5 Dishes You Need to Taste When Visiting Finland
You may not know this, but Finland has a very interesting diversity of local dishes. Its forests and lakes are hiding real treasures: berries, mushrooms and fish, to name a few. Each region has its own specialties. We have picked up some of our favourites for you.
Here are 5 dishes you need to taste when visiting Finland.
Karelian pies (Karjalanpiirakat in Finnish): As its name says, this small pie is originally from Southern East of Finland: Karelia. You can eat them during many occasions: as a breakfast or snack, or quite often during festive dinners served with egg butter.
There are many ways to prepare these pastries: the garniture can be either rice porridge or mashed potatoes. Different sizes and shapes can tell where the pies have been made.
You can find Karelian pies all around Finland, even in the supermarkets. But of course nothing is better than homemade ones!
Smoked whitefish (Savustettu siika in Finnish): Fish is a major ingredient in the Finnish cuisine. The large amount of lakes and rivers provide interesting opportunities to catch your own dinner and prepare it on open fire.
There is one dish Finns particularly love to prepare when spending time in their summer cottages: the smoked whitefish.
Whitefishes can be caught in lakes, rivers and the Baltic Sea. Here are some hints to help you to prepare your smoked whitefish:
You can either use an electric smoker or a more traditional one using fire.
The main ingredients are sea salt to be spread inside the fish once cleaned (don’t put too much but equally), 3 or 4 small pieces of sugar to give a nice brownish colour to the fish and alder chips.
At the bottom of the smoker, spread equally the alder chips and add the sugar cubes on top. Then add the fishes above the alder bed on a grill inside the smoker and close it.
The fire should be slowly and nicely burning under the smoker. The cooking time depends on the fish size but count for around 45 minutes for 1 kg.
During the cooking, you can check if the fish is ready by trying to remove a small piece of skin or the dorsal fin and see if it separates easily from the meat. Bon appétit!
Sautéed reindeer (Poronkäristys in Finnish): Reindeers are more numerous than men in Lapland. Reindeer meat is thus a very common ingredient in the Northern Finland and you can find it in many variations: smoked, dried, minced, in the soup, and so on.
The sautéed reindeer is a traditional dish you can eat at all seasons and you can find it in many restaurants. Tenderly cooked and thinly sliced reindeer meat is served with mashed potatoes, pickles, and lingonberries.
Rieska bread (Rieska in Finnish): Finns are really found of all sorts of breads to complement their meals. The one you should try when staying in Finland is called rieska.
The most common ones you will easily find are potato rieska (perunarieska), barley rieska (ohrarieska) and rye rieska (ruisrieska). Finns eat this bread mostly with just butter on. However, rieska is an ideal bread to prepare sandwiches for a day hike and to be enjoyed outdoors around a campfire with hot drinks.
And last, but not least:
Bread cheese (Juustoleipä in Finnish): Here is a typical dessert from Northern Finland. Made out of cow milk, the bread cheese has a very unique texture. In the old days, bread cheese was so appreciated that is was given as a salary to people working in the fields during summer harvest.
The bread cheese is very easy to prepare yourself if you stay in a cottage. Available in every local supermarket, you just cut it into small slices and gently warm it up on a pan with cream. When ready, serve it with cloudberries. The cloudberries (called lakka or hilla in Finnish) are one of the tastiest, vitamins-packed berries you can find in Lappish swamps. The result gives a great sweet and acid combination, and it goes really well with coffee.
A must try for all dessert fans!
Have you ever tried any of these Finnish dishes? If not, which one would you like to taste first? Post your choice in the comments field below.
See another local delicacy – Lörtsy Lörty - a delicious savory pastry from Savonlinna
Just a small point: the smoked fish you are referring to are Vendace, or Muikku, which is a type of whitefish that are similar in size to the sardine. The “siika” is also a type of whitefish but is closer in size to the brown trout. Siika is Coregonus lavaretus, and usually doesn’t get much bigger than 55cm long, while muikku is Coregonus albula, and usually is less than 30cm long.
Muikku is a staple of the Kuopio region, and is one of the most popular dishes served in the Helsinki markets, always fried.
The fish in the picture and as described in the text is indeed Siika, as the author intended. Although there is no denying that muikku is also an excellent treat, and well worth tasting!
Grew up in the US, but juustoleipa, rieska, and smoked (Great Lakes) whitefish were common in my family
Sounds good Melba! Hope you are still keeping them on the table every now and then.
Did you also have ruisleipä? Guess that’s not that common in the States.
Karelian pies is absolute must for anyone travelling to Finland, but make sure you won’t forget egg butter, since those pies can taste quite dry without it. I would recommend exploring the local design http://www.designkaupat.fi/ goods and brands. Example, Marimerkko, Iittala and MAKIA manufactures stylish clothes, jars and bowls, which are great souvenirs back to home.
Hi Johnny,
and thanks for the comment! You are absolutely right, ne should not forget the good old egg butter!! (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_butter) The design recommendations are also excellent! I sport basically only MAKIA in my own wardrobe.
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Hi, I am a regular visitor of your blog. I find it very entertaining & informative. I respect your views and would like to hear your feedback. I am planning on going on a camping trip with my family & am searching for a good camping axe or hatchet to assist me with the wood for the campfire. I was looking at some reviews and I am still confused about what hatchet to purchase. I was reading this review https://www.toolazine.com/the-best-axes-hatchets-for-camping-backpacking-hiking-survival-buying-guide/ and considering to buy the hatchet that he suggests but am not really confident. maybe I can get the cheaper option. What do you think? Is it really worth it to purchase a more costly one if I am only going camping a few times per year? Thanks very much for your feedback and thanks for the great posts that you write.
Hi Vincent,
When considering to buy an axe or hatchet it’s always good to think if you’re ready to pay for something that will last, or for something that you use only a couple times a year. Personally, I would buy the more costly one, as they tend to be long-lasting and more suitable for tough use. I hope your plans for the camping trip are going great!
Most people call it “leipäjuusto” instead of “juustoleipä”. To me juustoleipä means a regular sandwich which has cheese on the top.
I would add karjalanpaisti and put it at Nr.1 , but otherwise great article 🙂
Hi everyone,
Finland is a good place that you should discover if you have a chance.
So you can read this blog, it will help you know how to prepare for your trip.
Thank you so much