Finnish Cuisine

Finnish cuisine can be described as straightforward, pristine and close to nature. The ingredients for the most part come from the Finnish forests. These forests provide bear-, elk- and reindeer-meat, tasty ceps and chanterelles as well as berries like raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, lingonberries, or cranberries and the Arctic cloudberry. These berries are, cooked as jam and thus preserved for the winter, a vitally important source for vitamins and minerals for the Fins, who can not buy any fresh native vegetables during a long period of the year.

Additionally, the farmers in Finnland grow lots of potatoes, rye, barley and oats, carrots and turnips and breed delicious cattle and pigs.

Of course, in 'The Land of the Thousand Lakes' there is also plenty of freshwater fish on the menu. In autumn, there are crayfish parties all along the shores of the Finnish rivers. Saltwater fish like the Baltic herring also add to the Finnish diet.

Bread is a staple in Finland. Rye bread and hapankorppu (dry sour bread), Rieska (Flat Rye Bread) are only a few examples of the vast selection of breads that are offered by Finnish bakers.

Finnish Specialities

• Baltic herring – silakka
• Joulupöytä – Christmas board
• Kaalikääryleet – cabbage rolls
• Kalakukko
• Karjalanpaisti – Karelian stew
• Karjalanpiirakat – Karelian pastries
• Mashed potato
• Meatballs – possibly originally from Swedish meatballs.
• Mustamakkara – blood sausage
• Pea soup
• Pepu
• Pottilohko
• Reindeer stew
• Rusupiirakka
• Salmon – lohi
• Särä
  

Fins are world champions in coffee-consumption. Nowhere else in the world the people drink more coffee than in Finland. Vodka and other alcohol is also extremely popular in Finland and is often consumed in extreme quantities.