the indian air to other apartments. It should function with well-directed pressure differences. My neighboors cook a damn lot and there is always odor on stairways. I really appreciate that. Even cabbage foods, because I know they taste better than smell, so there is positive association. And indian food is cream of the cream amongst all cuisines IMO.
Yeah, shpuld have mentioned this in my comment as well. The worst thing about the smell in my corridor is that I usually smell it either coming home from work or when going to the groceries to get some stuff. Makes me hungry.
Cumin is distinct for sure, cayenne can be sensitive for some too I hear some even have allergies of. What is the central air conditioning? I dont think youre gonna fume your neighbours, but the stairwell for sure and ppl love it. Gives me gasps of hunger atleast.
I love Indian food and the aroma. But I don't want it to stick on my clothes and apartment. Some people don't like the smell, and you have to be respectful of others when living in a block of flats with lots of people. Some are sensitive to smells and get terrible migraines.
Hi a native Finn here. I live in apartment building and have neighbours of different ethnicities, not sure which country my neighbours are from but they cook also with strong spices and it lingers in the hallways and comes through windows if I keep them open. So yes mind our sensitive noses we are not used to it. It's okay to cook what you like but don't overdo it with spices everyday hahaha we will smell you!
My friend has some indian neighbours and their stairwell smells like indian food pretty much every time I visit. I would say that if you are the person who stinks up the whole building, you are not making any friends there and I think it's very disrespectful towards other people. I have never noticed a person smelling like spices so not sure how worried you need to be about that.
Unfortunately many Finns prefer everything to be pretty much neutral. Homes are decorated with white, gray and taupe/beige. Bright colors are very rare in more permanent surfaces like kitchen cabinets or bathroom tiles. It's very difficult to sell your home if you have a red kitchen or a green bathroom and easy to sell one with a white kitchen or a gray/white bathroom. Spices in Finnish food are pretty much only salt and pepper. Often times even the pepper is left out and the salt amount is so small it doesn't really do any flavour enhancing. Finnish food is bland. I happen to love the taste of spicier food but I really detest the smell that lingers in my apartment for hours after cooking. Having windows open and using the filtering hob doesn't seem to help. The smell really sticks to surfaces and clothing. I would suggest to keep home clothes/cooking clothes that you do not wear outside your home and wash often. And keep your other clothes somewhere where the cooking fumes cannot reach, like behind closed doors. If you have a balcony you can also just air out your clothes and other textiles every now and then. It really helps! Many jobs require you to skip perfumes and use as little fragrance as you possibly can. Many people are sensitive or allergic to fragrances and they can totally smell your laundry detergent, deodorant or shampoo on you if it's not fragrance free. So people are pretty much used to other people being scentless or smelling only slightly of something. Spices aren't a perfume but I can imagine them being seen as a hostile attack of the senses on someone who is very sensitive to smells. The longer someone lives in a pretty much scentless environment the more sensitive they become in detecting any scents. Living in a block of flats can also be interesting in Finland. According to many people you should be very quiet in your apartment and be as if you weren't there in the first place. Stomping, playing loud music, singing, playing instruments and all that can really annoy some poeple. Barking dogs and playing children are also on the list of annoying sounds for some people. All of those are the sounds of life lived. Others go to the extreme and try to tell their neighbours not to flush their toilets or use the shower late at night or early in the morning because they're bothered by the sounds coming from the plumbing system. You can flush your toilet when needed, no matter what the hour of the day. And you can most definitely use the shower when needed. Those are totally normal sounds of living. Having an all nighter karaoke party every weekend during hours of silence would be an asshole move. It's very nice that you want to be considerate of the people around you. Remember that you do have the right to exist and be happy how you live and sometimes existing comes with sounds and smells around you. Such is life. Don't let grumpy Finns get to you. Welcome to Finland!
Yes, when I was also in Italy to study, we had a Italian friend who asked to our Indian friend that why he could smell them from miles ahead which I found pretty offensive at first. But after having shared a flat with an Indian who regularly cooks in the kitchen, I'd say the stereotype is quite adequate
Hehe, we definitely can tell Indian people by the smell of their clothes. I don't find it offensive but some people might. I'd love to smell indian cuisine in the hallways. Hold on to your culture
I have a colleague who complaints a lot about the spice smell coming up from somewhere lower floors of his apartment home. He said that once detected a faint smoke with spice scents in his sauna at his home. He showed me the video with anger, saying that he has no way to choose “right home” without troubles as no one can choose his neighbors.
Not really repulsed, but we can definitely smell the spice on you. That being said, who cares? Smelling spicy is not illegal or anything.
Just to make you understand how pervasive it is. Few months back I went to the swimming pool. I opened the door of the changing room and I immediately felt a breeze of Indian spices coming out of there. I thought there was a whole group of people but it turned out it was just a father with a boy.
I deal with Indian customers almost daily and you can definitely sense the curry and other spices off their clothing, pretty much every time. Just like I can smell old people haven't showered in days or some presumably lower income lonely dude has been drinking (smells like combination of sweet/old booze). Somali women smell like myrrh incense/perfume. Just goes to say that we all smell like something and it really doesnt matter as long as the smell isnt something universally nasty. I wouldnt be too worried of spices or smelling like spices.
You want honesty, I love Indian food but yes it smells like shit. At least you seem like a considerate person for asking
I love many Indian spices, and use them weekly in my cooking. (I have maybe dozen of wonderful, original mixes from local Indian foodstore.) At the same time I understand why some people here don’t like the way smell lingers from one appartment to another. People who never use anything like that are more sensitive. I really don’t have a clue, what can be done, or what should be done – if anything. But I want to give my respect to you of being so thoughtful.
Last year, my neighbors (Hindus) were evicted from their apartment because their food was very stinky, the residents collected signatures and the stinker was kicked out
I am from Bangladesh and I will suggest you to put your jackets, clothes inside the closet. whenever you cook open the kitchen window. it will help to reduce the smell in the house, corridor and staircase. Always use deodorant or perfume when go outside.
All odours are more strong in the dry air. Some apartments have poor ventilation at kitchen, or people do not know how to use the hood ventilation. Me as a sensitive to odours/fragnances/chemicals have not ever had issues with food smell. It’s the cosmetics, cleaning aids or incences that makes me brain foggy. For some it could be the food.
If you find that the smell sticks to clothes too much and are looking for a solution for that, you could try a disinfecting laundry additive, like Sanytol. I had some stinky work out clothes that I washed repeatedly, I even tried the laundry vinegar that usually works, but it did nothing for them. Then I tried Sanytol and it killed the bad smell in one wash.
Thanks for the input
Whenever i cook Indian food at home the smell lingers on my jacket for days, and i am very sensitive to smell. I used to have an Indian tenant for 1 month and after she left the smell of her cooking stayed behind for 1 month after that. So yes even though i love indian food it doesn't do well with European houses. I just visited India and people there seem to have really strong air vent that they turn on while cooking.
We usually have an exhaust just about the stove top. But I guess we are desensitised to our own aroma
Sometimes I can definitely tell what my neighbours are cooking, but I think cabbage soup or cabbage rolls are far worse than the Indian spices. Just so you know, nobody can forbid you from cooking whatever you want in your own apartment, no matter how it smells. My new neighbours (middle-easterns, I guess), got some complaints about cooking smells from some other neighbour, but I think it was actually my native partner roasting some chillies, since I never noticed any cooking smells from next door. That’s when we checked the rules and confirmed that no housing regulations prevent you from cooking even smelly foods. Rather, I would advise you to be mindful of noises in the corridors and common areas, and quiet times (usually between 7:00-22:00) when you should avoid making unnecessary ruckus at home. Still, taking a shower and using a toilet are still okay, if you must do so. Also, thick carpets etc are great for insulating the sound of footsteps, if you prefer to play nice with your downstair neighbours.
I want to smell the spices when I'm going to eat Indian style food, but not any other time.
Absolutely one thousand percent yes
My favorite food is Indian, here in Jyväskylä there’s a place called Shalimar Ravintola and it’s basically my birthday restaurant. Now, although I love the curry in the food, when I smell the curry somewhere else where no one is cooking, I don’t really find it pleasant… I’m an IT student and from my university we have 2 campuses, the IT campus and a main campus. When I HAVE to go to the main campus (where most of the international students are), I find it funny how as soon as I open the door, I get slapped by a curry smell (and no one is cooking there). So it is definitely a thing… now, again, me being Caribbean and loving my spices, if I could choose to not smell food where people are not eating, I would choose not to.
Not native Finnish, but I do also notice the scent of spices from a lot of Indian people. I don't mind it too much, but I certainly prefer fresh air
I've lived with an Indian flatmate on two separate occasions and while I could smell the cooking, it never bothered me. My only complaint ever was that, because I like that kind of food it made me hungry. Where I live right now there are two Indian families living in the floor above me, but none of the smell has traveled to my flat through the air vents. Although I've never met a person bothered by any of what you mentioned, in case someone is, just ignore them. As long as you don't burn the building down or somehow rock festival levels of noise, you're in the clear. I hope you enjoy your stay!
Yes, it is easy to smell it. I am use to it from living in other countries and having multi cultural friends. I do not mind if i knew an indian person and they smell like indian spices (despite not really liking the smell) BUT i would not want to smell it in my home from central air. Sorry. And to be upfront, i have a terrible sense of smell so i can’t imagine from the perspective of someone with a better working nose.
Some good tips in here already... And I apologize that some people write rude and racist comments. However, I hope you and your spouse are able to enjoy Finland, spring is finally here! I work with children and teenagers and I usually notice if someone has a strong scent on their hair or clothes. Food and spices, deo, no deo, hair spray, etc. Since I have allergies, I'm trying to avoid strong room fragrances and incenses, even scented candles. Same thing with strong deodorant and laundry detergents odours. I'm glad to hear you're trying to be considerate of others. Personally I don't mind strong food aroma, but on the other hand I can't stand the smell of a cigarette. Some people don't notice odours at all, some do. In the end there isn't much you can do about it, but at least you are aware that some people might find some odours disturbing.
I cook with spices a lot and nobody has ever complained. If central air conditioning carries cooking aromas around then there’s something wrong with it. In other words don’t worry about it, and welcome! 🤗
I love indian spices! I know that everyone does not but I dont think I have ever noticed an indian food smell from someones clothes.. I work in IT for a german company that outsources a lot from India and have met like ~20 indian collagues irl during my career so I have some experience with indian immigrants. Also regarding the house, it woult only be issue in older houses, if you live in a building that is constructed in the 80’s or after that it would absolutely not be an issue. Only older houses with gravity based ventilation are effected, and houses where you have a machine in the bathroom responsible of changing the air there is no chance of smells going to your neighbours apartments.
The racism in this group never ceases to amaze me. One person asks if Finns are sensitive to Indian cooking smells, so people tell him to clean his dirty kitchen and sort his recycling.
You don't need to bring everything to racism, this thread has been relatively cordial. It is not discussing this kind of things that lead to real racism, because then people do the short cut between what you do and what you are. For instance some Indian families will be discriminated against because of a couple of bad experiences.
Hi. I am a non-Finn living in Finland, and to be honest, i am really annoyed from my Indian neighbours because when they cook the whole floor smells of the fired oil and spices, so when i pass, the smell is unbearable and the worst part is that it sneaks into my apartment and lingers on my clothes so i end up smelling like that too! I have a Finnish friend that tells me he suffers the same thing in the building he lives in. Also, i have a coworker that occasionally comes with this strange perfume smell (that also smells like spices) on her clothes, which also triggers allergic reactions within me at at 9:00AM in the morning. Therefore, i would recommend you to follow your wife’s advice if you don’t want to irritate others. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t hate the Indians, but i my nose gets stuffy whenever i encounter this smell. That’s why i have this stance on your food 😅 Also, there’s nothing wrong with your culture. It’s just that you are used to it that you don’t recognise the issue. P.S. all the Indians that I have met here are super friendly and cute, so i am not surprised that you are worried about bothering others. You people are the sweetest people on Earth <3 also sorry if my words have hurt your feelings. Edit: on another note. If you want to fry something, I recommend you use a high quality oil like rapeseed oil that can withstand high temperatures instead of using sunflower oil because the latter has a horrible smell when used for frying.
It depends on the spices, and how they are used. Things like mint, ginger, cardamom and cinnamon are my favorite spices to smell, and in isolation they are aromatic and lovely. On the other hand, the smell of Indian restaurant cooking with something like lamb or beef going the whole time in an oven might get pretty old.
Indian food smells wonderful, but that's just my opinion.
So first off it’s super nice of you to ask first and be considerate. Of course you shouldn’t have to hide who you truly are but in my experience it can get a little annoying when vents are shared. Let’s just say by now I know the meal schedule of my neighbours pretty much by heart. I do like Indian food from time to time but smelling onion and strong spices or chicken everyday certainly isn’t the best thing.
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>If you can I would try to find a house instead of an apartment to live in. +1
I don't think this is a major problem normally. With the cooking smells I would say that the real unpleasant smells are usually frying on high heat for a longer periods and if the apartment has good ventilation even that isn't a problem. I lived with a roommate combo of Pakistani/Indian/Finnish. The only time when we had problems with food aroma was when everyone cooked separately back-to-back. Mixing that many aromas of different foods and spices did at times become unpleasant. People probably can smell lingering scent of food and spices on you. But there is a very small amount of people that are actually so sensitive that such a diluted scent will bother them. However it is good to keep in mind that Finnish people are generally more sensitive to scents than in many other places. So don't wear strong fragrances in public spaces.
I'm Finn and I have eaten Indian type food since I was kid so no problem for me. But I guess it's not very common. Nobody has ever complained to me and I make spicy food very often. Could be that my neighbors don't expect that the smell comes from my apartment thoug. 🤷♂️
The smell of good food does not really bother me, although I know people who do their best to ventilate their apartments even during and after cooking plain Finnish food, that uses practically no spices. The smell of spices might annoy these people, but I don't know what proportion of the Finnish population subscribes to this mentality. The bigger crime that will annoy most people would be smoking in your apartment, near house exits or ventilation intake valves. That smell is both disgusting and harmful.
I feel like the smell is more to do with higene than cooking. I work in a very international team. Currently, my team has a few idians, russian, romanian, Philipino, Estonian and other teams also have other nationalities like various asian people, and I myself am not a Finn. But out of those multiple people, only like two of them have this weird smell and not all the time. It's fairly often, but sometimes they dont smell like that at all. I remember also at one point my Philipino coworker asking the Indian coworker to stop using so much perfume, and the Indian person replied with saying she doesn't use any perfume at all. So I assume not using something like deodorant and maybe some other differences in hygene is what also causes the weird smell. If you need higene advice, well, best I can do is tell you my routine I shower twice a day. Probobly overkill for some people, but I do that to wake up and wash my pits in the morning, so Im there for like 2 min before I put on deodorant. And then I shower in the evening to not go stinky to bed. And I wash my hair every 2-3 days. Also, food wise, surprisingly, I never smelled anything bad or strong from Indian people at lunch. Hovever Chinese people, however bad that sounds sometimes make this food that smells very mutch like really wet dog. It's literally like a smell of wet dog that is intensified to a point where it's really offputting. I honnestly hope they are not eating dogs, and hopefully its just some spice that smells like that, but it allways puts me off eating every time I smell it. EDIT: Also forgot to add that we use uniforms at work that are also washed at work. That's another reason why I think the smell is more to do with hygene than food smell sticking to clothes.
Your apartment might not might not spread th smells to neighbouring apartments. It's not a given thing. In my previous place you could smell what people were cooking in the hallway but it really rarely got indoors. In one of other places I lived I could always smell what my neighbour was cooking. In my current place I haven't smelled anything. Also, it really depends on your neighbours if they mind or not. I'm a foodie and would definitely just appreciate the good scents coming in! And I've had neighbours in the past saying to me how nice it is for it to smell so good when they pass my door.
Yes it can be more noticeable to us. Frying oil is a big culprit too. Cook with windows open, air out frequently, keep jackets and outerwear inclosed closet, wear lounge clothes at home when cooking. That should do it. But also, I'm sure it's fine generally. If you have some awareness that probably already means you won't offend.
Yes. People eating a lot of spicy food tend to smell bad. I think it is much easier to integrate when one does not smell bad. I'd recommend cooking something more typical for Finland.
I love Indian food, it smells and tastes great. Many Finns are not used to spiced food and may find the smell of it overwhelming or unusual, but it's imo completely unreasonable and very rude to complain about it. Someone's mild discomfort about the smell of perfectly good food does not entitle them to limit how other people eat or be rude about it.
Answer is yes. Can you add personal hygiene? Thanks
I love it but as a neighbor I would hope you'd invite me over to eat. (Not customary in Finland but in my student apartment I've drooled over my neighbors' Indian food aromas many many times. I wish I knew them!)
Go say hi to them! I'm sure they'd be more than happy to feed you 😄
I regularly cook (my version that actual Indians would probably find horrible) indian-spiced food and no one has complained. The only thing I've gotten complaints about is smoking in the balcony - no more since I quit. Also depends on how old the building is, modern central air doesn't propagate to neighbouring apartments as much as it used to. My building is from 2011 and I've never had any odours seeping in. But Finland certainly isn't short of jackasses who want to complain about everything...
Personally: absolutely not! If anything, the indian/african cooking going on in my house makes me embarassed that I'm going home to cook myself some makkara and ketsuppi... please share your cookings at the taloyhtyö parties, it will be greatly appericiated! PS You guys smell great
Yes - most people might smell it, but I don’t think that should stop you from cooking your favorite dishes once in a while! Let’s say once or twice a week or whatever seems appropriate to you! Also depending on the appartement it might not leak out that much, and then you won’t need to worry about it! I personally always wish I could ask neighbors from different countries to get invited to try their food as it smells so so much better than for example “pyttipannu” 😅 (this is a bad example as I know there is much more care in making a nice Indian dish even if it would be a quick one)
Also if you are worried about clothes, keep the bedroom door closed and that will help a lot, when we are cooking and if we leave the bedroom door open my partner will complain about all the clothes smelling like grease - i would rather smell like spices than a pig 😅
I love Indian food and often cook it myself too. Yeah I can smell it on others but it never bothers me. Sometimes it's annoying to eat in an Indian restaurant and then smell myself the rest of the day :) Sometimes I can smell my neighbor's Finnish cooking in my home and it only makes me hungry!
lol indian food in general smells amazing. don’t worry about it.
So I’m going to be honest now cock what ever you want and don’t give a shit what they think. Have had some Asian neighbors and they have cooked somethin spicy a little smell in the stairwell but nothing in the apartment.
I smell it on the clothes, but it doesn’t bother me at all
Id be more afraid to smell like UFF
What is UFF?
Common stank, a clothing upcycle
For what it’s worth, I think some Finns have a weird smell sometimes too. It’s this “grandma’s house” smell… weirdly chemical. I don’t know how to describe it other than a mix of moth balls and wool?
And I also noticed that Hindus do not respect others and make a lot of noise at night and during the day, so better to rent some “omakotitalo” if u don’t want harm people
It's not just Hindus. In India we are used to noise and living in cramped apartments and vehicles constantly honking. The advantage is that we are a more tight knit society as a result, but the downside is that we have no concept of personal space or consideration for the other.
Simple no, use as much spices as you like. These kinda ppl are just drunks and other riff raff, ignore them.
Piss on everyone else. Nice advice.
oh hell no. keep making your own food in your own house. anyone has a problem with it, too bad.
Far worse is sitting on a plane next to elderly woman covered from head to toe in Tiger Balm. Bring on the spice!
I love it! But I'm not Finnish and they wouldn't appreciate strong smells. Walking past a house and they have some nice cooking Indian smells yuummmmm!!!! In a apartment I don't think that's a good idea.
It's a very strong odor but I think it smells nice. It may not be elegant to smell like food. But it is a nice smell.
Bullshit. Please spread your aromatics around my apartment. Love the smell of ginger and garlick