If you ask a Finn about Fin­nish cui­sine, you will most pro­bab­ly get a laugh­ter and shoo­ting down comments that the­re is no such thing. We dis­agree. Fin­nish cui­sine might not be as extra­va­gant as in many other cul­tures, but it has its roots deep down in histo­ry, what peop­le were able to pro­du­ce during short sum­mers and natu­ral­ly, hun­ting and foraging.

Blu­e­ber­ries picked, baked into a pie and juiced

Main­ly the ingre­dients are plain, simp­le and tho­se that have been avail­ab­le to peop­le throughout cen­tu­ries. Pota­to plays a big role in many dis­hes, as well as root vege­ta­bles in gene­ral, oni­on and but­ter. When you visit Lapland, here are a few inte­res­ting and tas­ty (more or less) well-known deli­caci­es you should have on your plate.

Meat is and has always been a huge part of Fin­nish cui­sine. If a house­hold didn’t own farm ani­mals for but­che­ring and dai­ry pro­du­ce, hun­ting was the choice for addi­tio­nal pro­te­in on a pla­te. No won­der meat stews – rein­de­er stew in Lapland – with pota­to smash are still plain favo­ri­tes in restau­rants and ever­y­day tables. Elk, game birds and rab­bits are still hun­ted in Fin­land, not for the glo­ry but for eco­lo­gi­cal source of protein.

Tra­di­tio­nal meat stew, ser­ved with mas­hed pota­toes, lin­gon­ber­ries and pick­led cucumber

Elk meat is defi­ni­te­ly worth going for, if it is offe­red on a menu. Elk meat is typi­cal­ly divi­ded bet­ween locals that belong to hun­ting clubs, so this game meat is not only a rari­ty but also a full-bodi­ed meat that gives you a culi­na­ry expe­ri­ence over any other game meat.

Rein­de­er meat dried out­side during March

Fin­land, as the coun­try of thousand lakes, seashore, rivers and streams has been uti­li­zing fishing in excel­lent ways. Fresh fish (pike or perch) smo­ked with fresh spring pota­toes during the sum­mer is a tas­ty din­ner to anyo­ne. Win­ter’s ice fishing with a “pilk­ki” rod or nets gives a fresh catch for anyo­ne dar­ing to con­front icy con­di­ti­ons and cold wea­ther. On the other hand, an excel­lent out­door acti­vi­ty and pro­te­in for a day, why not! You should try any white-fle­shed Fin­nish fish cold-sal­ted. That’s a deli­cacy hard to com­pa­re to any other fish dish.

Fresh perch from the river and spring pota­toes top­ped with butter

Cold-sal­ted gray­ling on bread

Lap­pish peop­le go cra­zy over ber­ries, as we have writ­ten in our ear­lier blog post. Uti­li­zing the­se gems of the natu­re into juices, jams, soups and even por­rid­ges has a huge bene­fit on natio­nal health: they are full of vit­amins. One spe­cia­li­ty you should go for is the Lap­pish pink lin­gon­ber­ry por­ridge, whip­ped to be light as air, enjoy­ed with top­ped milk and sugar. As weird as it sounds, this lin­gon­ber­ry por­ridge can be enjoy­ed as a bre­ak­fast, lunch, din­ner or even des­sert! And wha­t’s more, it is eaten when the por­ridge has coo­led down.

Fin­nish rye bread is also one of a kind, when tal­king about bread in gene­ral. Rye is a tough grain that trans­fers into nut­ri­tious and dark bread full of fib­re. Lap­pish bread is a flat­bread, that has the simp­lest ingre­dients but doesn’t lack in tas­te. Made of bar­ley flour, water, salt and yeast, this bread tas­tes the best (belie­ve it or not) only with a slab of but­ter on top. Try war­ming it up upon fire to give it a real nice roas­ty addition.

Fin­nish cin­na­mon buns, a tas­ty des­sert enjoy­ed with coffee

Des­serts, how we all love them! Fin­nish and espe­cial­ly Lap­pish pas­tries are often offe­red with a cup of cof­fee after the meal, and they are baked in the same way as the main meals, with simp­le ingre­dients. Cin­na­mon bun might be most well-known. Lap­pish pas­tries, “kam­pa­nisu”, are also oh so simp­le but so tas­ty! Pies baked of ber­ries are also very typi­cal and vary throughout the who­le land. Some oddi­ties for for­eig­ners might be the Eas­ter time favo­ri­te, “mäm­mi”, enjoy­ed with cream and sugar. Over­all, ber­ries are hea­vi­ly used for examp­le in pas­tries, pies, top­pings, cus­tards or as they are.

Oven cheese, a legend amongst sal­ty and old-school des­serts, baked of colostrum

Over­all, Fin­nish and Lap­pish cui­sine is not so flat and non-exis­ten­ti­al as the Finns might claim. The­re has been excel­lent deve­lo­p­ment in Fin­nish and Lap­pish restau­rants for the appre­cia­ti­on of tra­di­tio­nal meals but also lif­ting them into new, modern and exci­ting level. Still, some of the most inte­res­ting and tas­tiest food you can only find from a local’s table. Would you like to come and try?