Soups

The Finns & Soups

Soups and stews are very popular, what is better to eat, then a nice hot soup when outside the sleet is raining through the darkness. In old times, a lot of food was some sort of stew with potatoes, some grains or bread and some sort of meat or (salted) fish to be spooned up for dinner or lunch.

While this kind of stew is no longer popular, soups are still very popular and in most lunch places you will find some soup-of-the-day to be eaten with a salat, bread and water or milk.

In supermarkets you will see many of the soups as ready dishes to be microwaved in the cooling shelf, ready for people who want a quick lunch. Many old traditional Finnish food are to be “spooned” and eaten with a slice of rye bread.

SOUPS

Bolete Soup – Tattikeitto

In the Finnish forest one can find many types of “tatties” in late summer and autumn. Tatties are not an exact scientific term and basically encompass mushrooms with pores that are edible. The bolete or ceps is the most prominent of that family, but there are many more. This recipe is using dried mushroom, but they can of course be replaced by fresh ones. Dried mushrooms have a more intensive taste and I can recommend trying this soup with dried ones. Supermarkets usually sel

silke943

Apr 62 min read

Cheese Reindeer Soup – Juustoinen Porokeitto

This is a filling soup which is perfect for a day in November when the sleet is falling outside and the darkness is ruling. If you live in a country where Rudolph only visits once per year and a detour via the kitchen is not on the program, then you can replace the reindeer sausage with any game-salmi. The taste will be slightly different, but still very good. Ingredients: 75 g Butter 1 dl Flour 8 dl Water 2 dl Full-fat cream 250 g Processed cheese (if you find a strong flavo

silke943

Mar 301 min read

Lentil Soup – Linssikeitto

This is a very modern and “new” soup in Finland. It has become popular in the last few years, since people are trying to eat healthier and immigrants brought with them new spices. It is a warming soup with spices like cumin and ginger. It is often eaten for a light lunch. This soup is not chili-hot and is slightly sweet and fits the Finnish taste. It is often served at lunch places. Ingredients: 1 Large onion 2 Garlic cloves 2 Tablespoon oil 1 Tablespoon grated ginger 2 Teasp

silke943

Mar 81 min read

Blueberry Soup - Mustikkakiisselli / Mustikkasoppa

Finns tend to eat their lunch between 11-12, so they get hungry at 17.00 and have then their dinner. For that reason, they eat a small “snack” called iltapala (evening piece) before they go to bed. Blueberry soup is a typical snack, eaten before going to bed or as an in-between snack. Sometimes it is eaten as a desert. If you can find forest blueberries go for those. The cultivated blueberries are ok, but just no the same taste. In Finland blueberry picking is quite common in

silke943

Mar 81 min read

Bors Soup – Borssikeitto

Bors soup shows the history of Finland and the culinary influence Russia had on Finland. Finland was the Grand Duchy of Finland a part of the Russian Empire from 1899 to 1917. During that time, it was not uncommon that Fins worked in St. Petersburg and that there was a cultural exchange. Ingredients: 500 g Cooking beef or Kassler 1 ½ Litre water 2 Teaspoon salt 2 Bay leaves 4-5 White pepper corns 4-5 Piment 1 Onion 2 Carrot (medium sized) 150 g Root celery piece 4 Raw beetro

silke943

Feb 242 min read

Sun Soup - Aurinkokeitto

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

silke943

Feb 31 min read

Diet Cabbage Soup – Dieeti Kaalikeitto

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

silke943

Feb 21 min read

Meat Soup – Lihakeitto

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

silke943

Jan 282 min read

Chanterelle Soup - Kantarellikeitto

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

silke943

Jan 271 min read

Minced Beef Cabbage Soup - Kaalikeitto

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

silke943

Jan 241 min read

Creamy Salmon Soup - Lohikeitto

If you are looking for an easy crowd-pleasing dish for non-Finnish guest, I can recommend this soup. It is easy to make, and its creamy taste is pleasant even to kids. In my opinion best to serve with hot Rieska-bread or if you have more time at hand try the rich Saaristonleipä. This recipe also works very well with smoked fish, but if the fish is very fat replace the cream with milk. Ingredients: 50 g Butter 2 Carrot (about 200 g) 600 g Potatoes (the firm kind) 1 Leek (mediu

silke943

Jan 231 min read

Spinach Soup - Pinaattikeitto

Spinach soup is an old-fashioned soup for lunch or light dinner. It is a typical sight in the supermarket shelves with ready-made-lunch-food. Commonly served with one to two boiled eggs cut into halves. Some rye bread with butter or creme cheese spread would be typically accompanying this dish. In old times, the dish was commonly made not with spinach but with nettles, which are one of the first edible plants that appear in spring after a long winter. If you want to use nett

silke943

Jan 221 min read