Finnish cuisine

Finnish cuisine
Karelian pasty (karjalanpiirakka) is a traditional Finnish dish made from a thin rye crust with a filling of rice. Butter, often mixed with boiled egg (eggbutter or munavoi), is spread over the hot pastries before eating.

Finnish cuisine is notable for generally combining traditional country fare and haute cuisine with contemporary continental style cooking. Fish and meat play a prominent role in traditional Finnish dishes from the western part of the country, while the dishes from the eastern part have traditionally included various vegetables and mushrooms. Refugees from Karelia contributed to foods in eastern Finland.[citation needed]

Finnish foods often use wholemeal products (rye, barley, oats) and berries (such as blueberries, lingonberries, cloudberries, and sea buckthorn). Milk and its derivatives like buttermilk are commonly used as food, drink or in various recipes. Various turnips were common in traditional cooking, but were substituted by the potato after its introduction in the 18th century.

Contents

Characteristics

In former times, the country's harsh climate meant that fresh fruit and vegetables were largely unavailable for nine months of the year, causing 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 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 a major source of food and today produce from forests counts for the distinctive traits in Finnish cuisine. The simplicity of traditional Finnish food has later been turned into an advantage by placing an emphasis on freshness instead, and modern Finnish restaurateurs now blend high-quality Finnish produce with continental cooking techniques, culminating with Helsinki's Chez Dominique receiving two Michelin stars in 2003.

Internationalization brought imported goods widely available and pasta, pizza, and hamburgers were integrated into Finnish menus, thus replacing many traditional everyday dishes, such as cabbage casserole or herring fillets which were considered inferior. During the 20th century also majority of Finnish women entered workforce, and most of the dishes requiring long preparation time were reserved for holidays.

Even with the modern agriculture and transportation, food is expensive in Finland compared to other European countries, even though the European Union membership in 1995 and the consequent elimination of trade barriers such as opened the floodgates, with prices of some products like grains, meat and milk dropping by up to 50%,.[1] Before that heavy taxes and outright bans on imports that competed with local produce severely limited the availability of foreign or unseasonal food, but now Finnish supermarkets and restaurants serve up a wide variety of food from all over the world.

Finnish cuisine is largely shared with Swedish cuisine. The overarching difference is the preference to unsweetened foods. For example, while traditional Swedish rye bread includes plenty of syrup and spices, Finnish rye bread is unsweetened and even bitter. Finnish cuisine also bear resemblance to German and Russian cuisines.[citation needed]

Finnish food

Meats

The most popular meats in Finland are pork (33.5kg/year/person in 2005), beef (18.6kg) and chicken (13.3kg).[2] Approximately one third of this is eaten as sausage (makkara), which is mostly made from pork but often mixes in other meats as well.[3]

In addition to domesticated animals, there are long traditions of hunting and fishing in Finland. The hunters focus on deer and moose, but small game such as hare, ducks and grouse are popular for their taste, and game makes a natural addition to the Finnish cuisine. 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. Finnish restaurants are accustomed to serving reindeer dishes instead.

Berries

Lingonberries are common throughout Finland

Arctic wild berries are distinctively featured in Finnish cuisine with their strong flavor and high nutrient content. It is still quite common to go picking berries straight from the forests. Wild raspberries, bilberries and lingonberries (cowberries) are found almost in every part of Finland, while cloudberries, cranberries, arctic brambles and sea buckthorns grow on more specific areas. The wild strawberry (metsämansikka) with strong aroma is also a seasonal delicacy decorating cakes, served with ice cream or just cream. Nowadays the berries are no longer dried but usually frozen and eaten at winter with for example porridge and sugar. Home-made berry juices and jams are common, especially amongst older people. Berries are used for desserts and served with meat, too, especially the sour lingonberry relish. A more exclusive but not uncommon jam is the cloudberry jam. Bilberry kiisseli and pie are traditional Finnish desserts, made from wild bilberries (Vaccinium myrtillus). Blueberries are not used in Finnish cuisine, although they have become available relatively recently.

Fish

Fried vendace (Coregonus albula) is a summer-time delicacy in Finland. The fish are fried, served, and eaten whole, usually accompanied with garlic sauce.

Lakes in Finland provide many opportunities for fishing and fish has always been an important protein source. Several ways to prepare fish are used, including frying, boiling, drying, salting, fermenting, cold smoking or simply slicing sea fish and eating it raw. Salmon is a popular choice, both as kylmäsavustettu lohi: cold smoked salmon, lox, or served raw with lemon juice as graavilohi (gravlax in Swedish). It is common to smoke any types of fish, like salmon, zander, pike, perch and Baltic herring. There are many styles of pickled herring which is a common appetizer and also served around Midsummer accompanied by small potatoes. Whitefish and vendace roe are Finnish delicacies served on top of a toast or with blinis. Crayfish can be found in many lakes and streams in Finland and in August especially the Swedish-speaking population often arranges parties centered around eating crayfish and drinking.

Mushrooms

Chanterelles often grow near birch trees

Various species of mushrooms grow plentiful in Finnish forests and false morels start the season in spring and are used in creamy dishes. Chanterelles and ceps pop up after Midsummer and are popular in the whole country, while in eastern Finland almost all edible fungi are consumed, including milkcaps and russulas. Most of the mushroom recipes originate from Russia, since Finns used mushrooms in coloring fabrics rather than as food. Mushrooms are used in soups, sauces, stews, pie fillings, or simply fried in a pan with onions as a side dish. They are preserved for the winter by pickling or drying. Chanterelles are frequently featured in Finnish haute cuisine with their relatives winter chanterelles which often end the season. Just like berry picking, mushroom hunting is also a popular outdoor activity among Finns.

Bread

Dark and fiber-rich ruisleipä, rye bread, is a staple part of Finnish diet. Breads are made from grains like barley, oat, rye and wheat, or mixing different grits and flours, for example sihtileipä, a rye and wheat bread. There is also a variety of flat breads called rieska, for example maitorieska (milk flatbread), ryynirieska with barley grits from Savonia, läskirieska (lard flatbread) flat(ish) barley bread with pieces of lard from Western coast, and perunarieska (potato flatbread). In Kainuu North Finland the flatbreads are very flat and baked on naked flame. Näkkileipä, crisp rye bread, is also common. Famines caused by crop failures in the 19th century caused Finns to improvise pettuleipä,[4] bread made from rye flour and the soft phloem layer of pine bark, which was nutritious but rock-hard and anything but tasty. It was eaten also during the Second World War, and the tradition of making this bread has had a minor come-back with claims of health benefits.

Porridges

The Finnish breakfast traditionally includes a substantial portion of porridge. Rolled oats, rye or multi-grain porridge are most common. However, there are other options such as the milk-based mannapuuro (semolina-milk porridge) and helmipuuro (starch grain-milk porridge). Porridges are often eaten with milk, sugar, butter or berry kisel. The Christmas season introduces milk-based rice porridge (riisipuuro), sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.

Beverages

Cloudberry liqueur (Chymos Lakka liqueur)

Water is the most common drink in Finland but on meals milk and buttermilk (piimä, a fermented milk) are popular too, even among adults. Coffee is often drunk several times a day and served everywhere, although also tea is available. There are several types of home-brewed alcoholic beverages, sima (mead), sahti (traditional beer), pontikka (Finnish moonshine), and kilju (sugar wine, a notorious drink traditionally fermented without flavouring). Famous brands of spirits include Koskenkorva (vodka-like clear spirit) and a salmiakki flavored cocktail Salmiakkikossu, Jaloviina (cut brandy), Finlandia Vodka, and Marskin ryyppy (Marshal Mannerheim's shot). Around Christmas time a type of mulled wine called glögi is served, also often as non-alcoholic version. Many berries are used to season liqueurs, e.g. cloudberry liqueur and there are wines produced from redcurrants and blackcurrants. A national speciality would be multiple brands of flavored hard ciders (as in Sweden) and long drink mixes with the pet name lonkero, which was originally a gin and grapefruit soda long drink.

Desserts

Several types of pulla sweet bread
  • Pulla, sweet bread eaten with coffee or as dessert
    • Cinnamon rolls (korvapuustit) - pulla made into a roll with cinnamon and sugar
  • Golden cloudberry dessert
  • Kiisseli – water, sugar, berry juice and berries (nowadays often canned or frozen) thickened with 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.
  • Vispipuuro (whipped porridge) a sweet pink dessert porridge with lingonberries or other berries, served with milk and sugar.
  • Runeberg's tart named after a national poet J.L. Runeberg and served on his memorial day on February 5.
  • Rönttönen pastry with lingonberry filling

Sweets

Examples of Finnish dishes

Note that the term perinneruoka ("traditional dish") is often applied to specialities that are rarely eaten on a daily basis. These are often regional, associated with the older generations or confined to a specific holiday (for example, mämmi in Easter or most Christmas dishes), and most people eat them rarely or not at all. To contrast with perinneruoka, the term kotiruoka ("home-made food", even if in a restaurant) 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

Leipäjuusto is a cheese, here served with cloudberry jam
  • Kaalikääryleet – cabbage rolls
  • Game food. – Moose, deer, grouse, duck, hare, etc... dishes. Rarely attainable in restaurants. Common amongst those whose hobby is hunting.
  • Hernekeitto – peasoup, usually served on Thursday along with a dessert pancake
  • Leipäjuusto, alternate name juustoleipä – a fresh cow's milk cheese
  • Viili – a yogurt-like fermented milk product
  • Perunamuusi – Mashed potato, a common side dish
  • Lihapullat – Finnish meatballs, often with gravy sauce
  • Palvikinkku and palviliha – Smoked ham or beef

Holiday specialties

Shrove Tuesday

Laskiaispulla
  • 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 dough coated in sugar)
  • Tippaleipä (May Day fritters)

Christmas

  • Joulupöytä "Christmas table" consists of many dishes almost entirely reserved for Christmas and some side dishes
  • Glögi (mulled wine) is served around holiday season

Regional cuisine

Lapland

Sautéed reindeer with mashed potatoes, lingonberry jam and pickles

Karelia

  • Karelian pasties popular throughout the whole of Finland
  • Karelian Stew/Hot Pot often part of Christmas menu everywhere in Finland
  • Sultsina sold at the market square in Joensuu and other places in the area

Savonia

Ostrobothnia and Åland

Due the location on the West coast and the Swedish speaking majority, the cuisine differs from the Eastern one considerably.

  • Klimppisoppa flour dumpling soup
  • Åland's pancake typically made of leftover porridge and served with plum soup
  • 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, colored dark brown, is made from rye and contains a substantial quantity of dark syrup.

Other specialties

Two types of commercially produced flavoured viili, a yoghurt with (a mesophilic fermented milk) that originated in the Nordic countries.

Meals

Lohikeitto is a creamy salmon soup and a common dish in Finland and other Nordic countries.

There are three meals per day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. In all primary and secondary schools, including high school, a hot free lunch is served as part of Finland's welfare state agenda. Among workers, lunch is often not so heavy, and may be a sandwich or a salad, depending on whether the company has a lunch restaurant. In the evening, the dinner is usually a hot meal. Meals are usually single-course, commonly consisting of meat of some sort (pork, 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.

Breakfast

Breakfast is seen as a substantial meal and usually consists of open sandwiches. The sandwich is often buttered (with margarine), with savoury toppings such as hard cheese or cold cuts. Sour milk products such as yogurt or viili are also common breakfast foods, usually served in a bowl with cereals such as corn flakes, muesli, and sometimes with sugar, fruit or jam. A third food that is commonly eaten at breakfast is porridge (puuro), often made of rolled oats, and eaten with a pat of butter (voisilmä, lit. "butter eye") and/or with milk, or fruit or jam, especially the sort made of raspberries or strawberries (sometimes lingonberries). Drinks are milk, juice, tea, or coffee.

Coffee breaks

It is typical for a Finn to drink coffee in the morning, in the afternoon and in the evening, often accompanied by a sweet bun or a sandwich. Most workplaces allocate times for coffee breaks and serving coffee is an inevitable part of any visit to a private home.

Criticism

Pizza Berlusconi

In 2005, Finnish cuisine came under heavy fire from two leaders of countries renowned for their cuisine. The Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi claimed that "I've been to Finland and I had to endure the Finnish diet so I am in a position to make a comparison." Berlusconi started his anti-Finnish food campaign in 2001. He went on: "The Finns don't even know what Parma ham is." This followed the initial decision by the European Commission to establish the European Food Safety Authority in Helsinki. On July 4, 2005 French President Jacques Chirac claimed that "After Finland, [Britain is] the country with the worst food." [5][6]

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).

When Finnish pizza chain Kotipizza in 2008 won the America’s Plate International pizza contest in New York, Italy coming in second, they named their award winning pizza Berlusconi as a symbolic payback for the critique Finnish cuisine had received from him earlier.[7] The rationale for the name was that Berlusconi pointed out that Finns eat smoked reindeer, a Lappish dish found throughout Finland in supermarkets and in restaurants as an appetizer. Berlusconi had said "I have been to Finland and I have had to endure Finnish food, so I am certainly competent to make comparisons (between Italian and Finnish foods)." Consequently, Kotipizza chefs created a pizza recipe with smoked reindeer and named it Berlusconi.

See also

References

External links


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