"Prosciutto is ham" a full-page ad read in Finland's largest daily on Wednesday, a response to Italy's Prime Minister who reportedly said Helsinki should not get the new EU food agency because Finns knew nothing about good food.
"Now 1.2 million Finns know this. Is that enough Berlusconi?" Helsingin Sanomat said on page two. Finland has 5.2 million inhabitants.
Last week Silvio Berlusconi demanded the future European Union Food Safety Agency, promised to Helsinki, go to the Italian city of Parma -- home of the famous prosciutto cured ham - instead.
"Parma is synonymous with good cuisine. The Finns don't even know what prosciutto is,"Berlusconi said during the EU summit in Belgium on Saturday, according to diplomats privy to the verbatim notes of the final meeting.
Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen has declined to comment on Berlusconi's comments.