Finnish cuisine
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Finnish cuisine is notable for generally combining traditional country fare and
Finnish foods often use
Characteristics
The way of life and culture of Finns was mainly based on agriculture already at prehistoric times. However, in the harsh and cold environment, agriculture was neither a very effective nor secure way of life, so getting food from nature has often been an important secondary livelihood. When crops failed, it might have been the only way to survive. Also, while farms mainly produced plants like crops or turnips, and often families had only some farm animals to get milk products and meat, hunting and especially fishing were important ways to get more protein. Large-scale meat production and therefore meat as a daily food started to emerge only at the beginning of 20th century, after periods of malnutrition in the 19th century caused by failed crops.[citation needed]
In former times, the country's harsh climate meant that fresh fruit and vegetables were largely unavailable for at least nine months of the year, leading to a heavy reliance on staple tubers (initially turnip, later potato), dark rye bread and fermented dairy products, occasionally enlivened with preserved fish and meat. Traditionally, very few spices other than salt were available, and fresh herbs like dill and chives were limited to the summer months. Many Finnish traditional dishes are prepared by stewing them for a long time in an oven, which produces hearty but bland fare. Forests and lakes were historically a major source of food, and produce from forests currently accounts for the distinctive traits in Finnish cuisine. The simplicity of traditional Finnish food has been turned into an advantage by shifting the emphasis to freshness. Modern Finnish restaurateurs now blend high-quality Finnish products with continental cooking techniques. This approach helped Helsinki's Chez Dominique to receive two Michelin stars in 2003.[2] The restaurant closed in 2013.
Internationalization brought imported goods. As pasta, pizza, kebab, and hamburgers were integrated into Finnish menus, they displaced some traditional everyday dishes like kaalilaatikko (cabbage casserole), or herring fillets, which some consider inferior. As of the 20th century, when the majority of Finnish women entered the workforce, many traditional dishes that require long preparation time are reserved for holidays.
Even with modern agriculture and transportation, food remains expensive in Finland relative to other European countries. This is notwithstanding the effect of accession to the European Union in 1995. The consequent elimination of trade barriers led prices of products like grains, meat, and milk to drop as much as 50%.[3] Before that, heavy taxes and outright bans on imports that competed with local produce severely limited the availability of foreign or unseasonal food. Nowadays Finnish supermarkets and restaurants provide a variety of food from all over the world.
Finnish cuisine is very similar to
Finnish food
Meats from Finland
The most popular meats in Finland are
In addition to domesticated animals, there are long traditions of hunting and fishing in Finland. The hunters focus on deer, moose and bear, but small game such as hare, duck and grouse are popular. Approximately 70,000–80,000 moose are culled yearly, producing significant amounts of meat. Due to very strict food hygiene regulations, moose meat is mainly consumed within households and is rarely obtainable in restaurants.
Berries
Arctic wild berries are distinctively featured in Finnish cuisine with their strong flavor and high nutrient content. Traditionally, they were eaten fresh in summer and dried at other times of year. It is still quite common to go picking berries straight from the forests – in fact, wild berries are free to pick in any forest, state or private, except in close proximity to dwellings (see
Today, berries are no longer dried for winter consumption but usually frozen. They may be used as ingredients, or eaten on their own, for example, with porridge and sugar. Kiisseli (a sweet soup of berry juice and berries thickened with potato starch) is a common dessert. Homemade berry juices and jams are common, especially among older people. While berries are most often used for desserts, they are also served with meat, especially the sour lingonberry relish.
Bilberry kissel|kiisseli (mustikkakiisseli) and pie (mustikkapiirakka), made from wild bilberries (Vaccinium myrtillus), are traditional Finnish desserts. Bilberries are frequently used in Finnish cuisine, both as an ingredient, such as bilberry pie, and also served with cream or ice cream. They are often used on top of viili and other yogurt-type dishes.
Fish
Lakes and rivers in Finland and the Baltic Sea provide many opportunities for fishing and fish has always been an important protein source. Numerous methods of preparing fish are used, including frying, boiling, drying, salting, fermenting,
Mushrooms
Various species of mushrooms grow in abundance in Finnish forests and
Bread
Dark and fiber-rich
Porridges
The Finnish breakfast traditionally includes a substantial portion of
Beverages
Water and
The
Desserts
- Pulla, sweet, cardamom-flavored bread eaten with coffee or as dessert
- Cinnamon rolls (korvapuustit) – pulla made into a roll with cinnamon and sugar
- potato starch flour, served with milk/cream and sugar. These may be less liquid than drink-like. mustikkakeitto (Swedish: blåbärssoppa), depending on preparation, but not gelatinous.
- Leipäjuusto, a soft cheese often served with cloudberry jam (lakkahillo) and coffee.
- Runeberg torte, named after a national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg and served on his memorial day on 5 February.
- Rönttönen pastry with lingonberry filling
- Uunijuusto, baked milk dish eaten with berries
- Vispipuuro (whipped porridge) a sweet pink dessert porridge with lingonberries or other berries, served with milk and sugar
-
Ruisreikäleipä (rye hole-bread)
-
Several types ofpullasweet bread
-
Blueberry pie (mustikkapiirakka) is a very popular dessert
-
Joulutorttu (Christmas pastry)
-
Funnel cake (tippaleipä)
-
Leipäjuusto(bread cheese) served with cloudberry jam
-
Mämmi (dessert during Easter time)
Sweets
- Salmiakki– salty black liquorice candy
- Licorice pipe – sweet black liquorice candy
- Sisu pastil – Gum arabic manufactured candy
- Fazer Blue (Fazer Sininen) – milk chocolate
- Kismet – (waffle chocolate bar)
- Tupla – (chocolate bar)
- Pihlaja – marmalade candy
- Kiss-Kiss – hard pink peppermint-flavoured shell and a sticky toffee filling candy
- Marianne – hard peppermint-flavoured shell and a chocolate filling candy
- Omar – Caramel candy
- Wood tar – (terva) flavoured candy, such as Terva Leijona
- Jenkki – Finnish chewing gum
- Mynthon – Throat lozenge, pastille
Examples of Finnish dishes
The term perinneruoka ("traditional dish") is often applied to specialties that are rarely eaten on a daily basis. These are often regional, associated with the older generations or specific holidays—for example, mämmi on Easter—and most people eat these dishes rarely, or not at all. In contrast, with perinneruoka, the term kotiruoka ("home-made food") is applied to daily staple dishes. Meatballs, pea soup and rye bread are examples of such staples.
The following list is a sample of typical dishes traditionally consumed in Finland.
Typical Finnish dishes
- Kaalikääryleet– cabbage rolls
- Game food. – Moose, deer, grouse, duck, hare, etc. dishes. Rarely attainable in restaurants, except the finest ones. Common amongst those whose hobby is hunting.
- Hernekeitto– pea soup, usually served on Thursdays, along with pancakes for dessert.
- Leipäjuusto, alternate names hiilikko and juustoleipä – a halloumi-like soft cheese
- fermented milk product
- Perunamuusi – mashed potato, a common side dish
- Lihapullat – Finnish meatballs, often in gravy and with lingonberry sauce on the side
- Palvikinkku and palviliha – smoked ham or beef
Holiday specialties
Shrove Tuesday
- Hernekeitto– pea soup made with ham
- Laskiaispulla – ('Shrovetide pulla') filled with whipped cream and almond paste or jam
Easter
- Mämmi – Easter dessert pudding: sweetened, oven-baked rye malt porridge, served with sugar and milk or cream, available frozen around the year. In the Catholic era it was Lent food and also served on Good Friday.
- Pasha – a dessert made of quark, butter, eggs and spices, originates from Russia
Vappu (May Day)
- Sima – mead, home-made or purchased
- Munkki (deep-fried pulla coated in sugar, similar to doughnuts)
- Tippaleipä ('May Day fritters'), a kind of funnel cake
Christmas
- Joulupöytä ('Christmas table'), consists of many dishes, some of which are almost entirely exclusive to Christmas, e.g. lipeäkala.
- Glögi, mulled wine, is served during the holiday season.
Regional cuisine
Lapland
- Sautéed reindeer (poronkäristys)
- Lohikeitto salmon soup with cream
Kainuu
- PGI protectionunder EU law)
- Smoked meat soup
- Kainuun Juustoleipä, Bread Cheese
- Vendace fish soup
- Pettuleipä ('Pettu-bread'), a bark bread made from rye flour and pine phloem during famine years
Karelia
- Karelian pastiespopular throughout the whole of Finland
- Karelian stew often eaten on Finland's Independence Dayand on Christmas
- Sultsina sold at the market square in Joensuu and other places in the area
Savonia
- Kalakukko fish pasty loaf
- Mykyrokka blood dumpling soup
- Lörtsy pastry filled with sour or sweet fillings (meat, vegetable or jam)
Ostrobothnia and Åland
Due to the location on the West coast, the cuisine has some local specialities.
- Klimpsoppa flour dumpling soup
- Åland's pancake typically made of leftover porridge and served with plum jam
- Swedish svartbröd ('black bread') is eaten in Swedish-speaking Åland; similar dark bread, known as skärgårdslimpa ('islander's bread', referring to Åland), is made on southern coast, and in Malax on the Ostrobothnian coast (malaxlimpa). This bread, coloured dark brown, is made from rye and contains a substantial quantity of dark syrup.
Other specialties
- Kesäkeitto – a traditional vegetable soup with butter and milk
- Mustamakkara – blood sausage from Tampere
- Rössypottu from Oulu (mixed blood pudding and pork stew)
- Hapanvelli (rye and pea porridge) from Virolahti
- Kakko, a type of white bread baked mostly in the Satakunta region[13]
Meals
Common meals are breakfast (aamupala), lunch (lounas), dinner (päivällinen) and supper (iltapala). Sometimes there is also an afternoon snack (välipala) or a coffee break where a light snack is served. In all primary and secondary schools, including
Lunch typically consists of a single course with optional side salad, bread and dessert. Many workplaces have a lunch restaurant, and if not, employers often give lunch vouchers. Restaurants often have a separate lunch menu for this purpose. In the evening, the dinner is usually a hot meal, again with sides. Meals are usually single-course, commonly consisting of meat of some sort (pork, lamb, chicken, beef) and potatoes, rice or pasta with the meat. Soups, such as pea soup or fish soup, are not considered appetizers only, but may be served as lunch or dinner, and they are correspondingly heavier and come in larger portions.
Dinner is typically the most substantial meal of the day. However, it is be served rather early at 5 pm,[16] so that there is often a separate supper at 8-9 pm. This supper (iltapala) is a light snack.
Breakfast
Breakfast is seen as a substantial meal and usually consists of
Coffee breaks
Finland has the highest coffee consumption per capita in the world, averaging 12 kilograms (26 lb) of coffee per person annually.[17] It is typical for a Finn to drink coffee continuously throughout the day, often accompanied by a sweet bun or a sandwich.[citation needed] Most workplaces allocate time for coffee breaks and serving coffee is very likely to happen to a visitor to a private home. Finns consider it as a small courtesy.
Criticism
In 2005, Finnish cuisine came under heavy fire from two leaders of countries renowned for their cuisine. The
After Jacques Chirac's and Silvio Berlusconi's critiques, some international food reporters answered:
"Chirac and Berlusconi are wrong! Finnish cuisine is much more international than I expected. I have eaten very good food in wonderful restaurants, visited market places and enjoyed in good cafeterias. Cheese is very good in Finland. I also love Finnish cloudberry and smoked fish." (Ute Junker, Australian Financial Review Magazine, Sydney, Australia)
"Food in Finnish restaurants is extremely good. Especially I love Finnish salmon, mushroom soup and desserts. I have also got very good Finnish wines. The worldwide reputation of Finnish cuisine isn't very good – but it should be!" (Liliane Delwasse, Le Figaro, Paris, France)
"I have eaten only good food in Finland. Food in Finland is very fresh. Bread, berries, mushrooms and desserts are very delicious. Finnish berries (especially cloudberry), salmon, cheeses and reindeer should be available in London, too." (April Hutchinson, Abta Magazine, London, England).
Finnish pizza chain Kotipizza won the 2008 America's Plate International pizza contest in New York, while Italian-American pizza came in second. They named their award-winning smoked reindeer pizza Berlusconi as symbolic payback for the critique Finnish cuisine had received from the Italian prime minister earlier.[20]
See also
References
- ^ Tolvanen, Kristiina. "A Nation in Transition: The Resettlement of the Karelian Evacuees". Department of Translation Studies, University of Tampere. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
- ^ "RAVINTOLAT | Chez Dominique saa toisen Michelin-tähden". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 13 March 2003. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
- ^ Tietoaika, Tilastokeskus. "Tilastokeskus – Tietoaika – Tietoaika 2/2005". Stat.fi. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
- ^ "Finnish Food". Fresh! From Finland. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
- ^ "??" (PDF). Publications.theseus.fi. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
- ^ "Liha". Akva.ayy.fi. 27 May 2013. Archived from the original on 27 May 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
- ^ "Wigren". Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
- ^ "Suomessa lihaa syödään kohtuullisesti". Lihatiedotus.fi. Archived from the original on 21 January 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
- ^ Salmon soup is one of many Lappish wonders Archived 11 September 2022 at the Wayback Machine – Helsinki Times
- ^ "Marjastus ja sienestys - TAKO verkosto". www.takoverkosto.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 1 March 2024.
- ^ "Famine Bread". Genealogia.fi. Archived from the original on 23 June 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
- ^ "Coffee: Who grows, drinks and pays the most?". BBC News. 13 April 2018. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
- ^ "Pakarin pitkän iän salaisuus piilee kakossa". yle.fi (in Finnish). Yle. 12 August 2011. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
- ^ "Englantilainen vs. suomalainen ruoka eli friteerattua Mars-patukkaa ja unohdettuja metsän antimia – Makutarinoita". Makutarinoita. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
- ^ "Ateriatuki" (in Finnish). Kela. 1 January 2021. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
- ^ "Suomalainen tapakulttuuri". www.infofinland.fi.
- ^ Soria, Claudia. "Coffee Consumption Per Capita Worldwide". IndexMundi Blog. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
- ^ McIntosh, Neil (4 July 2005). "Chirac shares a joke at Britain's expense". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 June 2005. Retrieved 5 July 2005.
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Reindeer Pizza Named after Berlusconi". Corriere.it. Archived from the original on 17 June 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
External links
Media related to Finnish cuisine at Wikimedia Commons Finnish cuisine travel guide from Wikivoyage
- Food from Finland
- Mediaeval Food from Finland from the Hotel and Restaurant Museum On the museum website can be found menus over the last century, which shows the food available in Finland.