According to one of the largest tabloids in Finland, this 80ties school food was voted the most hated. School food was always under financial pressure and therefore often the quality suffered and sauces were stretched with potato starch. Another obstacle with this dish is that many Finns believe dill is a spice that goes with fish, not with meat. In general, this is not a bad dish, if properly made i.e. no lumps of flour in the thickened sauce and cooked long enough. It has t

The Oulun Loaf (Oulu limppu) is a traditional bread from Nothern Finland (Pohjois-Pohjanmaa).  It is not clear how old this bread really is, but digging through my books I found a recipe for it in the Tyttöjen Keittokirja (Girls Cookbook) from 1925, which was used in school kitchens. I used a slightly more modern recipe, as a large tablespoon of salt is properly no longer up-to-date with the eating recommendations.... The Oulu loaf is a slightly sweet bread, like many other t

This is definitively not diet food. It is one of those simple every-day-dishes which are perfect on a cold day. Läskisoosi has been very popular for decades, nowadays people often prefer somewhat less fatty food. It is usually served with boiled potatoes and pickled vegetables. Many people I know get nostalgic about this sauce. There exist also more modern versions where for “spicing” dark syrup, soy sauce and mustard are used. Ingredients: 600 – 800 g Pork belly, or some oth

This is a typical soup served at day care centres or schools. At day care centres it is often the kids favourite food. It is a creamed vegetable soup and there are no strict rules on what it contains and probably every school kitchen has their own version. The colour is important, so make sure to add something “red/orange”. The colour of the soup should be dark yellow or orange like the sun and the consistency of the soup should be smooth and no chunks. Like most Finnish soup

The cabbage diet idea was that the person could eat as much of the soup as they wanted, but nearly everything else (except of course water) was forbidden or severely restricted and for this soup, bread is not an allowed companion. This recipe probably contributed to the ill reputation Finnish food has. The dieting persons usually lost quickly some kilos, which they typically gained again after some weeks. So, if you really want to get the Finnish diet experience, here is the

This is a popular classical Finnish dish. The first macaroni casserole was made in 1892 in Helsinki at a cooking school. Macaroni casserole was for many years a dish for special occasions, even a Christmas dish. In the second world war macaroni were used also in the military, but the soldiers were not that thrilled about it and wanted more their “home” potato, milk, rye and beef cuisine. It was called with non-flattering names, as kitchens were also still in the process how t

First of all, this is not a bread, but cookies. Wilhelmina bread has a caramel taste and a nice crunch. The secret lies in the dark syrup used. Dark syrup was produced in Finland already in the 1800 in Töölö in Helsinki to avoid the expensive import of sugar for the sugar-loving Finns. The first time I tasted Wilhemina bread was in Turku and I did not rest till I found out the name and the recipe. Since then, it has become one of my favorite cookies: Fast, good and easy. Not

Spinach pancakes have a diameter of roughly 7-10 cm i.e. not like crepes. Use very finely chopped spinach for this (not the ones where you can still see the structure of the leaves). You can do this also with fresh spinach which you fry and cut very finely. Many Finnish households have a pancake frying pan, which makes it easy to fry equal size small pancakes, but a normal frying pan is also doing the job. The pancakes might be slightly flatter and bigger, but still taste exc

This is THE classical Finnish breakfast. Nowadays, you find all kind of additions like berries, nuts, cottage cheese or similar. Every day care serves this to their kids for breakfast. It is even sometimes served at business meetings, if they are very early in the day. It is usually done with water and then topped with berries or cinnamon-sugar. Ingredients (for one bowl) 1 dl Oat Flakes 2 dl Water A pinch of salt Instructions: Mix the ingredients in a bowl. Put them into the

This is a newcomer to the Finnish cuisine. Avocado became popular in Finland with the publishing of an Avocado pasta recipe in 2012 in social media and Finnish news papers. There was some discussion on the real origin of the recipe, but people loved it, and it spread quickly. After that Avocado became a stapple food for Finns and can be found nowadays even in remote places and small supermarkets. It is a quick recipe which many working people do for a quick dinner, called “ar

This is a typical Finnish countryside soup that is also very popular in Sweden. In very old recipes, no piment, pepper or bay leaves were used, and the vegetables were potatoes and swede turnip and maybe pasternak. Carrots and leek are more “modern” additions from the 50ties. Note this dish takes quite some time, but it is worth it. Turnip is the most “classical” Finnish vegetable and together with potatoes one of the corner stones of old Finnish food. The earth in Finland do

In late summer the first chanterelles appear on Finnish markets. First the Estonian chanterelles appear and shortly afterwards the Finnish ones. They are sold per liter. Many people go mushroom picking for chanterelles as they are easy to identify and are very common in Finland. Later in autumn the winter chanterelle also known as yellowfoot or funnel chanterelle (in Finnish Suppilovahvero) is growing plentiful in Finland till the first proper snow. This soup can also made wi

Lindström Beef is based on beetroot. There are several stories about the origin of the Lindström Beef. One story says that the dish was invented by Maria Kristiina Lindström from Stockholm in the 19th century in Stockholm. She made a meat loaf from steaks, but she added beetroot to the dough, which brought flavour and gave it its distinctive colour. Another story states Henrik Lindström, a Finnish lieutenant born in St. Petersburg  in 1862 was sitting in a restaurant and aske

Being a farmer in Finland was hard, always on the brink of not having enough food for the next winter. Some items like salt had to be bought on markets in the cities, for that people needed something to sell and butter was one of the “commodity” items city dwellers bought on the markets from farmers. Finnish butter was famous for its quality and popular in St. Petersburg. In Finland, butter is placed next to the bread with its own “dedicated” spreading knife in it that everyb

This is one of the “most Finnish” food you can find. The origins are in the region of Karjala in the North-East. Finland lost the war and lost a large part of Karjala to Russia. Many families had to leave their homestead and settled in other parts of the country. They brought with them this recipe and it became one of the landmarks of Finnish food. It consists of a “shell” made from rye-flour and a filling. The rice filling you see in shops nowadays was for feast days only in

The Finnish pancake is baked on an oven tray and served with strawberry yam and cream. Finnish strawberries are sold in summertime at market squares or in front of larger supermarkets. They are pricy, but they taste really tasty. You can find pancakes in many lunch places on Thursday as a desert for the classical pea soup.   Ingredients: 3 Eggs 8 dl Milk 4 dl Flour 1 tsp Baking Powder ½ dl Sugar 1 tsp Vanilja Sugar 1/3 tsp Salt ½ Oil or melted butter Instructions: Mix eggs an

Semolina porridge is pretty popular in Finland. Often it is crowned with a butter-eye (some good dollop of butter into the middle of the bowl) or topped with sugar, berries, yam or honey. In old times (before the general health-food-wave), butter was a common Finnish expert and trade good to be sold. Butter usage was something special, so many old people remember fondly the butter-eye in their porridge. If you prefer a more healthy version add some fresh blueberries or lingon

There are two types of cabbage soup, the one with minced beef and the one which was used for loosing weight. I strongly recommend the one with beef but will give the recipe for the diet cabbage soup for completeness’ sake in another post and because every Finn knows it... Here the one that is "edible": Ingredients: 400 g Minced beef or half-half (pig/beef) not too lean 1 Large onion 2 Garlic cloves 2 Tablespoon oil 800 g White cabbage (mid sized) 3 Medium Carrots 2 Teaspoon S

These pieces are typical “Swedish grandmother” cookies. They taste of almond and raspberry and fit perfectly to a nice strong coffee. You can also use another yam, but the “classical”  version is made with raspberry yam. Ingredients: 200 g Soft butter 1 ½ dl Sugar 1 Egg 4 dl Flour 1 Teaspoon Baking powder Bitter-almond aroma 200 g Raspberry yam 2 dl Powder sugar 1 Tablespoon water Instructions: Beat the soft butter and sugar until foamy. Add the egg and beat it in. Add the fl

The 5th of February is the Runeberg Day and named after the national poet Johan Ludvig who was born on the that day in 1804. He wrote the Finnish national anthem “Maamme / Vårt Land” (Our Land). This song was sung at every end-of-school-year closing celebration I have been. Runeberg was already very famous during his lifetime. His wife Frederika Runeberg invented the Runebering Torttu. She was a pioneer of women’s rights and one of Finland’s early novelists. In my very person