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Dish · Finland
lohikeitto
Salmon soup with potato, carrot and leek, in a broth finished with cream and fresh dill on top. It’s a nationwide dish, served in lunch restaurants, cafés and homes, almost always with rye bread.
Traditional food · Finland
Flavors of Finland
Sour rye bread, Karelian rye pastries, fish baked in bread in Kuopio, Tampere black sausage, salmon soup, Easter malt sweet and juniper farmhouse beer.
In the photo: Porvoo, Uusimaa
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
The cuisine
Traditional food of Finland
Finnish cuisine formed from what the northern climate allows to store: rye, barley, potato, freshwater and sea fish, pork, lamb and reindeer meat, milk and forest berries such as lingonberry. Rye is in almost everything. Ruisleipä, the dark, sour naturally leavened rye bread, was chosen in a 2017 public vote as the national dish, and thin rye dough is the base for pastries and pies from various regions. Wood-fired ovens and long braises appear in many old recipes.
The eastern part of the country, among the lakes, has a strong baked-dough tradition. From Karelia comes karjalanpiirakka, an open rye pastry filled with rice porridge, spread across the country by Karelians who left their lands after World War II. In Kuopio, in Northern Savonia, kalakukko is a rye loaf filled with fish and pork fat, baked for hours. In Kainuu, rönttönen is filled with sweetened mashed potato and lingonberry, and in Lemi, in South Karelia, särä is lamb with potato roasted in a birch trough inside the oven.
Each town has its market food. In Tampere you buy mustamakkara, black sausage served hot with lingonberry jam. In Savonlinna, near the steamboat harbor, lörtsy is sold, a half-moon fried pastry, and in Lappeenranta, at the market square and harbor stalls, vety is an open meat pastry filled with ham and egg. Porvoo, the town of national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg, sells the cake named after him all year round.
The calendar also marks the table. On February 5, Runeberg’s Day, the country eats runebergintorttu; at Easter, mämmi, a dark rye malt sweet served with cream. In the Åland Islands, where Swedish is spoken, ålandspannkaka, a baked pudding flavored with cardamom and served with plum cream, was elected the dish of the century by the islanders themselves. In Lapland, reindeer meat appears thinly sliced as poronkäristys. Salmon soup, lohikeitto, is eaten across the country, and sahti, farmhouse beer filtered over juniper branches, is one of the oldest beverages still made in Finland.
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14 flavors
What to eat in Finland
Sweet · Finland
mämmi
A dark Easter sweet made from rye flour and rye malt slowly cooked until they sweeten on their own, with bitter orange peel. It is served cold with heavy cream and sugar, and appears throughout the country before Easter.
Dish · Finland
ruisleipä
Dark, dense, sour bread made from whole rye flour and natural fermentation, formed round, with or without a hole, or dried. It appears at almost every meal and was chosen as Finland’s national food in a 2017 public vote.
Drink · Finland
sahti
Traditional farmhouse beer made from barley malt and other cereals, filtered over juniper branches in a wooden trough without boiling the wort. Its production method is protected by the European Union and it is included in Finland’s inventory of living heritage.
Dish · Carélia do Norte
karjalanpiirakka
Open, oval pastry made with a thin rye dough, with pleated edges and filled with rice porridge, potato or barley, served with egg butter. It comes from Karelia and its method of preparation is protected by the European Union.
Sweet · Ilhas Åland
ålandspannkaka
Oven-baked pudding made from semolina or rice porridge with milk, eggs and cardamom, served in squares with dried plum cream and whipped cream. The islanders of Åland chose it as the dish of the century.
Sweet · Kainuu
Kainuun rönttönen
Small round open tart made with a rye crust, filled with mashed potato sweetened by the potato itself and crushed lingonberry. It is the specialty of the Kainuu region and has a protected geographical indication from the European Union.
Dish · Kuopio
kalakukko
Rye dough bread filled with lake fish and pork belly, baked for hours until the crust darkens. It’s the food of Kuopio’s market square, sold hot, and its method of preparation is protected by the European Union.
Dish · Lapônia
poronkäristys
Sliced reindeer meat, sautéed with onion and butter and simmered in broth or beer, served with mashed potatoes and lingonberries. It’s the dish most associated with reindeer herding in Lapland.
Dish · Lappeenranta
vety
Fried meat pie, split open and filled with ham and boiled egg, with mustard, ketchup and cucumber salad. With only one of the two fillings it’s called atomi. It’s the snack sold at the market square and harbour stalls in Lappeenranta.
Dish · Lemi
Lemin särä
Lamb and potatoes slow-roasted for hours in a wood-fired oven in a long birch wooden trough called särä. It is Lemi’s traditional food in South Karelia, served with barley bread.
Sweet · Porvoo
runebergintorttu
A small cylindrical cake made with almond and cookie crumbs, moistened with rum or punch and topped with a ring of icing with raspberry jam in the center. It is named after the national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg, who lived in Porvoo.
Dish · Savonlinna
lörtsy
Thin, flattened half-moon pastry, fried in oil, filled with meat or apple jam. It’s Savonlinna’s specialty, sold at the market square next to the steamboat passenger harbor.
Dish · Tampere
mustamakkara
A black sausage made from blood and pork with ground cereal, sold hot at Tampere’s market squares and served with lingonberry jam. The city’s tourism board calls it Tampere’s emblematic dish.
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Your questions
Questions about the food of Finland
What is typical Finnish food?
Rye bread, ruisleipä, chosen as the national food in a 2017 public vote, is present at almost every meal. Among the best-known dishes are karjalanpiirakka, a rye pastry filled with rice; salmon soup, lohikeitto; and poronkäristys, thinly sliced reindeer meat from Lapland.
What to eat at Finnish town markets?
Each town has a market specialty: kalakukko in Kuopio, mustamakkara with lingonberry jam in Tampere, lörtsy in Savonlinna and vety in Lappeenranta. They are sold hot to eat on the spot.
Which Finnish foods are protected by the European Union?
Kalakukko, karjalanpiirakka and sahti are traditional specialties guaranteed, with their methods protected. Kainuun rönttönen has protected geographical indication, and Lapland reindeer meat (Lapin Poron liha) has protected designation of origin.
What is eaten in Finland on festive occasions?
On Runeberg’s Day, February 5, people eat runebergintorttu, an almond cake with raspberry jam. At Easter, mämmi, a dark rye malt sweet served cold with cream. In the Åland Islands, ålandspannkaka appears at celebrations, such as Autonomy Day.
What is sahti?
A traditional farmhouse beer made with barley malt and other cereals and filtered over juniper branches in a wooden trough. Its production method is protected by the European Union and it is part of Finland’s living heritage inventory.