Typical Finnish Dishes
Ruisleipä
In Finland, ruisleipä is a rye bread made with natural yeast, present in many traditional dishes. There are several varieties, the most popular and easily found is the reikäleipa, a kind of doughnut also called “bread with a hole.” Traditionally it was hung on beams from the ceiling and appears as a dense and flattened bread.
The näkkileipä is the crispy version of rye bread. There are various types, including the Finn Crisp cracker, also known outside Finnish borders. Finnish breakfast. The näkkileipä can be used at breakfast spread with butter, cheese, at lunch in soup, or at dinner as a snack.
Seasonal food in Finland
Among the typical Finnish dishes, fish takes the lead. Among Finnish fish-based foods, the Baltic Sea herring stands out, almost a national symbol, cooked in a thousand ways (from smoking to grilling), followed by the Lappish salmon with very delicate pink flesh; whitefish, zander, rainbow trout, and many others. Fish roe is also much loved, served with onion, sour cream, and national vodka. Finnish recipes are not very difficult to make.
Kalakukko
Kalakukko is a fish pie, generally filled with whitefish, traditional in the lake region of Eastern Finland.
JUNE
June is the month of new potatoes which, just harvested, are cooked with dill and served with silli, a sauce made from herring and butter.
Silli
Silli are new potatoes and herring. But also: new potatoes with fresh lake fish and chanterelle sauce; new potatoes with fish roe (mäti); new potatoes with just a knob of butter, some dill, and a pinch of salt.
The variations are truly endless and all delicious: Finns can go on talking about new potatoes until late at night, waiting for a summer that is about to begin. Usually, new potatoes make their appearance around mid-June, and the first harvest is so newsworthy that it deserves articles in the newspapers.
SUMMER
July is instead the time for berries, stars of unsurpassable sweets and desserts, first among them the black blueberry tart. The summer feasts reach their peak in early August, the season for freshwater crayfish, with their bright red shells and flavorful flesh. Many claim they are the best on the planet.
Mustikkapiirakka
July and August represent the blueberry season in Finnish forests. They can be found everywhere and for many their abundance is really impressive. You can pick as many as you want freely and maybe put them in the freezer for winter. Which Finns regularly do, although the best way to enjoy them is freshly picked, perhaps preparing delicious blueberry tarts, usually served with fresh milk: you will be enchanted.
Another typical wild berry easily found in Finland is the lingonberry, more tart than the traditional blueberry and therefore excellent for jams and juices. In any case, the most prized Finnish berry is the cloudberry, also known as cloudberry, typical of the Lapland forests. With its bright orange color, it is truly a delicacy of the northern nature, whose arrival in the markets of Southern Finland is eagerly awaited every summer.
Rapu
The crayfish parties or “kraftskiva,” a name imported to Finland from Swedish tradition, are events that celebrate summer. The freshwater crayfish are considered real gourmet delicacies and their price fully attests to this: for this reason, they are eaten in great style. Elegant parties prepared down to the smallest detail in honor of the crayfish season are typically organized between July 21 and early autumn.
Grillimakkara
Summer is not Finnish without a “grillimakkara.” These are large sausages, usually flame-grilled, filled with mustard and enjoyed with a refreshing beer. Finns adore them, the grillimakkara has fans of all ages.
AUTUMN
Autumn provides mushrooms in abundance, delicacies like moose roast, and many other dishes based on game and even bear meat. The list of regional specialties is extensive, starting with flatbreads like karjalanpiirakka, of Karelian origin, filled with potatoes or rice, and rahkapiirakka, a fresh cheese pie. Typical of Savo is kalakukko, rye bread filled with fish (whitefish or perch) and pork, and toasted for a long time in the oven. On the Gulf of Bothnia, rieska, a thin, round unleavened bread, and leipajuusto, a fresh cheese similar to a crepe, which is aged over the fireplace flame, are very popular.
